The business decarbonisation loan and assessment are now closed. These programmes were part funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and via the Boroughs of Woking, Guildford, Waverley, Reigate and Banstead, Spelthorne and Surrey Heath, and followed the success of the Low Carbon Across The South & East (LoCASE) programme.
Please see below some information and project ideas to consider to decarbonise your business or organisation from a list of low costs projects to some investment projects which you could look into and could be considered as part of insetting - where a business invest on decarbonisation projects to lower their carbon footprint (offsetting internally).
Why should you decarbonise your business?
There are many reasons why you should look to decarbonise your business, here's just a few:
- to save on energy costs,
- to improve your premises and add real estate value
- to be more resilient for example to peaks in temperatures which impact productivity,
- to get a better Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating for your building
- to attract and retain talent,
- to have happy employees with improved wellbeing from better working conditions
- to future proof your business, as more organisations request information on environmental, social and governance
- to lower your emissions and your carbon footprint
- to have less of a negative impact on the environment, work closer to within the available resources and have more of a positive impact on people and planet
- and because it's the right thing to do
About Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for commercial buildings
You might be aware that the legal requirements for EPC on rented or leased non-domestic properties changed from April 2023 and that the Government has been consulting on new legislation and frameworks. You can find out more on EPC for commercial buildings on our About Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) page.
No cost to low cost projects
There are some projects which are affordable but would have an impact on your carbon footprint and for some a positive impact on your energy cost savings.
Some of these are:
Finance
- Switching your work pension to a green provider
- Switching to a greener bank
Energy
- Switching to a green tariff or greener energy provider
- Getting maintenance and servicing done to ensure your current boiler and appliances are working at their most efficient level
- Installing smart controls which turn power/lights off
- Turning your thermostat down by a couple of degrees on your heating , or your fridge or freezer up by a couple of degrees
- Programming your heating to come on just before you get in and stop before you leave so you still benefit from the residual heat but you save on some heating costs for your premises
- Draught proofing
- Mitigate solar gain - Blinds, curtains, window films, awnings, sail
Investment projects - insetting
The types of decarbonisation projects, you may wish to investigate and get costed are listed below. This is not an exhaustive list.
Lighting
- switching to LED - fast payback on energy costs savings, reduce heat produced, reduce cooling costs, improved comfort
- PIR (passive infrared sensors) controls
Measures to improve thermal efficiency – avoid energy loss
- Insulation – internal and external; roof, wall, ceiling, floor
- Glazing (double or triple)
- Doors & shutters
- Swimming pool covers (for heated pools)
Switch to low carbon heating
- Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP)
- Heating, Ventilation, Air conditioning systems (HVAC)
- Infrared radiators
- Solar thermal
- Zone controls
Low carbon energy generation
- Solar panel
- Battery
- Wind turbine
Equipment - upgrade to more efficient models
- Fridges / freezers with doors / covers
- Upgrade of equipment to high / A* rating
- Upgrade from gas to electric ovens
- Upgrade of diesel generator to electric battery
IT
- Laptop to replace computer
- Cloud migration to replace servers
Transport
- Electric vehicles
- Electric vehicle charging points
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