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Energy saving ideas for business
Saving energy in your business can significantly reduce your operating costs and your impact on the environment.
Understanding your energy use and taking steps to become more energy efficient can benefit your business in a range of ways. Saving energy will help your business cut carbon emissions, reduce costs and enhance your image.
Energy efficiency and conservation should be a part of your business planning. There are many low-cost steps that businesses can take to start saving energy now, as well as more detailed actions that can happen over time.
This guide provides energy saving tips and Queensland Government programs to help your business save energy and adopt energy-efficient practices.
Tips for saving energy in your business
Whenever you save energy within your business you are also saving money. Electricity costs contribute to your business's financial bottom line so the more energy you save in your business the more profitable you can be.
Some energy saving actions, such as using more energy-efficient appliances, may involve an initial investment. However, this investment can often result in significant energy savings that will reduce your energy costs. Energy rating labels can help you to choose energy-efficient appliances, which can also save you money.
It is important that you take a close look at your energy costs and start to discover what areas of your business are using the most energy. Typically, equipment that involves heating and cooling will use the most energy.
Your business may benefit from an energy efficiency assessment. An assessment measures your current energy use and greenhouse gas emissions to provide priority recommendations for energy efficiency action.
Here are some energy saving tips and suggestions to help your business to reduce energy use and save on power bills. Read through this checklist and click 'Yes' or 'No' to create a list of actions to complete for your business.
Office equipment
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Lighting
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Heating, ventilation and air conditioning
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Refrigeration
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Compressed air
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Process cooling and refrigeration systems
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Solar power system
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Also consider...
- Discover more tips for saving energy in your business on the Ergon Energy or Energex websites.
- Learn more about business sustainability.
- Read more about the benefits of an environmentally friendly business.
- Read about energy efficiency for farmers and irrigators.
Energy saving programs
The Queensland Government has programs designed to help businesses save energy and adopt energy-efficient practices.
ecoBiz
The Business Chamber Queensland's ecoBiz program is a free service that helps Queensland businesses cut costs across not only their energy, but also water and waste bills.
The ecoBiz program also provides free benchmarking assistance to help track resource use, as well as one-on-one on-site coaching sessions with a sustainability expert to help identify opportunities to implement initiatives to cut energy costs, reduce carbon emissions and be more sustainable in energy, water, and waste.
Queensland Business Energy Saving and Transformation (QBEST) Rebates
The QBEST program provides rebates of up to $12,500 to eligible businesses to install energy-efficient equipment. The program will help your business reduce energy consumption and lower energy bills.
Check your eligibility and apply for the rebate.
Ergon Energy and Energex support programs
A range of other programs, run together with Ergon Energy and Energex, are also available to help businesses improve their energy efficiency. To find out more visit:
- Ergon Energy
- Energex
Also consider...
- Read about previous energy programs.
- Learn more about energy supply and pricing in Queensland.
- Read more about the environment and your business.
- Find out about the benefits of making your business environmentally friendly.
- Learn about innovation funding and support for businesses to become more sustainable.
- Visit energy.gov.au for best practice information on energy efficiency.
Previous energy programs
The Queensland Government committed to the Regional Business Customer Support Package (RBCSP) in 2016 and the Business Energy Savers Program (BESP) in 2018, to help regional Queensland businesses adjust to electricity tariff changes and improve their energy productivity.
The Business Energy Savers Program, an initiative under the Affordable Energy Plan, and included the Energy Savers Program Plus Extension (ESPPE) and the Large Customer Adjustment Program (LCAP). It followed on from the Large Customer Adjustment Trial (LCAT) established to assist customers moving from then obsolete tariffs to new standard tariffs. These 3 programs provided free energy audits for agricultural customers and large business customers, and provided co-contributions to fund energy efficiency solutions.
The programs provided energy audits for businesses covering a broad range of industry sectors that are vital to our economy, and advice to businesses on how they can reduce their electricity costs by using electricity more efficiently.
Together, the programs have delivered a total of 201 energy audits, which identified:
- potential energy savings of 10.9 million kilowatt hours (kWh)
- potential bill savings of $4.39M
- a potential reduction of 9,683 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) green-house-gases.
Energy Savers Plus Program Extension
This program provided free energy audits and funding to help 180 Queensland agricultural businesses improve their energy efficiency. Participants were selected to ensure representation from across the agricultural sector and rural and regional Queensland.
The Queensland Government worked with Queensland Farmers' Federation to deliver the program.
A range of case studies and information on farm energy efficiency, productivity and management is now available from the Queensland Farmers' Federation.
Large Customer Adjustment Program
Expanding on the Large Customer Adjustment Trial, the Large Customer Adjustment Program delivered additional energy audits to 11 regional large customers and co-contributions of up to $250,000 to encourage large electricity customers in rural and regional Queensland to implement the audit recommendations.
Large Customer Adjustment Trial
The Large Customer Adjustment Trial delivered energy audits to 10 regional large customers and co-contributions of up to 50% to encourage large electricity customers in rural and regional Queensland to implement the audit recommendations.
© The State of Queensland 1995–2024
- Last reviewed: 08 Sep 2021
- Last updated: 08 Sep 2021