Are business services organisations making the most of the ESOS opportunity?

With the ESOS Phase 2 deadline (5^th December 2019) fast approaching, we wanted to find out whether businesses are on track to achieve timely compliance, so we spoke to energy professionals across all sectors. Our compliance team also analysed the data we collected from the 320 businesses we helped during ESOS Phase 1 to identify the size of the opportunity for different sectors.

What’s in it for business services organisations?

While many businesses see energy reporting as a burden – 61% of those we spoke to said that they don’t believe ESOS is worth the effort – there are some real cost and carbon savings to be made across all sectors. However, organisations will only realise these savings if they act on the energy efficiency recommendations contained in their ESOS audits.

Business services organisations (those that support businesses with services like B2B banking, security and IT) could make 13% average kWh savings by implementing their ESOS energy efficiency recommendations. In fact, organisations in this sector accounted for 23% of all savings we identified for our ESOS Phase 1 customers.

Despite the savings available, however, 33% of business services organisations told us that they aren’t confident they will meet the ESOS Phase 2 deadline. This is yet more evidence of the ESOS inertia that seems to be widespread across all sectors – only 39% of those surveyed have acted on their Phase 1 recommendations, for example.

Where can savings be made? 

The most common energy saving recommendation for business services organisations was improved lighting, which could involve fitting lighting controls, sensors and timers or retro-fitting sites with high-efficiency lighting and bulbs. This was the number one recommendation across all sectors, and it can deliver significant savings within a relatively short timescale – the average return period is three and a half years.

Energy management was another key recommendation for business services organisations. Energy management covers a variety of actions aimed at optimising energy consumption, from encouraging behaviour change among staff to focusing on energy reduction, and can provide return on investment in as little as 18 months.

For business services organisations willing to invest in measures with a longer ROI, installing renewable onsite generation and CHP systems was another common recommendation. The average return period for renewables is just over a decade, but they can provide significant savings.

To find out more, read the full report here.

What should business services organisations do now?

As the ESOS Phase 2 deadline approaches, many organisations in the business services sector will be focusing on completing their ESOS audits. However, it’s important for these businesses to remember that they shouldn’t just shelve their audits once they’ve achieved compliance, as acting on their energy efficiency recommendations can make a real difference to their bottom line.

Inenco’s compliance experts support businesses through the ESOS process, from gathering data for their audits to implementing their recommendations. To find out more about how we can help your business, give us a call on 08451 46 36 26 or email enquiries@inenco.com.