Written by Josh Martin
Behold! The green revolution is upon us! Going green is the popular thing to do these days, but there is more to it than following the popular crowd to being green; going green is good for the environment, and can keep your wallet full of green cash. Using green products in not a fad, it’s a life style. The term “green” comes from the fact that the color green covers a majority of our planet, and from Green Politics which was popularized in the 1970s. The term “green” today refers to products made from more natural sources, that use less energy, or rely on their own source of energy.
Almost every major corporation is greening their company and image. Coke is using bottles made of plant materials for their Dasani line. Frito Lay is currently using compostable bags for their Sun Chips Brand, meaning you can throw your Sun Chips bags in your compost pile and it will be completely gone in 4-6 weeks. Encore Software uses recycled paper and cardboard for all their packaging, and partners with game developers to release games in encore recycled packaging. GE is selling LED light bulbs, which use 1/15 the amount of electricity compared to conventional light bulbs, and have a 15-30 year life span depending on the quality of bulb you purchase. This a very small list of what corporate America is doing to help. Today we will look at technologies that will help your company reduce your operating costs, and help the environment at the same time.
First let’s look at technologies that will help lower your operating cost. LEDs have been around since the 1970s, and each LED cost around $10,000 at the time. Now you can pick up an LED flashlight with 3 LEDs for around 10 dollars. LEDs are great due to the fact they use a very small amount of electricity, and are much bright than typical bulbs. The average CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light bulb) costs around 5 USD, and has a life expectancy of 3-5 years. A top of the line LED light bulb cost $20 and lasts 30 years. The cost to lifetime difference is only .22 cents per bulb a year, but the electrical savings is where it counts. In Arizona, it costs approximately $3.83 a month to run a CFL bulb, so four CFL bulbs will cost you $15.32 a month on average. LED bulbs cost approximately $ 1.14 a month to run in Arizona, four LED bulbs will cost you $4.56 a month. In a 30 year period, a CLF bulb will cost you $1,378.80 and 5 bulb replacements after the initial purchase. An LED bulb will cost you $410.40 and no bulb replacements after the initial purchase. If you multiply that by the number of bulbs your company has, the numbers get big.
Every business has computers. And if you want work completed efficiently, chances are your company has a lot of them. Computers draw approximately $40 to $60 dollars every month, that’s up to $700 dollars a year. That number is calculated just for the desktop and does not include the monitor, speaker, printers, and any other devices connected to your computer. Moneual started manufacturing a power supply this year that saves 35% of energy on desktops. This new power supply also allows you to plug a 6 port power strip right into the computer power supply. This way you can run all your computer components off one unit. This is called a switched power supply. Moneual did a study, the results showed that most computers still draw .20 watts while powered down. Their switched power supply only draws .1 watts while powered down. That small amount adds quickly, even on a 15 computer network. These changes can reduce your energy costs, in most cases more than $10,000 a year.
Now let’s look at ways you can not only reduce cost, but reclaim some profit back as well. This is called “Zero Net Energy” or “ZNE” for short. ZNE is a term used when referring to a home or facility that uses alternate energy sources, and doesn’t require an outside power company for energy. ZNE facilities also may produce enough energy to sell back to the power company. ZNE homes are not affected by rolling black outs and loss of power on grids. This is not only efficient, it’s profitable and convenient. How is this achieved? Through technologies like Solar Panels and Wind Energy, your business can reduce cost, and possibly reclaim profit by investing in ZNE. Solar technology has been around since 1876, and has been much improved in the last 125 years. Wind Mills were invented somewhere around 500 A.D., and were used to pump water, process grain, and performed various farming tasks. Today both of these technologies are used to produce cleaner electricity. Most facilities incorporate both technologies to gain the ZNE advantage.
These Technologies are only getting better, and you can expect to see them everywhere in the coming years. The advantages already make it worth the capital involved. Your company can also claim a tax deduction for greening your workplace, in addition to saving on operating cost and it makes for good public relations.
Discuss the ways your company saves energy, and the technologies you want to use in the comments below.
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