10 Easy Ways To Reduce Energy Use In Your Tourism Business.

Do you want to become a more sustainable business? Cut your energy use and save money? Read on to learn some of our energy saving tips.

Simple ways to cut energy use and make your business more sustainable:

1. Make the most of natural daylight. Turn off any unnecessary lighting and maximise daylight. Locate desks nearer to natural light than in dark corners. Save artificial light for dark gloomy days.
2. Turn off lights and equipment when not in use. Put signs on lightswitches as a reminder for staff and visitors to turn them off. Unplug appliances when not in use; don’t leave them on standby!
3. Install lighting sensors. Light sensors automatically turn lights on or off, depending on room occupancy. These sensors work well in areas with less frequent traffic such as toilets, function rooms, offices, store rooms and zoned areas. Sensors like this can achieve savings of 30% to 50% on lighting costs.
4. Know the recommended temperatures for specific areas in hospitality businesses and use that as a guide. The Carbon Trust  provide a good guide to this.
5. Use programmable thermostats and timer switches to prevent heating being left on. Regularly check that timings are set correctly. Sometimes the system can be boosted temporarily and is then forgotten about.
6. In areas that need high levels of heating all year around (e.g. swimming pools) it’s worth looking into air-to-water heat pumps. They offer a less expensive way to produce hot water for heating and water use.
7. When purchasing new equipment make sure you buy A rated Energy Star appliances.
8. If your office/business gets too hot from natural daylight use films/screens on windows to prevent this happening rather than air con.
9. Treat sources of draughts before spending money on heating solutions.
10. If your business has a lot of footfall coming in and out, then consider using automatic doors. These will help minimise heat loss.

It’s important to educate and encourage your employees to be more mindful of their energy use. Employee buy-in is very important and can determine the success of any project. Encourage your employees to get involved and offer their ideas about how energy can be saved.

There are many more ways to cut energy use and save costs in your business. Sign up to our membership today and access over 20 free online training courses, including Energy Management, Water Management, Waste Management and lots more! Now is the perfect time to transform your business into a sustainable tourism business.