In a small office situation there are several money saving green alternatives to your normal everyday routine. You can do your own energy audit or hire a professional “Green Building” expert to do one for you. The advantage to having an expert come in is that areas you would normally overlook and technologies you weren’t aware of can be assessed and addressed in respect to your situation. Although the initial cost of an audit and the investment in green technologies may seem like it is out of your reach in the long term the energy savings will pay for the upgrade. Some areas to look at are investing in a solar power system, adding a smart lighting system, looking at specialty items like the Dyson Airblade for hand drying and of course evaluating your heating and cooling system. The United States Small Business Administration has an energy star calculator that can help you estimate cost vs. savings based on the energy star rating of the new appliance vs. your current energy expenditures.
Some immediate changes that can be made on the cheap include sealing up drafty areas of your office with caulking and installing a programmable thermostat to control the interior environment and changing out any incandescent bulbs with either compact fluorescents or LEDs.
