Here are Ten Tips from the website www.MakeYourBuildingWork.com and emphasises practical solutions for business owners, managers and building operators to improve the and performance of their facilities.

Here are the tips to reduce energy consumption and costs in buildings.

1. Assess how your building consumes and wastes energy. Conduct regular energy audits to determine what condition your equipment is in and how it is performing. These audits will show where and how energy is being wasted and prioritize energy improvement measures.

2. Use more energy efficient equipment. Install new energy efficient equipment and replace or eliminate outdated, inefficient equipment. Look for Energy Star labels for equipment and appliances.

3. Match HVAC and lighting output to occupancy. Install programmable building controls that enable systems to provide light, heat and cooling to building spaces only when they are occupied.

4. Maintain equipment for maximum efficiency. Make sure that your equipment is properly serviced and maintained so that it runs as efficiently as possible. Increase operating efficiency of chillers, boilers and packaged cooling equipment through proactive service and maintenance.

5. Maximize lighting efficiency. Upgrade lighting to high efficiency bulbs and fixtures. Energy efficient lighting uses less energy and generates less heat, reducing your costs and easing the strain on your HVAC systems.

6. Measure water usage and waste. Conduct water audit in your facilities, campus, or geography to determine where water is being used and wasted. Reduce water consumption by installing low-flow equipment and fixing leaks.

7. Schedule cleaning during regular work hours. Experiment with different “day cleaning” schedules. Arrange cleaning schedules to overlap with work hours instead of having cleaning done after hours and keeping the lights, heating and air conditioning on at night. That will reduce energy consumption.

8. Insulate thoroughly. Insulate exterior walls, outlets, pipes, radiators, etc to reduce heat and cooling loss.

9. Meet LEED standards. Build, renovate, and operate your facilities according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. That will benefit your bottom line by lowering operating costs and increasing asset value. It will benefit the environment by conserving energy and water, reducing waste sent to landfills, creating healthier, safer occupant environments, and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

10. Make building occupants more informed. Educate and engage building occupants to promote energy conservation and reward wise energy decisions and behaviors.

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When Enigin Distributors start out in their own energy saving business they have dreams of becoming business leaders and Enigin are happy to help them to achieve this goal - but they also learn that there is more important things on life than just work and business.

Top performing entrepreneurs and business gurus add to their fame and fortune through publicity, books and speaking tours, amongst other strategies, but they rarely tell all.

They all talk about the need for vision, how to handle all sorts of people, how to face challenges and seeming disasters plus loads of other valuable stuff that are the ingredients and cliches of the corporate speaking circuit.

To reach top though sacrifices are required and the choice as to whether to make those sacrifices is left to each individual - a middle ground will suffice for most and shouldn’t be knocked. There is more to happiness than a great balance sheet.

Why is such a great sacrifice needed, consider some of the points you often do not hear business guru admit to:

Sleeping on planes and dealing with jet lag. In most, if not all large organisation, a business leader will spend a large amount of time on planes. The routine is simple: one glass of champagne and one melatonin pill forty minutes before take off, and sleep all the way. Business class is not for fancy meals and watching movies: it is for work or sleep.

Working in vehicles. If you need to be able to work in taxis and cars, or you will waste more time than you can afford. Staring out of the window mindlessly is not good.

Dieting. Business leaders are surrounded by biscuits and other high sugar/calorie foods, plus the lunches, dinners and breakfasts. You need to start to love fruit, or start exercising. If not you will die early as an obese alcoholic.

Ruthless time management: queues let leaders catch up with emails and phone calls; ditch or delegate everything you can; fix appointments around your diary, not around other people’s. A friend of mine spent a brief time waiting for a train with the business leader of a well known chain of pubs in the UK. He was amazed when this entrepreneur picked up a lot of legal documents and deeds and threw them in the trash - all he wanted were the profit and loss figures, he stated he had no time for the rest. You may not need ot go that far, but the guys business has gone from strength to strength since that time.

Work the politics. Find the right assignments, right support and right mentors. Set yours and others expectations well. Negotiate budgets hard. Wake up to the reality of corporate life.

Be  ambitious, for your business and yourself. Stretch yourself and your team to achieve more than ever; keep on learning and growing. Don’t accept excuses, don’t be a victim: take responsibility.

