In any major city, and in some cases even small towns, there is a familiar sight: numerous illuminated edifices showcasing office blocks and workspaces in all their architectural glory. However, with more and more focus being placed on cutting unnecessary energy use wherever possible and with oil prices rising all the time – and set to rise even more dramatically before long – is it still worth doing for such little effect?
In November, the London Assembly even launched an investigation into whether leaving office lights on at night is ethically and, equally importantly, financially sound. It will look into the advantages and disadvantages of doing so and judge whether or not companies should switch off, for their and everyone else’s sakes.
The independent findings hope to encourage businesses to turn off lights whenever they are not necessary, and cut down the amount of business electricity used in general.
Obviously, turning lights off at night will use much less business electricity and save companies money, whilst preserving valuable resources and having less effect on the environment, but there may still be some small advantages for certain companies in leaving the lights on – although many are not optimistic that these will outweigh the disadvantages.
Either way, companies should be reviewing their energy output as much as anyone else, restricting unnecessary commercial gas and electricity consumption wherever possible. They may also benefit hugely by changing suppliers, with many companies able to save up to 75% on their energy bills by comparing commercial gas and electricity providers online.
Whatever the outcome of the investigation, one thing is certain. We almost all, businesses included, use gas and electricity more than is needed. Not only is this hurting the environment, but also costing us money – so by changing what we do, we can simply do it to save ourselves money and simply help the environment as a little added bonus.