Opportunities for Reducing Energy Consumption

Here are some ideas and easy steps for reducing energy consumption:

• Ask facilities operations/maintenance personnel for guidance on achieving the following energy conservation measures if applicable:
• Retrofit lamps and fixtures with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This is one of the most well-established initiatives to reduce energy consumption.¹
• Place light timers or occupancy sensors in offices and conference rooms. A study found that smart occupancy sensors adapting to the changes in activity levels of the occupant could save approximately 5% more energy than fixed time delay sensors.²
• Consider high efficiency fixtures when upgrading lavatories (bathrooms/restrooms), kitchen faucets, etc.³
• Try other best management practices for significant water savings, including single-pass cooling equipment; efficient management of steam boiler systems; and alternative water sources for facilities operations.

• As a user, you could consider trying some of the following ideas:
  

• Turn off the lights at the end of the day or whenever the lights are not needed. A study reported that turning lights off seemed to be the most popular and effective action to save energy.⁴
• Turn off devices such as computers, printers, copiers and other office equipment at night or when not in use.
   
• If working in the labs, determine what laboratory equipment can be turned off.
• Previous newsletter articles on Reducing Energy Usage in the Laboratory and Saving Energy by Managing Ultra-Low Temperature Freezers described a few options for reducing energy consumption when feasible.
• Consider participating in the NIH Freezer Challenge and joining the NIH community in promoting energy conservation and cost savings.

• Determine what laboratory equipment can be entered into a low-power sleep mode overnight, if possible. When acquiring new equipment, consider equipment built in low-power sleep mode as opportunities for energy conservation.
• Consider using outlet timers on equipment that can be turned off but may have long start-up times. This prevents unnecessary electricity usage at night while also skipping lengthy start-up times during the day.
• Activate the sleep setting on all office machines. Most printers, copiers, fax machines and scanners can automatically enter a low-power sleep mode when they are inactive.
  
• Use “smart" power strips that ensure electronic products do not continue to use energy when they are powered off. ​