My first publication! I've put down my approach to energy management based on my 20 years of experience in the energy sector. Simple and forthright.

1. The Business Owner’s
Essential Guide to
ENERGY
EFFICIENCY
Everything you need to build a more
ethical, more profitable business
Phil Evans

2. The Business Owner’s
Essential Guide to
ENERGY
EFFICIENCY
Everything you need to build a more
ethical, more profitable business
Phil Evans

3. Copyright © 2011 Phil Evans.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise
without the prior permission of the author(s).
Edited by Tom Stevenson.
Designed and printed by NABO.
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4. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
Contents
Introduction .................................................... 4
Why your business needs to be
energy efficient .............................................. 7
Understanding compliance (or Using
Compliance to Improve Efficiency) .............. 11
How going green can save you money
and improve your business ......................... 15
Establishing credibility ................................ 19
Your carbon footprint ................................... 22
Conclusion ................................................... 26
About Green Bridge ..................................... 27
A Special Reader Offer ................................ 29
Testimonials ................................................. 30
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5. Phil Evans
Introduction
Consumers and customers have a far
greater understanding of the impact a poorly
managed business has on the environment
than ever before. And because of that,
along with the increasing need to validate
environmental or carbon management
credentials, it’s more important than ever for
businesses to implement a robust energy &
environmental policy. Unfortunately, although
many businesses understand this in principle
and have taken some action, they rarely
change the way they do things from top to
bottom and are unlikely to involve the very
people who can have the biggest impact.
It’s unfortunate, but that’s how it is. Many
businesses start with good intentions and
develop some form of ‘green’ policy but
fail to act with any real conviction. This
means that the policy loses credibility
and those employees who could actually
make a difference are not motivated to do
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6. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
so. Even service providers, like those who
undertake maintenance and other facilities’
management functions, are not made
responsible for meeting energy reduction
targets. This is absurd, as it is precisely these
kinds of organisations that are ideally suited
to make huge savings (including financial,
energy and carbon savings) for their clients
by just adapting what they already do.
I’ve spent more than twenty years helping
businesses develop and implement
environmental and energy strategies and feel
it’s more important than ever that business
owners begin to understand that a green
business is a profitable business and it is
worth investing in.
That’s why I’ve compiled the most essential
things I’ve learnt throughout my career and
now advise my clients on in this booklet. My
aim is to help you understand how energy
efficiency can not only save you money, but
improve your business as well.
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7. Phil Evans
Remember, although environmental
awareness is rapidly changing the way we
do business, we should look at this as an
opportunity. When you have finished reading
this booklet you will see exactly what I mean.
Phil Evans
Phil Evans
Green Bridge
6

8. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
Why your business needs to
be energy efficient
The most obvious reason is the financial
benefit. An energy-efficient building is so
much cheaper to run than one left in the
hands of those with no energy management
experience. Think of all the people and
companies who work in, or on, your building
– how many of them actually know (or care)
about the cost of running it?
Although building services (air conditioning,
heating etc.) are generally not a high priority
issue (unless they’re not working) it just
makes good business sense to invest in their
upkeep. I’ve seen too many organisations
cutting maintenance budgets and employing
the cheapest engineers to look after their
building assets, resulting in costly and
unpleasant places to be in. This short-sighted
approach means minimal maintenance
(and more often than not, poor quality),
which leads to the premature failure of
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9. Phil Evans
expensive pieces of equipment; reduced staff
productivity; poor energy ratings and risks
slow take-up of rentable space.
The bottom line is inefficiency is costing you
money and potentially losing you customers!
That’s just the beginning. Many business
owners fail to grasp that becoming energy
efficient is an incredible opportunity to set
themselves apart from their competition.
Increasingly, environmental legislation
is forcing companies to state their green
credentials and those that can prove they
perform well will be preferred by potential
clients or customers who also have to adhere
to their own environmental requirements.
There are still plenty of companies who see
environmental legislation as onerous; but
the truth is, if a positive approach is taken, it
will secure more business and help you keep
existing clients.
It’s really important for you to remember that
by demonstrating you’re energy efficient,
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10. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
you will immediately stand out from your
competitors.
