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Energy Saving is for Life,
Not Just for Christmas
For many UK businesses, the ENDS
Sustainable Business 2011 report
makes for uncomfortable reading.
Amid fndings that carbon emissions,
energy intensity and electricity
have all increased over the last
twelve months, the report concludes
that UK business is ‘nowhere near’
its target of an 80% reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Judging by practises currently
exhibited by companies across the
country, this is not a surprising fnd.
It was revealed earlier this year that
businesses seem to be signifcantly
underestimating the fnancial beneft of
saving energy. This helps to explain why
the Carbon Trust found UK businesses
are still wasting an astonishing £1.6
billion a year on energy bills.
The energy consumed by UK
businesses contributes around 38% of
the country’s total carbon emissions,
and with better business practices a
large chunk of this could be avoided. In
a time of slow economic growth, these
savings would be a major step towards
businesses becoming more effcient,
more productive and more proftable.
So why does energy effciency
remain such a low priority for so many
organisations? In many cases, changing
the attitudes and behaviour of staff is
seen as too costly, too time consuming
or too diffcult. But the advice being
given on the most appropriate and
cost-effcient steps to take also needs
to be called into question. At this time
of year, most of that advice surrounds
the topic of insulation.
The Hot Topic
With winter looming, conserving heat
should be high on the agenda for UK
businesses. But surprisingly, despite a
wave of government-backed schemes
including the Renewable Heat Initiative
and the Green Deal, there remains
no funding incentive for companies
looking to invest in insulation
measures. Any organisation that truly
sets energy effciency as a priority will
have to bite the bullet and cover the
costs themselves.
Ian Penfold explains how low-e window flm
brings year-round savings in energy costs.
Whilst cavity wall insulation is a
positive step to take, and helps to
prevent heat loss to a certain extent,
businesses appear to be ignoring
another surface that takes up a
huge percentage of their wall space:
windows.
The outside walls of an offce
often consist more of glass windows
than they do anything else. This fact
becomes important when the relative
U value of each surface is taken into
account.
U-Value? U-what?
The U-value of a material defnes the
level of heat that can be transmitted
through it. In other words, the higher
the U-value, the more affected your
building will be by changes in the
weather. In most buildings, you only
have to reach out and touch the
surface of your windows to know that
an untreated glass surface has a far
higher U-value than an un-insulated
wall. Therefore in terms of insulation,
windows should be seen as the number
one priority for energy-conscious
companies this winter.
The most logical step, many believe,
is to install low-emissivity (low-e)
glazing. By absorbing a signifcant
amount of energy created by heating
systems inside the building, low-e
glazing is extremely effective at
preventing heat loss and keeping
energy bills down as a result. However,
low-e glazing requires a set of new
windows to be installed, a very
expensive and un-environmental
investment that will make a signifcant
impact on fnancial and energy ROI.
Fortunately, it isn’t the only option
that facilities managers can choose
from. A new product has emerged onto
the market that gives existing windows
a superior performance to low-e
glazing, and at a fraction of the cost
of replacement windows. Yet despite
the major difference it can make to
business energy performance, low-e
window flm may currently mean very
little to you.
Savings All Year Round
Window flm is a retroft product so
can be applied to existing windows.
This eliminates the need for a ‘rip
and replace’ upgrade that requires
old windows to be thrown away,
contributing to landfll and harming
your company’s environmental
responsibility. This is not just an easier
option; it’s also around 80% cheaper,
and by refecting 63% of interior
heat back into the room, there’s no
compromise on performance either.
Additionally, with window flm the
promise of energy saving extends
beyond the winter months, allowing
for reduced consumption when the sun
comes out, too.
Unlike most low-e glazing, low-e
window flm is able to keep the offce
warm in the winter and also cool in
the summer. By blocking a signifcant
amount of solar heat from entering
the building when temperatures are
high, interiors remain at a stable
temperature and the need for air
conditioning is reduced. Coupled with
its insulation benefts, the result is year
round comfort and a greatly reduced
energy burden no matter what season
it is. This can only be positive news for
a business’ effciency targets and, more
importantly, its bottom line.
For businesses that are jaded with
the mainstream energy-saving options
currently being made available to
them, it’s time to bring lesser-known
alternatives out from the cold, and
start turning our carbon emissions
targets into reality.
Ian Penfold is Architectural Manager
at Solar Gard UK. 01905 640 400
www.solargard.co.uk
Why does
energy effciency
remain such
a low priority
for so many
organisations?
“
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