While research shows that businesses are embracing energy
efficiency to achieve cost savings, longer payback periods
due to lower market prices can make it difficult to get the
support of the board.However,Dave Lewis at npower says
that investing in the right areas is essential if maximum cost
and carbon savings are to be achieved

ACBI report in November predicted
the recession will change business
practices for the better. It suggested
businesses will be more cautious about their
investments and take more considered action
in terms of financial management. It made
for interesting reading, but given the speed
and ferocity at which the credit crunch took
hold and led to recession, it perhaps comes
as little surprise that businesses are looking
ahead with a fresh, but more cautious
perspective.

We have seen a change in business
behaviour in our own research, the npower
Business Energy Index (nBEI6) – our annual
report into business opinion on energy use
and carbon emissions. In the Index, 80% of
businesses said they had increased energy
efficiency initiatives and the importance
attached to energy efficiency was at its
highest since 2005. Action was taken with
very much a cost focus in mind – 97% said
they were more concerned with the cost
benefits of energy efficiency than reduced
CO2 emissions.

Maintaining
momentum
Energy efficiency is an
excellent means to save costs
and it is encouraging that so
many businesses have turned
to this as an important tactic
during the recession. The
important thing now is
maintaining momentum
and making sure efficiency
measures are not relegated
as confidence returns to the
economy. This will be
important for ongoing cost
savings, crucial to any
recovery plans, and also to
reduce emissions in line with legislative
changes. The Carbon Reduction
Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme, for
example, will place new requirements on
businesses to reduce their carbon emissions,
alongside the general move toward more
sustainable operations.

The challenge for many businesses will be
identifying where to make improvements.

The actions taken during the recession
tended to focus on the quick wins – staff
education, switching off unused equipment
and so on – which provide an immediate
impact to the bottom line.We predict
businesses will now need to look at long
term measures.With companies now more
risk adverse in their investment choices, these
actions will need to be planned carefully
based on cost, and the contribution they will
make to cost and emission reductions.

Collaboration
CBI director general, Richard Lambert,
believes the new post-recessional business
world should be more focused on
collaboration and long-term relationships
with stakeholders.We are working more
closely with our customers to provide advice
on energy efficiency alongside energy supply
and partnering on plans to reduce
consumption. One of the most common
questions we are asked is ‘where shall we
invest and how much will it cost’.

Journey
Our m3 service (measure, monitor, minimise)
has been developed to guide businesses
through a series of planned efficiency
measures, each step a contribution to
improving energy management and reducing
consumption. This starts with capturing data
through smart meters, ultimately arriving at
a destination where all parts of the business
are focused on energy efficiency – an energy
management journey if you like.

One of the most important steps along
this journey is capitalise, a stage dedicated to
the implementation of improvement to
equipment and systems to achieve long term
efficiencies. Capitalise comes in once a
business has data on its energy use and is
faced with using this to make informed
decisions. The Capitalise product converts
high-level concepts or opportunities and
supports customers through to successful
project completion.

It focuses on implementation of effective
energy management. npower works with
organisations to identify opportunities and
manages projects through to completion.We
work with companies to help them drive
lower energy consumption in the same way
an in-house energy team would do. Projects
include refrigeration, lighting and HVAC.

Projects can be tracked using encompass,
npower’s monitoring and targeting tool, which
shows the carbon and consumption savings
made, proving the return on investment.

A key component of Capitalise is that it
provides the expertise to bring best practice
technology which is linked to robust verification
procedures and npower’s encompass tool, to
ensure the success of the programme.

npower can also provide support with
sourcing equipment; project implementation
including the decommissioning; installation;
and testing and re-commissioning of energy
equipment and systems across multiple sites
– a level of interaction echoed by the CBI’s
comments on collaboration.

The expertise and focus placed on
implementation of projects means that we
are able to operate on the basis of
performance for these services. We would
only seek payment from the customer on the
basis of real value delivered from project
implementation.

If efficiency measures are to be truly
effective and if businesses are going to make
the most of their money, a clear process for
the management and implementation of the
most valuable projects should be established.