Energy savings:A virtual journey

According to the Carbon Trust employees could save UK businesses and public bodies £500m and two million tonnes of CO2 with the help of a new, online office tool called Carbon Trust Empower.

By engaging employees in cutting energy use, paper waste and travel, Carbon Trust says the tool has the potential to save a typical small business over 15% of its energy bill or more than £6K per year. Larger businesses, it says, could save £150K and 500t of carbon dioxide annually.

The online tool enables employees to make practical commitments through an interactive animated tour of a typical workplace, which can provide the springboard for larger organisations to raise the bar through ambitious internal behavioural change programmes. Employees are able to explore energy saving opportunities throughout their office - starting by considering how they arrive for work, with options to join a company carpool or travel by public transport, before moving on to their desk, where they can commit to switch off their PC when not in use, print double-sided, and teleconference rather than travel. The virtual journey helps staff cut energy waste in other parts of the office too.

Empower provides various workplace facts and lets office managers view the sum of their employees' individual energy savings.

Whitbread has signed its staff up to use the tool.With a target to cut CO2 emissions by 26% by 2020, it believes Empower will help its teams understand how they can work together in the quest to reduce energy consumption.