Energy efficiency in the Office environment
Saving energy in the office is not just for the big end of business. For many small businesses, being connected via technology is pivotal to business success.
The energy use from office equipment in a typical small business may account for approximately 18 per cent of its overall energy bill and as a result can significantly contribute to the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted by a business.
If you would you like to try decreasing your energy bills and spend the money on growing your business, start by making simple changes to the way you use your office equipment and invest in energy efficient equipment that can lower your overall costs over the longer term.
Energy Saving Tips
Check your office equipment is off. Encourage employees to turn off all office equipment after hours and on weekends. Ensure all office equipment is off and not just in sleep mode.
Think before you print. Keep in mind that inkjet printers use up to 90 per cent less energy than laser printers. Colour printing can also use more energy than black and white. Remember to use double sided printing if your printer has this capability to save paper.
Sell unnecessary office equipment. Only use office equipment you need. Link all computers to just one printer and direct all faxes to just one fax machine. Even better, investigate purchasing a combination fax/printer.
Be an energy saving star. Ensure all purchased office equipment is Energy Star compliant, an international standard for energy efficient electronic equipment. Energy Star compliance reduces the amount of energy used by a product by either automatically switching it into ‘sleep’ mode when it is not being used and/or reducing the amount of power used when in ‘standby’ mode.
Photocopy in batches. Run all your print jobs at once as each time you start the photocopier it uses more energy. Energy use while photocopying varies from a few hundred Watts to several kilowatts, generating from 0.25 to more than 3 kilograms of greenhouse gas and furthermore costing between 4 to 45 cents per hour of continuous copy.
Energy efficiency innovation awards
Testing and research organisation Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) has awarded Canon Europe with six outstanding Achievement awards and the line of the year award for energy efficiency in its winter 2013 awards.
Six Canon office printers were recognised for outstanding energy efficiency following Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) rigorous in-depth laboratory tests. In Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI)’s real-world environmental job stream test, Canon’s office printers consumed between 37% and 62% less energy than their respective competitors.
They also offer a variety of environmentally friendly features to help users reduce their overall environmental impact including job review and proof modes, toner-save mode, automatic double-sided printing and the ability to fax or scan without fully warming up the office printer. The following Canon office printers received an award;
Canon ImageRunner ADVANCE 6075 Series (75 pages per minute)
Canon ImageRunner ADVANCE 4051i (51 pages per minute)
Canon ImageRunner ADVANCE 4025i (25 pages per minute)
Canon ImageRunner ADVANCE C2030i (30 pages per minute)
Canon i-SENSYS LBP6670dn (33 pages per minute)
Canon i-SENSYS LBP6680x (33 pages per minute)
Canon’s A3 line of multifunction printers (MFP) has also been awarded the Line of the Year award for energy efficiency.
The A3 line-up consists of the Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C2020i, 4025i, C2030i, C5035i, 4051i, C5255 series, C5051i, 6075 series and the Canon IR3245i.
“Canon’s commitment to producing energy-efficient products has been clear for the past few years now,” said Peter Emory, Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI)’s manager of laboratory testing. “It’s plain for anyone to see the significantly lower than average energy results available throughout Canon’s A3 product line.”