Managing the energy consumption of a commercial enterprise can often seem to be a complex endeavour. To make things easier, below is a list of resources that we have put together to help businesses better manage their energy use:
LoCASE
Funded by the European Regional Development Fund, LoCASE is a free business support programme, and has helped provide grant funding to SMEs in Surrey, in partnership with local authorities and universities. FInd out more on the LoCASE website.
Accredited Installers
If you're looking for reputable installers to carry out insulation measures or to renewable energy, visit the following websites:
- www.trustmark.org.uk
- www.mcscertified.com (renewables only)
The Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust have several resources to help SMEs reduce carbon and strive for Net Zero.
Ensure your staff understand why energy use is so important, and teaching them how they can reduce this at work. Take a look at this guide on how to create an employee awareness campaign is:
Carbon Trust - Creating an Awareness Campaign
Business energy tariffs
Finding the cheapest available fuel tariff for your needs is crucial to managing your energy costs. Ofgem has provided a useful guide to help you understand how to do this:
Switch Energy Supplier and Save
ESOS – Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme
For businesses with more than 250 employees and/or an annual turnover in excess of £44m , the Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme applies. This is a mandatory scheme to carry out energy assessments to identify where they could make savings on their energy use/costs.
To find out more about this obligation, look at this government guide to implimenting ESOS:
Alternatively, businesses that have implemented ISO50001 are automatically qualified through the ESOS scheme. ISO50001 is an energy management system appropriate to most businesses, giving them a formal structure through which they can control their energy use.
New Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) Regulations
From April 2023, new regulations will prohibit landlords from renting out commercial properties with an EPC rating of F or lower. More info here.