Recently Ecofrenzy carried out a survey of an office building in Suffolk which houses 90 people during working hours.

A check of the electricity used over the weekend from Friday evening to Monday morning gave startling results, more than 800kWh was used when the office was apparently empty.

At 10p per kWh that equates to £80 every weekend or £4,160 per annum. Converted to CO₂ output that is a staggering 19.5 tonnes per year when virtually no one is working over the weekend.

This prompted us at Ecofrenzy to take a closer look at the problem.

It has been suggested that by 2025, buildings will be the largest consumer of energy, more than transportation and the industrial sector combined. As much as 50% of the energy that flows into buildings today is wasted. In large urban areas like New York City, approximately 80% of the carbon footprint comes from buildings.

There are so many instances where appliances are left on all the time. If you walked around your office or other place of work at any time there would be printers left on, computers humming away, heaters blasting out unnecessary hot air, water heaters boiling water for no reason and lights left on even during the day. Every single one is wasting energy, wasting money and contributing to global warming.

At least we are now seeing initiatives to help reduce this outrageous waste of energy. Changing legislation in the energy sector continues to compel businesses to take better control over their consumption. This is particularly the case with the Carbon Reduction Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) which has prompted organisations to respond, looking in detail at their energy use. As a result, more and more are taking steps to both better understand and manage their carbon consumption.