68% of respondents said they needed help to develop an energy management strategy


DO YOU AGREE WITH THESE STATEMENTS? I know exactly how much my energy bill is


I would like to have a better grasp of why our bill costs what it does We need help identifying options for reducing our energy bill As an organisation we need to be more focused on our energy bill


As an organisation we need to focus more on our long-term energy use and costs, rather than monthly bills


Other


installed to regulate consumption, while smart meters monitor energy usage in real time and identify clearly where savings can be made. As part of its commitment to cut car- bon emissions, the government has set a target for smart meters to be installed in at least 30 million homes and businesses by 2019. In spite of this, 40% of respondents said they were not aware of smart meters. Of the 44% of businesses who do have them, 31% found them useful, but 13% admitted they needed more edu- cation on how to use them effectively.


FACING CHALLENGES Seventy per cent of respondents said that a lack of visibility of data and information was a challenge when trying to manage energy use – some- thing that a smart meter can easily address. The statistics also seem to indicate that even those organisations who do have smart meters are per- haps not making the best use of them. Less than half of respondents (43%) said they were actually confident about managing and analysing the energy data available to them. When asked what smart meter ben- efits would be most useful to their business, respondents ranked the top three reasons as helping to bring down the cost of energy use, provid- ing insights into energy use across their business and only paying for the energy they use, with real-time billing.


LACK OF UNDERSTANDING In terms of energy culture within lei- sure businesses, many respondents felt that a better education programme around energy saving was needed,


AGREE 61% 72% 68% 76%


86% 13%


with 87% feeling there was a lack of understanding among key personnel within the organisation. Only a third of respondents (33%) thought that their budget for energy management was sufficient enough to be effective. Going forward, businesses reported a range of energy efficiency meas- ures that they hoped to install over the next 12 months. Implementing an employee behavioural change pro- gramme around energy saving was a priority for 25%, while 23% were look- ing to install a smart meter. Other measures cited were addressing heat- ing, lighting and ventilation (18%), and improving gas and electrical systems (14%). Only 2% of survey respondents were considering a bigger investment in microgeneration (solar panels, bio- mass boilers, etc), while 18% said they weren’t looking to implement any new measures. There are clearly savings to be made, as 25% of respondents said improvements they had made in the past year had saved them £10,000 in energy charges, while 12.5% had achieved a £4,000 saving. The biggest barrier to investing in


energy efficiency measures was, per- haps not surprisingly, a lack of capital (54%), followed by a lack of knowledge about energy efficiency (41%) and a perception that such changes would be too expensive (32%).


Twenty-five per cent of managers said they were too focused on cost cutting in order to save in the longer- term. It appears some businesses are failing to see that low-cost measures (smart meters, staff behavioural pro- grammes) can bring them some of the cost reductions they seek.


Find out more: www.britishgas.co.uk/business 0845 955 5820


43% of respondents were not sure what to do with the energy data available to them


WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING COSTS DO YOU FEEL BEST ABLE TO MANAGE IN 2012?


Energy


Staff costs Equipment


Buildings / property


Commodity & input prices Other


38% 58% 60% 47% 5%


13%


CHANGES ON THE HORIZON The potential for businesses to make energy savings will become even greater with the introduction of the government’s Green Deal later in 2012. This will make a whole range of opportunities available for homes and businesses to invest in energy effi- ciency improvements with little or no up-front cost. Alongside this, major UK energy suppliers such as British Gas have developed new Energy Performance Contracts (more details on page 8) which could revolutionise how larger scale businesses fund their energy improvements in the future. Such changes are set to offer great potential for businesses to significantly cut the cost of their energy consump- tion year on year, and yet 65% of leisure businesses reported that they were unaware of the Green Deal. When asked if they would invest in


energy saving measures if a supplier like British Gas took on all the risks, putting up the finance so there were no up-front costs (investment is repaid through the monthly savings achieved on the energy bill) an overwhelming 77% of respondents said in they would be incentivised to adopt new energy efficient technologies. l


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