In one of my previous roles I found
myself involved in a major programme of
refurbishment and I was trying to influence
the design of the buildings to be more
energy efficient and not just focussed on
the aesthetic. This was pre-recession, at a
time when there was less environmental
awareness than there is today. One of the
senior decision makers had a ‘marine’
background and in an effort to get my point
across, I used the following analogy…
If we were building ships and not refurb’ing
buildings, they would be sinking before they
left dock. We wouldn’t know how far they
could go, how much fuel they would use,
whether they could actually handle adverse
weather… you get the idea. Needless to
say, it didn’t go down too well and style won
over substance, leading to buildings that
were incredibly expensive to run and almost
impossible to maintain.
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11. Phil Evans
One particular organisation spent millions on
a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system as
they wanted to ‘go green’ and generate their
own electricity cheaper than they bought it
from the Grid. The trouble was they had not
considered the condition of their buildings
first (which were wasting 50% of the energy
they consumed) and therefore the system
was massively over-sized. Funnily enough,
the design and installation company were not
exactly interested in pointing this out. The
lesson here is, if you have money to invest
make sure you know where your energy
is being used and how much of it is being
wasted and put that right first.
When you decide to take action, do the simple
things first and make energy efficiency your
number one priority!
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12. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
Understanding compliance
(or Using Compliance to
Improve Efficiency)
The Energy Performance of Buildings
Directive, the Carbon Reduction Commitment
(Energy Efficiency Scheme), the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme, Climate Change Levy &
Agreements, Building Regulations Part L...
If you’ve heard of any of these, it’s probably
because you’re already involved, but that
doesn’t mean you should rest on your laurels.
You may well be affected by more than one of
them and could be no more than a misstep
away from a fine and some bad publicity.
The Energy Performance of Buildings
Directive (EPBD) has three requirements and
the one causing the biggest stir right now is
Air Conditioning Inspections. If you have air
conditioning in your building, you should have
already had it inspected and had a report
generated by an accredited inspector. As it
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13. Phil Evans
is a compliance issue, many businesses will
roll their eyes and say, ‘more money for old
rope’. Don’t look at it as an inconvenience –
look at it as an opportunity to identify ways to
improve the efficiency of a building, thereby
reducing running costs, initiating a shake-
up of any complacent service providers and
adding to the credibility of your business.
The industry press is still concerned that
most air conditioning systems have still
not been inspected. If you’re serious about
establishing your green credentials, it’s
essential that you remedy this, as your local
Trading Standards Officer will soon be paying
you a visit and asking to see your report. If it’s
not available you’re at risk of a fine, as well
as negative publicity that could damage your
green credentials.
In addition to the ACIs (Air Conditioning
Inspections), there are also EPCs (Energy
Performance Certificates) and DECs (Display
Energy Certificates).
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14. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
An EPC is required if you’re selling or letting
space in a building. So if you’re renting
space within an office block, did you ask
for the EPC? If not, you need to ask your
landlord for it as it will help you budget for
energy. Although you could argue that it is
not your concern, if you don’t have one, you
should certainly be concerned if you have
any sort of green policy in place. You will be
blowing holes in its credibility if you cannot
find the time to be compliant with a piece of
legislation that has been in force since 2008!
The DEC looks at the management and
operation of the building and needs to be
reviewed annually. The fact it is an annual
review is intended to force building occupiers
to frequently monitor their usage and take
action to improve it. If you leave the heating
on when the building is empty, or run air
conditioning when it’s cold outside...or worst
of all, if you run air conditioning and heating
at the same time, you will be wasting a vast
amount of money on unnecessary energy.
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15. Phil Evans
This will in turn be stated in the DEC and it is
this kind of bad publicity that will always find
a way into the media.
A DEC is aimed at public buildings at the
moment, but as the EU increases the
pressure on the member states to improve
energy performance and reduce carbon
emissions, you can be sure that the rules will
change and eventually all buildings will be
required to have an ACI, EPC and DEC. It’s
not unreasonable to assume that they will all
have to be renewed annually.
