What's new ...
Our Business Energy Advisor is now taking bookings for
Year 3 of this work and wants to hear from you! Call Anna
Martin on 01394 444257 for further information and
to book your free visit.
Read the press release
Energy advice helps local businesses save
tonnes to find out how local businesses are reaping the
benefits of reduced energy costs and downsizing their carbon
footprints.
We were pleased to be runners up for the Greenest County
Business Product award in 2010. Follow this link to
watch a short video made for the awards,
which was shot at Otley Village Shop & Post Office - one of
the local small businesses keen to reduce their annual energy
costs.
Introducing the Suffolk Coastal Business Energy Advisory
Service
Small and medium sized businesses in the district can
now access a free specialist advice service to help them reduce
their carbon footprint, cut business costs and enhance
reputation.
Suffolk Coastal, working in partnership with Groundwork East of
England, has appointed a full time Business Energy Advisor to
focus specifically on helping businesses in our district.
How does the service work?
Our Business Energy Advisor will visit your premises and work
with you to:
- Assess your energy and resource use and calculate your carbon
footprint.
- Provide practical measures to reduce your costs, carbon
emissions and environmental impact.
- Improve staff awareness and understanding of your green
agenda.
Is there a charge?
No, the service is completely free.
What can I expect to receive as a business?
Details of how the Business Energy Advisory Service works and some
examples of the savings that can be made are given in the
presentation below:
After an initial visit and comprehensive energy and resource use
assessment, each business will receive a report and action plan.
The report and action plan is designed to act as an information
portal, tool and reference guide for your company.
The report will detail your company’s annual carbon footprint,
main uses of energy and the main costs for your building(s). Broken
down by activity type, it will help you identify where you are
using the most energy and where you may be able to make the biggest
savings. We also benchmark your current performance against 'good
practice' and 'typical' values for electricity and fossil fuel use
for buildings and sector uses similar to your own. The report will
also detail your current waste to landfill and waste recycled by
material type. The breakdown by material type will allow you to
identify where reductions in material to landfill and carbon can be
made along with increases in recycling.
The action plan will identify and prioritise practical
achievable actions which will help you save energy, cut carbon
emissions and costs. Our Business Energy Advisor will set apart key
priority actions which they feel should be addressed first. In
addition to these priority actions, you will be provided with a
wealth of further energy and cost savings actions for your
business.
The plan allows you to track and monitor your progress which is
beneficial for internal reporting and also provides a useful
foundation if your company is looking to implement a Building
Energy Management System (BEMS) or Environmental Management System
(EMS) which require target setting and monitoring. The plan also
provides relevant information on grants and loans for energy saving
technologies, business networks and awards.
What benefits will this service bring to my company?
The report and action plan that your company will receive is
specifically tailored to your business. If implemented effectively
it could help you:
- Reduce your energy use through no cost/low cost measures which
will save you money.
- Improve your energy efficiency by investing in improvements
with a defined payback.
- Change your business practices to cut energy, waste, water and
carbon emissions.
- Invest in renewable energy generation and fuels to cut carbon
emissions.
- Become more climate resilient.
Our Business Energy Advisor has calculated a cumulative total
annual carbon footprint of 7,382 tonnes and a cumulative total
energy spend of £2,284,041 a year from
121 audits within Suffolk Coastal. This equates
to an average annual energy spend of £18,876 per business and an
average annual carbon footprint of 61 tonnes of CO2(e) per
business.
Furthermore, our Advisor has identified cumulative potential
annual cost savings of £615,000 and cumulative potential annual
carbon savings of 3,211 tonnes of CO2(e). This equates to an
average saving of £5,083 per SME and 26.54 tonnes of CO2(e) per
SME.
What support will I receive?
Our Business Energy Advisor support package is available to help
you throughout the process. If you need any help or advice
implementing the plan provided, the following service will be
available to you free of charge:
- Online/telephone support from the Suffolk Environmental
Business Advisor and Suffolk Coastal Business Energy Advisor on
01394 444257.
- A follow-up visit by your advisor to check up and help you to
progress your action plan if requested.
Additional environmental information is available on the
Suffolk Creating the Greenest County (new
window) business webpages covering topics from energy
efficiency to Environmental Management Systems.
Interested in finding out more?
If you have any questions or would like more information about
the service please call Anna Martin on 01394
444257 or email
anna.martin@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk
Want to book a visit?
We are now taking bookings for Year 2 of this work and we
want to hear from you! Please call Anna Martin on 01394
444257 today for further information on booking your free
visit.
How has the service come about?
We have been funding a shared business advisor who is covering
the whole of Suffolk, but because of the importance this Council
puts on tackling climate change we are using an unexpected cash
windfall to help give our district a full-time expert.
The service is provided free of charge by Suffolk Coastal and
Groundwork East of England working in partnership. Funding has been
provided through the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive
(LABGI) Scheme, Groundwork East of England and Areas of Outstanding
Natural Beauty Sustainable Development Fund.
