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Post 1452

Feb 14th 2010

Key energy related questions commercial organisations should ask

Organisations that don’t have a clear and transparent energy policy to guide the business forward, will continue to find it difficult to answer the following increasingly regulatory questions:

  • How much energy could be saved for the business in the long term?
  • What impact would saving energy have on the business from a financial perspective?
  • Have the areas been identified in the business that need to be improved or completely changed?
  • How efficiency can be improved in the business?
  • What activities lead to consumption of energy in the business?
  • What are the current issues with energy consumption in the business?
  • Who is responsible for managing energy efficiency in the business?
  • How much energy does the business currently use?

Those organisations that have a clear energy policy in place are likely to be achieving this is via effective energy management.  A strong energy policy and procurement framework will allow businesses to identify past, present and future energy consumption as well as the development of an energy monitoring process.

Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) that are well functioned, and implemented provide the monitoring interface to log the past, display the present and track the future energy consumption in a building.

Post 1430

Feb 8th 2010

Government consult on the extended remit for Display Energy Certificates (DEC)

CIBSE has welcomed the Governments decision to publish a consultation paper in relation to the proposals to extend Display Energy Certificates to the private sector. The Government will undertake a detailed analysis of the costs and benefits or requiring all non-domestic buildings to have a EPC by 2018 and requiring all such buildings to have an EPC rating of at least F by 2020.

Post 1428

Feb 8th 2010

The increasing UK energy legislation - But no one is enforcing effectively

A recent survey, as highlighted by MBS Journal this month, has stated that only 28% of commercial properties marketed for sale or lease have the legally required EPC. Even worse is the inspection of cooling systems (Air Conditioning Inspections) - with CIBSE estimating that fewer than 2% of the 50,000 installed systems with cooling capacities over 250kW had been installed by a year after the original deadline of 6 January 2009.

The Carbon Trust stresses that major reductions in carbon emissions can be acheived with a positive cash benefit. It also stresses that the sooner serious effort is applied, the lower will e the cumulative long-term cost. What is the government waiting for to enforce their own legislation !?

Post 1408

Jan 30th 2010

What makes LEDs more advantageous over other light source technologies?

The four main advantages of LEDs are the following:

  • Increased lifetime from 50,000 up to 100,000 hours of operation
  • LEDs are highly energy efficient. LEDs are capable to reach 140 lumen/Watt
  • LEDs transmit very low or negligible amount of heat
  • LED is a low carbon technology which is greener than other lighting technologies, since it doesn’t contain any harmful or toxic substances such as mercury (fluorescent lamps). In addition, LEDs neither emit any damaging radiation nor they create an electromagnetic field.

If you are interested in understanding how LEDs can be incorporated on your project/property please contact us on 08450091625 to speak with one of our lighting consultants.

Post 1406

Jan 30th 2010

What is the definition of an LED?

The LED stands for lighting emitting diode. The LED is an electromagnetic light source. In more detail the LED is a semiconductor diode that when is switched on (forward bias), electrons are able to recombine with free holes and energy is transmitted as light. This phenomenon is called electroluminescence and the semi-conductor’s energy gap determines the colour of the ligh.

The 1st LED was invented in 1920 by a Russian radio technican called Oleg Vladimirovich Losev. Losev found that diodes used radio receivers emitted light when current passed through them. LEDs are part of our daily life for quite some time now. Mobile phone screeens have been lit up by LEDs as well as the on/off switches of electrical appliances.

If you are interested in understanding how LEDs can be incorporated on your project/property please contact 08450091625 to speak with one of our lighting consultants.

Post 1404

Jan 30th 2010

When is the use of LED’s most cost effective?

LEDs are most cost effective whenever there is a need for 24hr-12hr lighting. In simple terms, this assumption is based on the 50,000 hours of usage guarantee that leading LED manufacturers give for their products.

The 50,000 hours is translated into 6.5 years of 24 hr lighting, where the return on investment will occur after the first 2 years. For the further 4.5 years there will be a total saving of 45% - 55%.

