Climate Management for Small Business
The Big Picture
“What can my small business do about climate change?”
Individual small business owners often have difficulty imagining their role in managing climate for the simple reason that it’s hard to measure climate impact on such a tiny scale. But the climate-related impact (or “carbon footprint”) of small businesses and offices can add up. While your small business may produce few direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it has an indirect impact on climate — from energy use, transportation, and other everyday activities. Electricity, heating, cooling, machinery, office equipment, chemicals, wastes of all kinds, and transportation all translate into energy use that contribute to climate change.
On the other hand, all that electricity, heating, cooling, and transportation also translate into opportunities to improve efficiencies and save money. So the more interesting question is this: “Given that our (dry cleaning or restaurant or auto repair or whatever) company contributes to climate change, how can we minimize its climate impact in a way that positively impacts our bottom line?”
By far the biggest direct impact any climate-management program will have on your business is on your monthly energy bill. By optimizing energy use, most small businesses achieve significant savings on their utility bills alone. They may also enjoy improved efficiencies and productivity, enhanced loyalty among employees and key customers, and more favorable rates from financial institutions, among other benefits. Flexible commute or carpool programs designed to minimize indirect emissions related to transportation tend to be a big hit with employees as well.
Addressing climate change may also affect your company if it is part of a larger supply chain. Some small businesses serve larger organizations and companies that must calculate and manage both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. Many major corporations now seek suppliers with a demonstrated commitment to minimizing their climate impacts, as this impact adds indirectly to their own.
Read on to find out how everyday business functions contribute to climate change, and what you can do to measure and manage your business’ individual carbon footprint. What you learn will likely help save you money as well.
Key Players
- U.S. state and federal agencies. In the past ten years the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as many state environmental agencies have developed voluntary programs to help small businesses increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some agencies also provide tools and resources specifically designed for smaller businesses, including recommending improvements that are both accessible and cost-effective.
- Non-governmental organizations.Some nonprofit groups offer programs that allow companies to calculate their total greenhouse gas emissions and then “offset” the environmental impact by supporting community-related projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere.
The Upside
- Regardless of the size of its operation, your company can save money by implementing energy efficiency and other practices. In addition, commercial customers now have more choices when it comes to choosing energy providers and products — including packages that rely in part on clean, renewable energy.
- You don’t have to start from scratch! The climate programs of hundreds of corporations have blazed a trail for measuring and managing greenhouse gas emissions. Many of the environmental management tools created to serve larger companies — such as emissions calculators and workbooks — also can be helpful to smaller firms.
Reality Check
- Smaller businesses represent an enormous spectrum of sectors and services — not to mention varying sizes (a business with, say, four employees encounters different challenges than a business with 400 or more on the payroll) — with the result that few government or nonprofit programs have been specifically designed to help small businesses address their climate impacts. This is changing, however; many regional programs, such as the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, offer energy-management tools and resources targeting small businesses within a certain region.
- Taking proactive steps to reduce energy consumption and emissions often require up-front investments. While such investments can yield large dividends over time in the form of reduced costs, your company may not have the luxury of waiting for a return on its initial investment. However, there are steps you can take that cost nothing at all, such as encouraging employees to turn off lights or computers when not in use. Try earmarking these incremental savings for later investments such as energy-efficient lights and fixtures — they’ll last longer and save more money for the climate-management “piggybank.”
Action Plan
General Approach
- Assess the impact of energy use (and other emission-causing activities) on your bottom line. What is the business value of improving efficiency and implementing climate-friendly programs? Some things to consider: potential for marketing your company as a “green business”; improved employee loyalty due to telework and ride-sharing benefits; new, more efficient equipment that pays for itself — and more — over time.
- Identify indirect emissions — greenhouse gas emissions associated with regular business activities. Common targets include energy use and transportation related to employee commuting or business travel. Carbon calculators and other tools are available to help you chart your carbon footprint.
- Identify direct emissions, if any. Many small businesses have no direct emissions, but if you make or use electricity, operate vehicles, or have boilers or other combustion services, you are creating GHGs. If your business produces greenhouse gases directly, the first step of your climate-management plan is to develop an inventory of these emissions.
- Set specific goals. By clearly defining goals, small companies can begin to develop an effective climate-management plan that optimizes energy efficiency and reduces travel-related emissions for both business travel and employee commuting.
- Broaden your horizons. Look around — what are other businesses like yours doing to reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions?
- Create a management plan. Even small business operators with limited time and resources can benefit from taking steps to organize their environmental responsibilities according to a system. A basic “plan, do, check, act” approach to environmental management can be applied to reducing climate impacts. Assessing a baseline and setting a clear achievable objective provides a legitimate basis for reporting progress.
Practical Tips for Energy Efficiency
- Conduct an energy audit. An audit can be free or relatively inexpensive, but can yield considerable energy and financial savings. Contact your energy utility or an energy services company to arrange an energy audit. They’re usually offered for free. Consider using energy service companies, which can arrange to make upgrades at no net cost to your company; they earn their money on utility rebates and in sharing a portion of your monthly energy savings.
