The performance of any business activity for the development, manufacture, or marketing of products and services always entails significant energy consumption, which implies, on the one hand, an economic impact on the company and, on the other, an environmental impact on our environment. The question is how significant of an impact?
Today, one of the significant challenges for companies is successfully transitioning toward a sustainable enterprise. This challenge, as noted in this blog, is not only the responsibility of the big company but of any SME or autonomous entrepreneur who is part of the productive and economic ecosystem.
The first step towards sustainability is to achieve energy efficiency, that is, to reduce energy consumption by optimizing resources. Below is a list of ways to accomplish this.
Heating systems
Heating can represent more than 50% of the energy consumed in buildings, so its optimization is vital to reduce total energy consumption.
If you are thinking of renewing your business heating system or want to know which is the most efficient, take note of the following recommendations:
Pressurized body boilers consume 20% less energy than atmospheric and condensing; low-temperature boilers can save more than 25%. You can also evaluate the installation of economizers to bring the feed water temperature to the steam generation temperature, and do not forget to make periodic checks and purge the radiators. It uses management systems that always control the equipment’s operation according to the demands.
Take care of the insulation of walls, adjust doors and windows, and use double glazing to avoid wasting energy. Remember that natural ventilation must be completed before turning on the heating.
When designing the installation, it zones the rooms located to the North of those found to the South since the heating needs will be more significant in the first ones.
Monitoring and energy management
Energy management aims to obtain the most incredible efficiency in the supply, conversion, and use of energy without diminishing the necessary benefits to getting adequate comfort levels.
The energy monitoring systems help us know the consumption habits and uses of the different energy sources globally, allowing us to establish savings measures and predict the increases in energy that will occur as activity increases.
Lighting systems: Efficient lamps and luminaires
To achieve savings of between 15% and 50% in electricity consumption, the maximum use of natural light and adopting good saving habits are vital. In addition, the installation of efficient lighting technologies and control systems can make a significant difference:
- Replace incandescent lamps with fluorescent lamps.
- Replace old fluorescent lights (38mm in diameter) with more efficient ones.
- Install presence detectors in areas of passage or of little use.
- Use of photoelectric cells in areas with natural light and exterior lighting.
- Replace electromagnetic ballasts with electronic ballasts.
Use reflectors of high efficiency in the luminaires that allow increased lighting coming from the lamp.
Cold rooms in the services sector
Cold rooms, the enclosures equipped with artificial cold installations and destined to conserve food or other products, are fundamental for many service sector activities, such as catering and commerce.
In this regard, the most used technologies are mechanical vapor and absorption compression, which consume thermal energy and whose price is lower but require greater energy consumption. Thus, the use of cameras is another essential source of energy expenditure, so to avoid cold losses and the consequent energy waste, it is convenient:
- Adapt the installation to the actual needs. The larger the camera, the greater the cost of cooling it.
- Ensure good insulation.
- Avoid sources of heat in the environment where the cameras are installed.
- Adapt the storage or freezing temperature according to the needs of the product.
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