Business leads the way – as usual
Karen Fletcher Reports from the Energy Information Theatre.
The Energy Information Theatre at the Energy Event saw a number of significant presentations from businesses talking about energy use, and how they are managing it.
What became clear from these varied talks was that energy efficiency is becoming an important differentiator for businesses. It has been said before that a business which manages its energy use is a more efficient business all-round.
Speakers from Bentley Motors, Sainsburys and Dave Whelan Fitness Clubs, all pointed to this conclusion. If you’re watching how and where energy is being used in the business properties, you’re paying close attention to how your business functions too.
Way back in the days of time-and-motion, it was all about observing how employees did their jobs – carefully tracking time spent on tasks; range of movement; whether they achieved a daily target. Shaving off a few seconds here or there on each step of the job was considered the height of business efficiency.
The man with the stopwatch and clipboard is long gone. But the notion of careful monitoring and measuring is now being focused on energy use – as well as other ‘environmental factors’ such as water use or waste and recycling.
As Paul Crewe, Sainsburys head of engineering and sustainability said in his presentation: “Monitor, monitor, monitor; measure, measure, measure – it’s all we do.”
Observations on where energy is used (or mis-used) lead inevitably to analysis of what is normal or abnormal operation. Focusing the business on smoothing out its energy efficiency profile creates a driver for the business to be more efficient itself.
Karen Fletcher is Director of Keystone Communications.
