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Low Carbon Business Q & As

Submit your questions to business@oxfordismyworld.org

Should I leave my door open and do 'hot air curtains' prevent heat loss through open doorways?

More environmentally aware consumers are starting to question shops on their 'open-door' policies. Many shops now have a 'thermal blanket' of hot air blown down in their doorways in an effort to prevent the warm air inside escaping through open doors.

Michael Esvelt of the Oxford Brookes Environmental Information Exchange comments:

"Shop doors being kept open during cold weather is an energy drain. The thermal blanket concept actually works better for open chiller units rather than doorways. In fact, many over door heaters are quite inefficient.

However a lot of it has to do with perception; small high street shops with a single door tend to feel the need to prop it open to increase custom. Even many charity shops, who understand the heat loss and costs, choose to leave the door open in certain locations. Some have even measured the difference in number of customers with open vs closed doors."

One categorical fact is that a closed, and preferably draught-proofed, door (or two), will prevent heat loss much more effectively than a hot air blanket.

So how can retailers show they are 'open for business' without an open door?

It sounds obvious but having a clear 'Open' sign and using enhanced lighting to highlight that they are open is a money and carbon saving alternative.

Even an artificially lit 'Open' sign is better for the planet (and fuel bills) than an open door. But by having two doors in series retailers can have the best of both worlds; keeping the outer door open, to tempt in customers, while keeping the inner one closed to prevent heat loss.

Finally there's no doubting that clear infomation about opening times and a eye-catching sign outside the door can help attract and retain customers whatever the weather!

Does turning a fluorescent light on and off use more energy than leaving it on?

This is a strangely persistent myth, which dates back to the bulbs used in the 1940s!

According to Michael Esvelt of the Oxford Brookes Environmental Information Exchange nowadays even the worst flicker start lights use only about 0.5 - 2 watts extra for less than 3 seconds to start up.

"As most fluorescent lights use 10 - 20 watts / hour leaving them on when not in use is a clear waste of energy."

However... (as always) things are never as straight-forward as they seem. Michael goes on to add.

"Over time the inner coating of fluorescent tubes become less effective (by about 15%) at fluorescing, and excessive switching on and off can contribute to this.

Although a light can easily be switched on and off 10 times a day without reducing its light output. Further, tubes with tri-coated phosphor suffer from the least reduction in light output over time."

Worked out on a lifecycle basis turning flourescent lights on and off more than once every 15 minutes is not recommended from an energy / cost perspective as the reduction in bulb lifetime would not be made up for by the saving in energy.

Practically our advice for managers and employees has to be: "Turn lights out every time you leave a room" as, in most real-life situations, employees don't know when a room might be used next... it might be in 5 minutes but it also might be in 5 hours!

How can my organisation reduce the carbon emissions associated with our IT use?

This is a pressing question for all organisations but especially for IT intensive businesses and larger organisations.

Oxford City Council act as a useful case study as they have recently been studying their computing energy consumption as part of their Carbon Management Plan.

The council have recently installed a server virtulisation software which reduces the need for onsite servers (the one used by the council is called VMWare).

They have also installed a software programme that automatically shuts down all pcs after council offices have closed for the day. Machines still in use at that time will allow users to cancel the shutdown within a 10-minute period before they are automatically switched off (the software the council have chosen is called NightWatchman).

They are also looking into 'thin client' pcs which require less processing energy than a normal desktop computer. Finally they are are also sub metering their server room, experimenting with different air con regimes and looking into turning off non-essential servers overnight and at weekends.

N.B. All brand names mentioned above are for information only and do not act as a recommendation

A further option that organisations can consider is looking into 'data centre relocation', i.e. sharing IT services, such as server rooms or helpdesk capabilities, with similar organisations.

For councils this can mean other local authorities and for the private sector neighbouring organisations or those with similar requirements.

Finally one potential way to reduce emissions associated with IT use is to switch your electricity contract to a green tarriff. This means that all or part of your supply should come from renewable energy sources such as wind or wave power.

The proportion of renewable (green) to non-renewable (brown) will depend on the tarriff and supply company you choose, with some being 'greener' than others. More information about green tariffs can be found on the Consumer Focus website and you can compare green tariffs at Green Electricity Marketplace.