The message to take away is that whatever
you’re doing now to meet environmental
legislation, you should expect to be
‘encouraged’ to do more in the not-too-
distant future. The businesses that recognise
this, make a plan, budget for it and take
early action will be able to keep ahead of the
changes and look cool, calm and collected,
whilst their competitors struggle to stay in
control.
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16. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
How going green can save
you money and improve your
business
With the economy in its present state, any
opportunities to save money are welcome.
Every business can save money with good
energy management. I’ve carried out
hundreds of surveys throughout my career
and I’ve always found opportunities to reduce
energy costs by 20%. Actually, 50% savings
are possible, but it will mean investment and
a very critical look at every design strategy,
management technique, operating procedure
and maintenance regime. But in these
increasingly frugal times, any company that
wants to survive needs to look at every aspect
of its existence.
Even if you decide not to invest money in
slashing your utility bills, good housekeeping
and better management of the building
can be accomplished by providing energy
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17. Phil Evans
awareness training for your staff. This
provides an excellent return on investment,
and can even be accomplished for free with
the right approach.
There are a huge number of ways you can
train staff to shave down the cost of your
utility bills. But the most cost-effective
approach would have to be behavioural
change – simply getting your staff to ‘care’
about their work environment and making
them see that helping control costs is good
for them as well as for the company. Just
think how much you could save if your staff
adopted such simple habits as turning off
the lights when they weren’t needed, which
could develop into a much larger ‘switch-off’
campaign…
You may be thinking that it’s been done
before, or it doesn’t sound particularly awe-
inspiring. Nonetheless, remember that
gaining the support and cooperation of your
staff is essential for any initiative you want to
implement, spectacular or otherwise.
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18. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
Start with a staff awareness campaign. Ask
for volunteers and get them to drum up
some support from the rest of your staff
(better this way than giving them the sense
that Management are imposing something
on them). Make sure that there is visible
and verbal support for the volunteers from
the top brass and that means attending
the meetings, even if it’s just at the start
to warm up the crowd. Even if you bring in
someone to deliver the training and to guide
the volunteers, the savings will more than
cover the cost and the rest can be invested in
other energy saving initiatives. And yes, you
will need to spend some money if you want
continued support from your staff and the
campaign to have any credibility.
Picture the scene – you have a business with
a dedicated and engaged workforce who see
their employment with you as more than
just ‘turning up’. They want to work hard
and work for you. This can all start by simply
getting a group of them together, identifying
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19. Phil Evans
a common problem or goal and giving them
the support to fix or achieve it. Staff that feel
empowered are going to work harder and be
more productive. Once established, that kind
of ethos can make a huge difference to the
overall effectiveness (and profitability) of your
business.
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20. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
Establishing credibility
It’s all well and good proclaiming your
dedication to energy efficiency, but how do
you actually prove it? How do you establish
credibility?
A good starting point is ISO50001, which
is the international energy management
standard. It’s based on the same processes
and procedures as 9001 and 14001 so if you
have those you will recognise the format.
ISO14001 covers all aspects of environmental
management, including energy, but energy
has become so important that it has resulted
in its own management standard. And, keep
in mind that working towards 50001 will
result in energy-related savings that can help
to fund other cost-saving initiatives or even
the additional costs associated with attaining
ISO14001.
If your organisation has to go down the pre-
qualification questionnaire route before
being able to tender for work, then you may
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21. Phil Evans
have already come up against issues relating
to your company’s credibility. If you have
ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO18001, ISO50001,
Investors in People etc. then you will be able
to get past the PQQ and actually bid for work,
but attaining all of this is expensive.
My advice to you is to aim for ISO50001 first,
as you will become comfortable with the
ISO way of working. It will also result in cost
savings that can keep you moving forward.
Attaining an ISO is an obvious demonstration
of your organisation’s environmental
credentials. In addition, it will open doors to
potential clients that have more stringent
selection criteria and will make your company
far more attractive to your prospects. Don’t
miss the opportunity to use your new ISO for
keeping your company at the forefront of your
market by issuing press releases and other,
effective social media techniques.
There are numerous other environmental
awards and each professional or trade body
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22. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
has their own variation. Just remember
that once you’ve attained your ISO, you have
already won the ‘Oscar’. Before you go after
any other award, ask yourself if it is really
worth the effort – will it open new doors, or is
it just green bling?
