Put staff on a green learning curve
Tom Young looks at how firms can encourage employees to be more environmentally aware
Educating staff about the benefits of greener working practices is key to reducing energy consumption and reducing costs, experts are advising.
The third point of Computing’s Green Charter focuses on communicating environmental benefits and working practices to employees.
Geraint Day, head of health, environment and transport policy at the Institute of Directors (IoD), says developing an environmental mindset in the office is essential to achieving greener working practices.
‘It is important to get people to understand that individual behaviour has a collective outcome,’ he said.
‘It is the problem of getting someone into that sort of routine, as well as providing the facilities for them to do it. For example, you need recycling facilities if you want people to recycle.’
A survey conducted by energy firm Npower shows that 75 per cent of companies do not get staff to turn the lights off when they leave the office, and 50 per cent do not encourage staff to switch off monitors when they leave at the end of the day.
David Titterton, head of marketing at Npower Business, says many office workers are unaware of the difference they can make.
‘It is about keeping the issue in people’s consciousness. If you tell them that every £75 they save on their energy bill is equivalent to a tonne of carbon being kept out of the atmosphere, then awareness of those kind of dimensions helps them to understand the impact of switching off machines,’ he said.
‘It is not that people don’t want to do it; it is about creating a mindset.’
There are a number of ways to create this state of mind in the office. First, the company itself has to set an example.
‘We switch off our neon signs at night, our printers are set to print double-sided, and we discourage people from printing as far as possible. We use projectors for meetings rather than notes, and most of our paper is recycled,’ said Titterton.
Standard Life’s Bill O’Day says education is one of the most important points of the Charter. ‘Raising awareness makes good business sense as well as energy savings,’ he said.
It is not just switching off electrical equipment that can make a significant difference.
The National Energy Foundation (NEF) recommends that staff take responsibility for turning down the office thermostat in the summer, making sure heating grills and radiators are not blocked, cleaning lights so they are more efficient, and filling kettles only with the water needed.
British Airways believes it is important to lead by example and provide sufficient facilities.
‘Every desk in our headquarters is equipped with a recycling box for paper, and every floor plate has additional facilities for recycling plastic cups, aluminium cans, cardboard and items such as empty photocopier cartridges,’ said a spokeswoman.
‘Staff are regularly reminded to switch off computers and monitors when not in use, and we have an automated lighting system that shuts down when no movement is detected.’
Once the facilities are in place, educating staff is a cost-effective way to address the issue of saving energy, says Nigel Montgomery, director of research at analyst AMR Research.
‘The smaller companies have been spending more time on educating staff because it is a cheap and easy way to address issues. Sixty-odd per cent of companies we talked to are taking action in this area, to varying degrees,’ he said.
Montgomery says the possible problem of enforcement must also be considered.
‘It is difficult to enforce because you don’t know who leaves equipment on, and to what end do you then wish to chastise them? This is more about trying to educate people’s moral obligations rather than enforcing regulations,’ he said.
‘The environmental training can help identify people who are keen, and engender a feeling of responsibility in the workplace.’
The NEF recommends that organisations appoint an ‘energy champion’ for each office, who can be given permission to switch off equipment and be charged with reading meters and plotting energy consumption each week or month.
The Green Charter in full:
computing.co.uk/greencomputing
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Further Reading: