If your business is based in an old building, there are plenty of benefits for your workforce, but also issues to overcome, such as energy efficiency, which can be tackled with insulation window film as a start. However, there’s lots more you can do to beat the problems of ‘legacy’ buildings, just look at these tips from the Telegraph.
You may know that your older building is inefficient when it comes to energy, but it’s good to know why. According to Simon Clouston, technical director for sustainability and energy at consultancy WSP, it comes down to ‘fabric, technology and people’.
Fabric is the reason you’re probably most familiar with. Poorer quality, dated insulation in walls, floors and roofs make for accelerated heat loss, before even mentioning older single glazed windows which can be difficult to replace, especially in a listed building.
When it comes to technology, we’re looking at outdated systems and devices as the main cause of energy efficiency problems. Use of fluorescent lighting tubes are a big energy drain, but this also extends to effects more measurable by your staff, such as older heating and ventilation systems.
Tom Montali, business development director at E.ON, says HVAC and lighting are where we need to start moving forward: “if we are to achieve our energy reduction goals as a society, we must consider how we operate and ultimately invest in old, inefficient buildings.” Swapping fluorescent lighting out for LEDs can make energy savings between 30 and 50 per cent for example.
Of course, people play a huge part in energy savings too, so educating your workforce, and ensuring you have a system in place to ensure that lights and devices are turned off when necessary.
