6 energy saving tips for Retail Facilities that your CFO will love

As competition within retail continues to increase, and companies are encouraged to create more sustainable practices, we look at ways in which your company's triple bottom line can be boosted.

1.EMS/ BAS - Energy Management Systems and Building Automation Systems are both great way to reduce your energy consumption which leads to savings for retailers as well as reduced environmental impacts. These systems can be installed relatively inexpensively and for the most part are extremely intuitive.

2.LED lighting retrofit - This is something that has been going on for years now, but there are still thousands of properties being retrofitted with high efficiency LED lighting systems each year. The energy savings are incredible on the electricity needed to power the lights, as well as the reduced effort required of your HVAC systems due to less heat being produced. These bulbs last must longer than more traditional ones do so you will also experience savings in this area of your business.

3.Occupancy monitoring - I don't know about you, but one of the last things I do before leaving the house for an extended period of time, is adjust my thermostat setting. We don't have any pets so the house is unoccupied and my couch doesn't require a cool 68 degrees during the hot humid summers that we experience here in Kansas. The same goes for your stores. There is no need to have your store set points at comfortable levels when no-one is in the store. From closing to opening, most businesses have approximately 12 hours where they can dramatically reduce their energy usage.

4.Prescriptive maintenance rather than reactive - Technology advances continue to keep us on our toes while at the same time providing us with an incredible number of ways in which we can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our facilities. Sensors are now available that provide us with the information that we need to make changes to systems at exactly the time that they are needed. In the past there has been the reactive approach where you wait for something to break and then replace it, as you would with a light bulb. There has also been the proactive approach of replacing something after a certain time frame has been met, for example getting your car oil changed every 4 months. Prescriptive maintenance is where information is received notifying us of changes that should be made now to avoid system downtime. This means that the systems run more efficiently and are consequently use less energy.

5.Use of renewable energy resources - We are primarily talking about solar which continues to increase in popularity as the technology becomes cheaper over time. We recognize that this probably isn't available for the majority of businesses due to factors such as climate, building ownership, frequency of store relocation, and the high cost of installing such equipment, but thought it was worth sharing. If you have the opportunity to take advantage of this

6. Becoming PaperlessLess - in other words, going back to the good old days where paper ruled, computers weren't around, and everyone enjoyed lugging huge folders around with them. Ok, so this is probably the worst idea of the 7 proposed, but it would cut down on your energy bills without having those computers running up your electricity bill each day!

What are some other ways in which you are saving energy within your buildings? Are there innovative methods that you have in place that are leading to triple-bottom-line benefits? We understand that executing these ideas takes time, effort and resources, so our advice is to focus on one at a time. Try them out, see what works, and what doesn't, and continue to tweak things as technologies advance.

If you have a portfolio of stores that you feel are running inefficiently, we would be more than happy to provide you with a complimentary energy consultation. We have energy management systems available for you to test within your stores, energy providers who can audit your utility bills, architect partners who can help with the designing of energy efficient buildings, and engineering partners who can maximize the effectiveness of your mechanical systems. Schedule a consultation today to get the ball rolling, you have nothing to lose, apart from the money you are currently wasting due to inefficient systems!