Learn to speak well. To small groups, to individuals and to large groups. Most people find this very hard, visiting the dentist is preferable for some and often listening to such people can result in the same sentiment. Learn to speak in public, it is a skill anyone can develop - I have seen people who said they would never able to utter a word before an audience became very able public speakers who can hold the attention of thousands or just a few. So get on a course or become self taught in public speaking.

Put these qualities together you will become a driven individual which will not make you popular - it is your choice keep your humanity and all that means or become a business leader. What do you want out of life? Success or happiness, are the two separate? Usually they are in the business world and those who get to the top postpone their humanity and often do not get the breaks to ever achieve that true happiness - but their business life is a success.

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Businesses have realised that networking is vital since the first trade or barter. If you wish to grow your business you need to connect with people who need and want your services.

The problem is often people do not know they need your business as they do not know you exist - hence they do not know they want it!

“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door” is plainly untrue - they need to know where that door is and they need to know you have invented a better mousetrap, hence the need for marketing and networking.

So if you deal business to business you join your local Chamber of Commerce or Business Breakfast or Lunch Club to get your business card and name out there to the people who need your services. It is a good tactic but also slow and imprecise.

The problem with the above form of networking is that it is slow and time is money – the advantage of it is that ultimately people do business with people and generally with people they know and like.

So is there a better way? There is, a way to network with people quickly and affectively and a way to build relationships early on, which are often followed up with face to face meetings. The new very effective way of networking is on the ultimate network – the web.

Social networking and blogs, like this one, are the new way to market and sell your services, not as bluntly as having a “buy now” button but as a way of getting to know people who are interested in your products and services.

To realise the potential of social networking consider facebook, if it were a nation it would be the third largest in the world as it has 350,000,000 users!

Now you may think that most of them will not be interested in what you have to offer, for instance energy saving solutions for commerce, industry and the public sector, but out of such a huge “population” how many are businessmen and decision makers?

On facebook along with many other social media sites people will use filters to find out what they are interested in along with the right strategies you can also have Google pick up your social media persona to flag up particular search terms.

Also the sheer numbers involved mean that you are going to get more business. If you can speak to 50 people at a business networking lunch and come away with one good lead and a chance for an order what can you do when you network with 5,000 or 5,000,000 – the law of averages tells you that you will do more business – sell more services.

So start networking to day on the web – if it all a bit beyond you Enigin now offer to help Enigin Distributors to set up their social networking.

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The Enigin office buzzes with highly interactive people.

Enigin’s technical bods, creatives, marketing men, web developers, Pas, and Directors, plus they are always interrupting me — generally for valid work reasons but sometimes just to chat.

For whatever reason they are welcome but they’re distracting, and their needs are often a far lower priority than what I need to work on at that precise moment.
Here are 4 methods I have used to keep them at arm’s length, so I can complete my work and then go and distract them!

1. Use Outlook’s Autoresponder. The “out of office” autoresponder in Outlook isn’t just for when you’re sick or on vacation. Use it to let people know that you’re busy concentrating on a project and can’tt respond to email or phone calls today.
2. Dedicate “Me” Time. Use Outlook to schedule “meetings” through the day that block out time to do meaningful work. When people try to schedule time with you, they’ll have to work around the hours you’ve dedicated to yourself. And when you think about it, isn’t that a lot better than the usual approach, which is letting everyone else have first pick of any times they like from your day? It’s your day - take it back.
3. Get fake meeting reminders. Likewise, if you get pestered with a lot of random walk-ins, be sure to schedule “meetings” in advance so you can, when your phone or PC dings, say “sorry - gotta run to a meeting!”
4. Wear Headphones. I listen to music and online radio at work, and I’ve discovered a fascinating aspect of human psychology as a result. If I close my door to play music through my PC speakers, the door is not a very effective barrier - people knock and walk right in. But if I don headphones, there’s some sort of perception that visitors are violating “private time,” and they’ll come back later.

Try these strategies – see if they work for you.

Now back to work – I got distracted writing this blog.

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Do I replace one piece of equipment or system at a time? Or, should I do a comprehensive upgrade of my entire facility?

The answer will vary depending on each individual business’ situation. The age of your current equipment and facility systems, your type of business, your local utility rates, your hours of operation, and your access to capital are all key factors in what level of upgrade makes business sense.

