Now we know that not everyone is a tree hugging eco-warrior but, the majority of people are willing to do the small things to be a little bit greener. The Carbon Trust puts out a lot of material on energy efficiency and as a company interested in this area we are always keen to see the findings of their research.

One article in particular caught my attention, it talks about the fact that UK employees want to help their employers save money through energy efficiency – “78% (of employees) willing to be more energy efficient to save money.” How do you leverage this will to be greener - if energy use is ‘invisible’ to the occupants in a building, there is less of a feeling of responsibility towards being energy efficient. People do not always think about the consequence of their actions or inaction (leaving lights on etc). The solution is to make energy use more visible to provoke thought and action.

The article went on to point out “our survey reveals, employees want to do their bit and are increasingly seeing saving money around the workplace as part of their responsibility too.  This could help most businesses save up to 20% on energy bills through low cost or no cost action on energy efficiency.” – Compelling evidence that empowering employees through awareness would lead to saving money and reducing the impact on the environment.

The article made me think how important awareness and feedback is in this process. Without feedback it would be like driving a car, trying to work out how fast you are travelling – without a speedo. Imagine if everyone in the organisation was made aware of how much energy they were using throughout the day, in an engaging and interesting way, people would think about things like turning off lights and monitors – it would influence behaviour.

The Carbon Trust has a mandate from the government to reduce carbon emissions in UK households and businesses by developing new technologies and improving energy efficiency. They also provide loans on and funding on energy saving equipment, find out more on their website.

-Aaron