The other very important parameter that usually is not taken into account, is the replacement cost of light fittings. For example, in 50,000 hours of an LEDs lifetime, would equate to replacing a fluorescent lamp at least 4 times and at hour least 30 times if a halogen lamps were used. This replacement cost is of great importance if you think for example, the maintenance costs that production plants and hotels have in order to do the replacements.

If you are interested in understanding how LEDs can incorporated on your project/property please contact us on 08450091625 to speak to one of our lighting consultants.

Post 1399

Jan 25th 2010

Switch to LED lighting for CO2 emission reductions

LEDs are a reasonably new and exciting generation of lighting because they hit a number of issues such as, energy saving, reduced maintenance and recyclability.

  • Light output equivalent to lamps being replaced
  • No hazardous material and easy recyclability
  • Reduced maintenance costs
  • Long life - upto 20 times longer life than conventional lamps
  • Lowest energy lamp
  • Fast ROI

The majority of case studies estimate that 20% of a building’s energy bill is lighting. LEDs can substantially reduce the load and carbon emissions to comparative older lighting technology.

Syntegra Consulting are able to undertake LED lighting feasibility studies for clients to illustrate their potential operational energy savings and CO2 savings against their existing lighting systems. For more information on this please contact us today. - Certain clients may be eligible for this study to be undertaken FREE of charge.

Post 1396

Jan 21st 2010

Code for Sustainable Homes Assessment - Greenwood Rd, Hackney, London

Syntegra Consulting appointed as energy consultants to undertake SAP assessments, OCPEC and a full code for sustainable homes assessment for a contemporary new-build property in Hackney, London.

Post 1389

Jan 20th 2010

New boiler scrappage scheme

By installing an efficient heating system household energy bills and CO2 emissions will be greatly reduced. Domestic heating accounts for 14% of the UK’s CO2 emissions and improving this will go some way to meeting our CO2 emission targets. Currently 3.5 million homes have the least efficient type of boiler (G or worse)

The government is offering up to 125,000 households £400 towards the cost of upgrading their boiler (if G-rated or equivalent or worse) to a high efficiency A-rated one or a renewable heating technology. This will help to save in the region of 140,000t CO2 per year - equivalent to taking 45,000 cars off the road.

Renewable heat technologies do not use fossil fuels, and the new boilers are up to 90% more efficient. By upgrading your G-rated boiler to an A-rated one, your household heating bill should drop by about a quarter - a saving, on average, of around £235 a year.

The scheme is open to 125,000 householders in England living in a privately owned or rented home. Please note:

- If you are a householder (including tenants) under 60 you can only apply for the scheme if the boiler you are scrapping is in working order and is the main boiler used to heat the home.

- If you are a householder (including tenants) and 60 or over you can apply for the scheme regardless of whether the boiler you are scrapping is in working order. However, it still needs to be the main boiler used to heat the home.

Post 1345

Dec 25th 2009

SME Energy Grant assistance

Syntegra Consulting are able to offer SME companies based in the South-East region of the UK energy auditing and  energy grant advice to help reduce operational energy costs and carbon footprint.

The Government Grants available are offered to businesses on the basis of the loan of a wireless energy monitor for a two to ten week period to identify where savings could be made through cutting energy usage. The Carbon Trust provide an information pack to help motivate your staff to ’switch off’, and the consultant can provide a walk around survey to help identify energy saving opportunities within your business.

The benefit of installing the energy monitor provides an instant view on the cost of energy usage in your business. It can help warn you of over-consumption, raise awareness of the electricity you are using and help you to take positive steps to cutting your bills. The grant funding available allows you to make energy saving improvements resulting in cost savings to your business.

The main focus is your heating and ventilation systems, lighting, office equipment and building fabric, where funding may be available to help you make energy saving improvements. You are encourages to complete a simple action plan taking steps to cut your energy use.

Once we have identified where energy savings can be made via the use of the energy monitor, our energy audit and also our energy consultancy experience an energy grant of up to £500 can be applied for to undertake the improvements.

For information on the SME Energy Grant and how Syntegra Consulting can assist contact us today.

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