- Lower your energy needs. Encourage employees and maintenance crews to turn off lights, computers, and other devices when they are not in use, especially after hours and on weekends. Consider installing timers to cut the power after hours.
- Equip with efficiency. Buy energy-efficient equipment. According to the Energy Cost Savings Council, the average building owner can cut energy costs up to 60% by replacing outdated, inefficient electrical equipment with new, high-tech electro-technologies, a potential savings of $1 per square foot.
- Use energy-efficient lighting. There are thousands of lighting products available, many of which offer significant energy savings and improved lighting. Examples include occupancy sensors for frequently vacant rooms; ballast upgrades and reflectors for fluorescent fixtures; compact fluorescent lights in place of incandescent bulbs; timers to turn off lighting; and energy-efficient exit signs. Many of these can pay for themselves in as little as a few months.
- Be smart with heating and cooling. Is your building properly insulated? Are the windows double-paned? Are there air leaks? By maintaining your heating and cooling systems, you can reduce your heating and cooling bills. A poorly maintained heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system uses more energy and wastes money. Systems that are checked annually and kept in good condition use less energy and last longer.
- Keep equipment running smoothly. Your equipment comes with maintenance schedules; follow them rigorously. You’ll keep your company’s equipment running smoothly and at rated energy efficiency. This means replacing filters, cleaning compressor coils, tuning up burners, lubricating pumps and motors, and keeping your motor fleet tuned and ready for work. As standard operations, recycle your waste oil and solvents, and use biodegradable lubricants and hydraulic fluids. Your equipment will run more efficiently and reliably, and you’ll save time, energy, and money.
Practical Tips for Greener Travel
- Encourage alternative transportation. Your people have to travel, but they don’t have to pollute. Support an employee vanpool or car pool program, and offer those who don’t drive incentives to take mass transit. Also, provide environmentally friendly options for those who drive, such as transit subsidies, preferred parking for carpoolers, and racks or lockers for bicyclists’ gear.
- Green your fleet. Purchase or lease vehicles with the highest-possible fuel economy, or those that use alternative-fuel sources, such as electric, hybrid, or fuel-cell vehicles. Whatever vehicles you use, have them tuned regularly. Keep tire pressures at recommended levels in order to increase fuel efficiency. When having vehicles serviced, make sure mechanics dispose of used oil, brake fluid, and other substances properly.
- Make your meetings matter. Try to teleconference, rather than travel to a meeting; if you absolutely need the face time, stay in ecologically sensitive hotels. Another way to offset the eco-ills of business travel: invest in a program that will plant trees to absorb the carbon dioxide created by your trips. Host environmentally aware meetings and events. While you’re at it, reduce your travel and conference budget, and impress on clients and stakeholders your widespread commitment to sustainability.
Additional Steps
- Green your energy sources. Contact local power providers to see if they offer electricity from clean-energy sources such as solar and wind power.
- Participate in a carbon offset program. Another means of reducing emissions is to purchase carbon offsets. The Climate Trust, the World Resources Institute, and other organizations do this by investing in projects that benefit the local community — for instance by replacing oil-burning boilers in public schools with more efficient natural gas-fired ones.
- Participate in voluntary sector-related or location-based state and federal programs. If no program exists in your state or community to reduce climate impacts in organized clusters, consider pooling and sharing climate management tools with other local businesses.
Leads
- U.S. EPA’s voluntary Energy Star Small Business program is designed for and in consultation with small business to help reduce energy costs, while helping protect the environment.
- Manufacturing Extension Partnerships is a nationwide network of more than 400 not-for-profit centers that help small- and medium-sized manufacturers apply “lean” manufacturing technologies and combine them with environmental practices such as energy efficiency that can reduce climate impacts.
- The U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Assessment Centers provide eligible small- and medium-size manufacturers with free, comprehensive industrial assessments.
- The U.S. EPA Global Warming Site is a great resource on climate change and global warming for businesses, communities, individuals, and governmental officials. Click on the “Small Business” link for more targeted information.
- Oregon-based nonprofit The Climate Trust funds emissions-reduction projects and holds earned emissions credits in-trust.
- The nonprofit Climate Neutral Network encourages and supports companies in developing a new marketplace for climate neutral products and services.
- Use the Climate Neutral Metrics Worksheet to calculate your company’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
- The online Employer TeleCommuter Hire Savings Calculator shows that getting cars off the road can help drive down the cost of employment.
The Bottom Line
The first step in managing climate impacts for any business is awareness. Once a small business acknowledged and understands the role that iy plays in the supply chain and the larger community, and how that role affects the environment, it is well on its toward devising a climate-management plan tailored to its unique needs and situation. The bottom line? By taking steps to optimize energy efficiency and reduce emissions, your small business can do something about climate change — and gain business value to boot.