One place to start is with low-cost and no-cost changes such as switching off lights, computers and other equipment when not needed or used, which is the advice your local Enigin Distributor would advise after monitoring your energy use by Enigin’s real-time energy management system Eniscope.

If cash flow is an issue, you may want to wait until a piece of equipment or system fails or is a certain number of years old before replacing it with an energy-efficient model, but is this wise. By monitoring through Eniscope what energy an individual piece of equipment is using, you can make an informed decision as to whether to upgrade or even retro-fit technology to the equipment into the system to save money through saving energy.

However, if you are building a new facility or doing a major remodel, you should incorporate energy-efficient upgrades into your design due to the lower incremental cost of “doing it right the first time.”

For an existing facility, it may come down to what is financially feasible for your business at a particular time. Ask your local Enigin Distributor if they can assist you in prioritizing your energy-efficiency projects.

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We tend to consider how much our air-con will be working as the days get warmer, and this should not be forgotten but hopefully we acted awhile ago to either replace an old inefficient unit or have an intelligent air-con controller fitter, before actually needed it so that when we switch the unit on it is not swallowing loads of money.

With that in mind now is the time to think about winter energy saving, warmth maybe be far from your minds at this time of year but it is now that you need to start insulating your homes and work buildings.

Also have your heating system checked out and add any energy efficiency upgrades, such as better controls and thermostats.

Check for gaps and spaces where heat can escape, costing you money, and fill them or make repairs to insulate further. Remember though not to seal your house/offices completely, it is not healthy for you or your building and if you have “real” fires they will not last without a constant supply of oxygen - the reason you have drafts when you have a fire.

Do any windows need fixing or replacing, particularly multiple glazing for insulation. Even warmer, heavier thicker drapes at windows can insulate the home well overnight - you need not hang them until the fall but start picking them out, or choose thermal liners for your curtains.

To get down to the most basic items for energy saving - clothes. Are your winter woolies and clothes fit for next winter. Instead of turning the thermostat up a notch put on a fleece or a jumper and early summer can be a good time to buy winter warmers in the sales.

Also check your lighting, in winter the shorter days means lighting is left on for longer, do you have the appropriate energy saving fitting and bulbs? If not gradually changes them throughout the summer.

These are all low key and cheaper ways to reduce your energy bill and protect the environment. At Enigin we advise end user to examine their energy use and make low and no-cost savings before concentrating on the more expensive ways to save energy - that they benefit right away through a few minor adjustments.

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Proper energy management will keep all systems running efficiently. An energy audit of electrical heating and cooling includes checking insulation, draft stopping, windows and doors, as well as the overall envelope of the home.

This assessment will determine the efficiency of the heating and cooling system and how to conserve energy. Corrections in the systems will save homeowners time and money.

Air conditioners are 50 percent more efficient today than ever before. Office managers and homeowners can cut up to half or more of their electricity bill when installing a high efficiency air conditioner.

Planned maintenance is important to keep air conditioners and heating systems operating at peak efficiency, systems must be maintained to keep energy costs lower.

Heating systems should be checked in the autumn just before winter and full use of heating begins, and in early spring air conditioning systems should likewise be checked.

At Enigin we provide commerce, industry and the public sector with leading edge solutions that enable energy saving to be not just a flash in the pan but a continuing process with automatic and intelligent controls for many systems and appliances.

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Of course if you are in business or responsible for an organisation spending thousands on your utility bill, your best bet would be to contact us at Enigin and we can help you to save money and energy.

But how about when we are at home, we too face rising costs. Like we have all being doing in the past 18 months or so we have reduced our cost of living.

Here are some tips gleaned from the web that claim to save you up to 72% on your utility bills, but how?
By taking some simple steps .

Reduce Consumption

Change all your light bulbs from incandescent to energy efficient fluorescent bulbs.

If you have a second freezer in your garage or utility room consider whether you  really need it. Can you use just the one freezer?

Use fans rather than your air conditioner.

Use space heating to heat only the room you are in as opposed to the entire house.

Use a clothes line or laundry rack instead of an electric dryer.

Replace Inefficient Appliances

If your refrigerator is over eight years old or more, then replace it with a newer, energy efficient one.