So, there are serious opportunities afforded
by going green. By being able to demonstrate
that you have serious green credentials, you
can generate some excellent PR for your
business and vastly increase your profile...
just be selective about what awards you go
for.
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23. Phil Evans
Your carbon footprint
The whole issue of carbon is massive in the
UK now. Put simply, carbon equals energy.
The UK is committed to reducing its carbon
footprint by 80% by the year 2050. This
commitment means there are going to have
to be fundamental changes in the way that we
generate and use energy.
The Government is pushing generators to
produce greener electricity and they will
(eventually) make all businesses in the
UK more energy efficient (and therefore
reduce the carbon footprint) by continuing
to increase the cost of and legislation
relating to energy. If you don’t know what
your carbon footprint is right now, you had
better start gathering together the utility
bills for all your buildings (rented or owned),
the fuel used in your company vehicles and
(if that isn’t enough) identify what mode of
transport and how far your staff travel to
work. If you’re really keen, you should also
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24. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
start investigating your supply chain and
ask questions on their carbon footprint. The
carbon footprint can grow far beyond your
office and inevitably will if we are to achieve
the legally-binding target of 80% by 2050.
It therefore goes without saying that any
business needs to be considering their
carbon footprint right now if they are not
already. Whether you like it or not, you’ll have
to deal with this issue eventually. But rather
than waiting and having it forced on you, why
not treat it as another opportunity to show a
business differentiator?
If you’re not already affected, you may
be in the future by the Carbon Reduction
Commitment. Bigger UK organisations are
having to buy and sell tonnes of carbon
they emit through their use of fossil fuel
and electricity. So not only are they buying
electricity and gas to allow them to operate,
but they are paying for the pollution that
electricity and gas causes. Could there be a
more effective incentive to improve energy
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25. Phil Evans
efficiency, than the thought of, effectively,
paying for the same thing twice?
Actually, there is...
You’re already paying twice for the same
thing, now add to that the uncertainty of how
much electricity and gas will cost the next
time you have to renew your contract and the
uncertainty of how much a tonne of carbon
will cost if you have to buy extra to cover your
CO2 pollution. From now on, when you think
of carbon, you should think of the carbon
market. Like all markets, where there is
uncertainty, there is risk – and where there is
risk, there are higher costs to pay.
Those companies who choose to begrudgingly
accept all of this environmental legislation as
just more forms of tax, without recognising
that it is all aimed at fundamentally changing
the way we do business in the UK will, I
imagine, carry on as they’ve always done.
They are in for a mighty shock as they will
soon find themselves losing their existing
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26. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
clients and unable to acquire new ones, as
they can no longer offer out-dated carbon-
intensive services or products.
Those organisations who see the issue of
carbon as an opportunity either to make
money from being so efficient that they
can sell carbon credits, or are able to offer
alternatives to energy-intensive solutions will
become the successes of UK business.
So will it be survival of the fittest, or survival
of the greenest?
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27. Phil Evans
Conclusion
By now, it should be clear that making your
business energy-aware and efficient is the
right thing to do as we move ever closer to a
low-carbon economy.
I hope this booklet has been both interesting
and informative and provided you with a fresh
perspective on the issue of energy efficiency.
Remember, you should always look at
building a green business as an opportunity,
not a chore. If you bear this in mind when
implementing everything you have learnt, the
benefits will be enormous.
Good luck!
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28. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
About Green Bridge
My name is Phil Evans
and I’m the founder of
Green Bridge.
Throughout my 20 year
career I’ve worked in the
public sector, various
corporate organisations
and consultancies and have even been the
Energy and Environmental Manager for
Imperial College, London. The specialists I’ve
worked with, the clients I’ve worked for and
the experiences I’ve gained mean that I am
now an expert in energy and environmental
matters.
It’s because of these experiences that
I realised that, although energy and
environmental issues need addressing for a
whole range of moral and ethical reasons,
it was not being tackled with any serious
degree of commitment, always languishing at
the bottom of a company’s list of priorities.
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29. Phil Evans
My mission soon became clear: I needed
to make sure that companies could see
a financial advantage in tackling the
complexities of environmental compliance, or
the simpler (yet often ignored) issue of energy
efficiency.