What funding or help is there to reduce carbon emissions from business travel, such as cycle loan schemes?

NATIONALLY

The Energy Saving Trust gives advice on fleet, including helping businesses to form green transport plans, advice on grants and funding. Visit http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/fleet/ or call 020 7222 0101 for details.

Bike for All give businesses details of how to set-up a cycle sacrifice scheme, you can download their guidance leaflet here.

The car share network is another good way of reducing emissions, visit

www.shareacar.com/ for details.

LOCALLY

Oxford Brookes University have set up ‘Oxshare’ with 234car, which is a car share scheme in partnership with other large employers in the region: www.234car.com/oxford/. Contact oxford@234car.com for more information or to request that your organisation is added to their list of participants.

There is also a carshare network for Oxford Science Park, see www.oxfordscienceparkcarshare.com/ for details and a carshare scheme in Culham: http://culhamcarshare.com/.

Oxfordshire County Council are responsible for travel and transport planning in Oxford and Oxfordshire. They have a section on their website with advice on creating a sustainable workplace travel plan, including conducting site audits, doing travel surveys, loan and car-sharing schemes and fleet management. Visit this link for details, call 01865 810474 or e-mail travelplans.team@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

Locally there are firms that supply alternative fuels for example Golden Fuels pick up waste cooking oil from local businesses and process it so it can be used as a low carbon alterative to diesel. Regenatec convert commercial diesel engines to run on bio-fuels.

Q: Why are businesses, especially SMEs, charged for recycling when they already pay business rates?

Business rates are collected central government with only a proportion going to local authorities; therefore this is maybe issue for businesses and trade associations on which to lobby central government.

What are the options available to help cut business waste and therefore carbon emissions?

NATIONALLY

Wrap give free advice on how to recycle at work, including a database of recycling service providers, see: www.wrap.org.uk/businesses/index.html or call 0808 100 2040 for details.

Envirowise offer workshops and free onsite visits to help businesses reduce waste, see www.envirowise.gov.uk/168836 or call 0800 585794 for details.

Envirowise also coordinate Resource Efficiency Clubs which are designed to help companies reduce costs through minimising waste and energy consumption, thereby saving money, whilst at the same time protecting the environment. See http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/clubs for clubs in the South East.

The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) is also a great way to look at sourcing materials and disposing of waste through business-to-business services. It engages in a collective approach to competitive advantage involving the physical exchange of materials, energy, water and/or by-products. Visit www.nisp.org.uk/region.aspx?region=5 for details of the South East Region activities.

LOCALLY

While Oxford City Council are responsible for collecting business waste, details of their recycling rates can be found at www.oxford.gov.uk/environment/recycling-businesses.cfm or by calling 01865 252908 or e-mailing tradewaste@oxford.gov.uk.

Oxfordshire County Council are responsible for the disposal of waste in Oxfordshire and provide advice, workshops and some free audits on reducing waste and have free commercial waste reduction packs, for post or download. Call 08450 50 45 50, e-mail: waste.management@oxfordshire.gov.uk or visit this link for details.

The Oxfordshire Sustainable Business Partnership also provide support and funding to help businesses reduce energy and waste emissions. E-mail: sustainable.business@oxfordshire.gov.uk or call 01865 810480.

The Environmental Information Exchange also perform waste audits and sometimes have funding to do free audits. Visit http://www.brookes.ac.uk/eie/quickwaste.htm, call 01865 483299 or e-mail eie@brookes.ac.uk for details.

What are the carbon emission associated with a tonne of waste?

At the moment the figures is very contentious are emissions from waste depend on the type of waste and the conditions and location of the disposal site. The very rough rule of thumb is approximately 0.27 Tonnes CO2 per tonne of waste.

Where can I find information about retrofitting a heat exchanger for into a period office building?

You may find these links, from the Energy Saving Trust and Carbon Trust websites, useful:

Heat Recovery

Mechanical Ventilation

Energy Efficient Ventilation: Good Practice Guide

Ventilation Factsheet

Plus these websites are a good source of information and advice on environmental refurbishment and renovation:

Green Building Forum

Ecovation

Submit your question on low carbon business to: business@oxfordismyworld.org

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