The same applies for other appliances, although some will claim this doesn’t make sense  as to will have to spend money, often a lot of money, to save money? Consider the detail, A initial expenditure of £1,000 today, could well have a lifetime calculated value of more than £3,250 in energy savings.

Generate Your Own Electricity

There are “do it yourself” solar and wind generation products available for self install. Some cost just a few hundred pounds.

Using these do it yourself products will enable you to reduce your electric bill because now you are making your own power. Although you will not be able to fully eliminate all your power it provide savings on your current utility bill.

If there is a feed-in tariff in your area you can even feed any extra power you have from time to time back to the utility company and get paid by them!

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What an Energy Audit Does
An energy audit examines the electricity used by appliances, as well as letting you calculate the amount of insulation you have to let you understand how much of the heat in the building might be escaping thanks to poor insulation.

All in all, it will paint a picture that will, in many instances, frighten you a little as you learn just how much energy you’re actually wasting, and the lack of energy efficiency in your appliances and insulation.
Although the energy audit works with electricity, if you heat or cook with natural gas the calculations on insulation will give you an indication as to how much you’re losing in heat.

How To Conduct An Energy Audit
The idea might sound quite complex, but it’s actually easy to conduct an energy audit, especially in the home, where there are fewer appliances (i.e. fewer computers, printers and everything else you’ll find at a business).

A number of retailers offer power meters, a small gadget that lets you measure the wattages used by different appliances when you plug them into it. Be sure to measure everything - oven, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer, computers, TVs and so on, even down to your electric iron.

What you’ll almost certainly notice very quickly is how low on energy efficiency your appliances probably are. Most of them suck up energy, even when they’re just on standby - if you ever needed an incentive to make sure appliances are fully off when not in use, an energy audit will do the trick.

It’s important that you don’t forget the lights, which can make up almost one-third of your electricity bill. You can’t measure with the power meter, but you can come up with a good estimate of how many kilowatt hours are used. With each bulb, all you have to do is multiply the number of hours it’s on each day by the wattage (60 watts multiplied by four hours comes to 0.24 kwh or 240wh, for instance). Do that for every single bulb in the house and you have one day’s usage. Now you need to multiply that by 365 to come up with a figure for the full year - and it’s virtually certain that the energy usage of your bulbs will be a lot higher than you imagined, although you can greatly reduce it by replacing all the bulbs with the newer, energy efficient type or incandescent bulbs.

Insulation And An Energy Audit
Performing an energy audit on your insulation is somewhat more complex, since there are many factors that have to be taken into account. However, you can find a good template at http://www.resurgence.org/resources/heac.html, and it will likely tell you that you can save a lot more by increasing the amount of insulation that you use.

Using The Results Of Your Energy Audit
Your energy audit will show you exactly where you can lower your electricity usage (as mentioned, there’s no real way to lower natural gas usage, short of cooking less, if you have a gas cooker, or lowering your thermostat if your building uses gas to power the boiler). You might learn that you can easily save money by replacing old appliances with newer ones offering greater energy efficiency ones that would quickly pay for themselves, or by moving to an electricity supplier that uses renewable sources, as many do these days.
It will make you consider just how much energy you consume without thinking, which can mean, in turn that you use less, and become more focused on energy efficiency in your life. If you’re serious about lowering your carbon footprint, an energy audit is a great way to begin.

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Discover how much carbon you are emitting on a yearly basis. You can do this by visiting the many different websites, if you do a search you will find the resources online that you need - try this link: Energy Saving Trust carbon calculator.

Once you have calculated the annual output then begin to start cutting back.

The average western European household emits over 6 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year.

There are simple steps to take to reduce your carbon footprint, and you will also save money.

With the price of oil, gas and electricity continually on the up, many people struggle to afford to heat their homes adequately.
More energy efficient steps will be posted soon.

Start Saving Money

Your energy supplier

Look at your bills to see how much energy per Kilowatt hour (kW/h) you are paying. With the energy supplier market still relatively competitive, it is worthwhile shopping around for a new tariff which may suit your needs better.

Most companies have a two tier system, with a price for an initial number of units used and a lower price for units over and above. Prices can vary for online applications and loyalty discounts are given to incentivise you to remain with the same supplier.

Investigate green tariffs so you will reduce your carbon footprint by using these suppliers.

Other tips coming soon….

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