It’s this that eventually led me to found Green
Bridge, to educate others about the value of
energy awareness and to equip them with the
means to implement it in their businesses.
My services emphasise simple, practical
solutions for the problems businesses face
with energy wastage. I don’t offer solutions
unless they make good financial sense and so
paybacks are calculated whenever possible.
This, coupled with my passion for my work
and years of experience, mean I am able to
offer all businesses a solution that fits their
specific energy needs.
Just visit my website to find out more…
www.greenbridgeservices.com
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30. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
A Special Reader Offer
If you’d like to find out more about
making your business energy efficient,
I’d be delighted to help you do it. In
fact, I’d like to offer you a consultation
over the phone, completely free, where
we’ll talk in detail about your business’
energy needs and what you could be
doing to both save money and protect
the environment.
To arrange your free consultation,
just contact me by email at
phil.evans@greenbridgeservices.com,
or give me a call on 07854791854.
I look forward to speaking with you!
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31. Phil Evans
Testimonials
“Phil is a very diligent and hard working
person and his expertise within the Energy
sector has proven to be invaluable. His
understanding of the engineering and
maintenance sectors enabled him to
develop and deliver energy based services
that complimented our core business. It
allowed us to differentiate ourselves from
our competitors. His experience has enabled
Westway to understand more about this
market and recognise the number of different
opportunities it provides to gain market
share.”
Andy Donnell,
Managing Director, Westway Services
“Enthusiastic, knowledgeable and committed.
Outstanding at building relationships with
clients.”
Ian Crosby,
Principal Consultant, AEA Technology
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32. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to Energy Efficiency
“I worked closely with Phil when he
undertook the role of Senior Energy Manager
supporting the EMCOR – GSK R&D account. It
was Phil’s drive, personality, communication
skills, leadership and most of all his
passion that sets him well-above his peers
and allowed him to succeed against very
demanding targets and time frames.”
Ian Van Nierop,
Divisional Director, EMCOR Facilities
Services
“Phil is a very approachable, hard-working
and straight talking, energy and business
professional. He is highly regarded in the
area of energy management and is well
networked. On the occasions that I have met
Phil, I have found him to be extremely well
informed and a pleasure to deal with.”
Andy Cartland,
Managing Director, Acre Resources
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33. Phil Evans
“I had the pleasure of working with Phil at
Westway Services. Phil has a huge amount
of enthusiasm and passion for his work. This
was very infectious and resulted in high levels
of morale for all that worked with him. I hope
our paths cross in the future.”
Andrew MacBride,
HVAC Engineer, Westway Services
“Phil is dedicated, driven and exceptional in his
chosen field of expertise along with commercial
astuteness. He is capable of formulating and
implementing strategy as well as excellent
tactical delivery. I would recommend Phil for
any Senior Executive role.”
Heidi Teague, Consulting Performance & MI
Manager, Johnson Controls
“Very experienced Energy & Project Manager.
Reliable, friendly, sees the job through to
fruition.”
Bob Jauncey,
Technical Development Manager, RWEnpower
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34. The Business Owner’s Essential Guide to
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Everything you need to build a more ethical,
more profitable business
Nowadays, businesses are expected to be more
environmentally friendly than ever before.
Unfortunately, there’s so much information floating
around and so many seemingly complex regulations
that teaching your business to ‘think green’ can seem
like an impossible task.
That’s why I wrote this book.
My name is Phil Evans and I’ve spent more than 20 years helping make
businesses more energy-aware. Contrary to popular belief, it is not only
possible, but easier and more cost-effective than you could ever imagine to
build a business that’s not only environmentally friendly, but profitable as well.
Inside you’ll learn…
• Why you need to be energy efficient – and why you should look it as an
opportunity
• Everything you need to know about compliance with environmental
regulations
• How to bring your workforce on board with energy efficiency
• How to make massive savings on your utility bills
• How carbon is changing the way we do business
• How to use your green credentials to generate publicity
And much more!
Whatever the nature of your business, these tips are guaranteed to help your
business boost both its green credentials and its profits.
www.GreenBridgeServices.com