While the war in the Middle East remains unsettling, ordinary employees & companies grapple with the rising cost of energy & its consequences without having to resort to drastic measures such as pay cuts, retrenchments or worst closure. This is where a well crafted Business Continuity Plan (BCP) comes in very handy & well appreciated.
In all my BCP planning in companies & organizations I belonged, top scenario that needed clear & doable contingency plans was always energy crisis particularly electricity due to poor infrastructure & being the 2nd most expensive per kwh next only to Japan. Never did my BCP team envision that a war of this proportion will ever occur in our lifetime, where it is not the barrel of the gun that is the greatest threat to both an employee’s & employer’s survival but the barrel of oil that needs to reach our shores.
To start with, energy conservation should not only be about a compliance requirement but about resilience and in some instances a matter of survival. Never before, since the scourge of the COVID pandemic have we seen an all-encompassing crisis could affect every facet of employees daily toil.
To a worker, it has become doubly challenging. With wage being a constant & the prices of basic commodities becoming unabated, it will surely harder before it gets better.
To the businesses & companies, it doubles the stake on surviving the crunch because the energy crisis impacts the supply chain which trickles down to the cost of raw materials becoming even more expensive & delivery schedules being disrupted.
To government, it is another challenge that needs to be addressed immediately & in the long term. But this is not for me to discuss as I place my trust in those that are in charge.
In this dire situation, there are situations where employees & employers may have some sort of control on actions to take on better intent & judgement.
For employees, resilience starts with behavioral fixes. Being extra conscious on wastage & opportunities to cut consumption to support energy conservation measures both at home & in the workplace is essential.
Be it at home or in the workplace, behavioral changes are proven interventions that deliver measurable energy savings at home and work with minimal cost.
Though I’ve installed solar panels years ago to harvest solar energy, not having batteries have enabled me to cut electricity cost to half. With my daytime consumption already provided for by the sun, I know I can still save more energy like using LED lights instead of the high wattage fancy decorative lights or chandeliers.
If you do not have solar power, additional immediate savings would be running the dishwasher & run laundry washer on off‑peak hours or nighttime. Though not all use heaters for their daily showers, lowering water heater temp and/or not using it at all can generate steady savings thru low electricity cost. If the water is too cold for comfort, just train your mind that cold bath cycles “helps” the body recover fast from muscle strains and/or injuries. Selecting only essential clothes (work clothes or Sunday’s best attire) for ironing. Sleep clothes, inner shirts, wash & wear, jeans etc can be fashionably crumpled.
Meantime, in the workplace the energy conservation culture multiplies impact. Usually, it is HR and managers with the help of the Facilities maintenance team who treat energy conservation as a team objective.
More often than not, these programs will only be as effective, if & only if they are supported by employees. Though simple, here are some are the high‑impact actions at work that help conserve energy.
First, on the part of an employee is being part of a car pool or hitching a motorcycle ride with a co employee from the same route to & from work. I guess this is the only time that becoming part of a “riding in tandem” is seen in a good way. Splitting the transportation cost not only saves energy but also money.
The task of turning off unused lights the more becomes necessary & be an automatic behavior. The use of LED lights &/or daylight, if possible have an immediate low cost impact.
It also helps to reduce cost when unused computer monitors, chargers & printers are unplugged. Some companies have resorted to smart power strips to eliminate “vampire” loads or standby which is the electricity devices draw while “off” or in standby which can account for a meaningful share of household and office energy use. Vampire load literally bleeds out energy even if it may appear it does not cost anything, but it does.
In homes, common culprits TVs, set‑top boxes, gaming consoles, desktop PCs, phone chargers and appliances with clocks or network connections that can account for as much as 10% of a household’s average electricity use if unchecked. Though as of late, there have been technological energy efficiency breakthroughs, in some instances, manual plug pull out is still required.
For companies, it is already a given that operational costs will shoot up. So, in order to survive, they need every cost saving measure that it could come up with.
At the office, let IT team turn off standby features in device settings like auto‑update, network wake etc if possible. Adopt a single‑switch shutdown routine at workstations and meeting rooms at day’s end or during breaktime.
There is a lot that can be done to help conserve energy but there are risks & trade offs. It can be inconvenient to keep unplugging which removes instant‑on features but it will reduce unnecessary electric consumption.
Manage HVAC setpoints by raising cooling setpoint by at least 2°C which should still be comfortable. I remember in our then Japan office, during summers, employees were advised not to wear coat & tie in exchange, they will be allowed to wear short sleeved cotton polo shirts that is still comfortable. This ensures that the AC temperature should not be increased or cooling systems be added to keep workers comfortable. Together with the use of fans to maintain comfort, such practice has an immediate & high impact on electricity bill.
One important SOP that employees should support is a robust reporting system where faults and inefficiencies are by default immediately reported like leaky doors, malfunctioning machines etc as this simple effort yields high returns in the prevention of wastage.
On the part of companies, the implementation of staggered work schedule, and staggered schedules. Shift discretionary loads to off‑peak; enable remote/hybrid work or smart planning of company vehicle travel routes to minimize unnecessary errands aside from making sure that vehicle maintenance will ensure fuel efficiency.
Where possible Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs such as lighting & cooling discipline, plug load management, smart scheduling, power out Contingency Protocols, company vehicle & shuttle protocols and of course, engaging Employee Engagement programs on energy conservation that should all be part of the BCP, rolled out, constantly evolving & put into heart by both employers & employees alike.
If the energy crisis worsens and the war drags on, both employees and employers will need to adapt quickly to sustain operations and protect each other’s well-being because though the impact may vary from each individual &/or company, still, it is a shared responsibility.
GOOD MORNING HARDWORKING PEOPLE!
For comments & suggestions, you may email author [email protected] & follow in Facebook Herrie Raymond Rivera.
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