There has been much derision of the emissions reduction target recently set by the Leader of the Opposition, Kevin Rudd. The target of a 60% reduction by the year 2050 may seem steep, particularly as the Australian economy and population will undoubtedly grow considerably over the next four decades.

But is a target of a 60% cut really so silly? The typical domestic consumer may well be able to reduce energy usage by that amount over a decade or so but will business be able to do the same? That is a huge topic and the first question that must be asked is: will the business still be able to grow and increase employment? If employment is to increase, it normally means that energy use must also increase. But say we decree that a business must cut its energy use per employee by 60%? Would that be feasible? The answer is: probably. However, a prerequisite for any energy cuts is that they must not reduce staff safety, comfort and productivity.

I have been thinking about whether we at Silicon Chip Publications could reduce our own energy use markedly. The answer has to be that we can make major reductions, without even investing in new technology. Our building certainly has not been designed with energy conservation in mind. While the steel roof is insulated and does have a large passive extractor to vent excessive heat from the warehouse, it still needs a big airconditioner to keep the office area comfortable, particularly in summer. Hence, our main energy users are the airconditioner, office & warehouse lighting, hot water system and computers. Since moving in about 10 months ago, we have already made changes which have resulted in major energy reductions compared with the previous occupants, while not prejudicing comfort or safety in any way.

For example, I had an electrician do a lot of work in fixing and updating exit lights, emergency lighting, re-tubing the lights in a separate factory warehouse and so on. While he was doing that work, I had him set back the hot water system thermostats to 60°C, which is now a Worksafe requirement. This reduces the risk of scalding, reduces power consumption and as bonus, the tanks will probably last quite a bit longer.

I also had the warehouse light switching changed so that a bank of fluorescent lights did not have to be left on all day – they were normally kept on so that the kitchen and mailing areas were always lit. That amounts to a major saving in energy over a year. As well, automatic door closers were fitted to two doors so that hot or cold air from the warehouse did not blow into the airconditioned office. The warehouse roller shutter and office entrance doors (also now fitted with an automatic closer) are also kept closed all the time.

Overall, such modest changes have probably cut energy use by at least 50% and we haven’t been really trying. Without drastic changes, we can probably make a further significant reduction in power consumption from the office lighting while improving overall illumination. And it should not be hard to reduce energy consumption of the computers in the future – laptops already use much less power than desktop machines. With significant cuts in energy use from lighting and computers, the summer airconditioning load will also be reduced. In winter time, there may not be much benefit but you can see that reducing energy use in the typical office is not rocket science.

Have a think about your own work-place and see if it would not be equally easy to make reductions in energy use. You will probably be surprised at the possibilities.