As I write this, we are in, perhaps, the most difficult period of our lives. We are mostly holed up at home and seeing how tens of thousands of fellow Americans have died (so far) from COVID-19 caused by exposure of the novel coronavirus and millions of people have lost their livelihoods or had their companies gravely damaged, as a result. It will be months, if not a year or two, before things get back to “normal”, if that is possible again.

But I maintain that this is the time to begin to think about your business’ energy profile and how to use it to your advantage when things move toward normal. The vast majority of businesses have been impacted by the pandemic. Those that survive when the worst of this passes will suffer great losses, possibly in the trillions of dollars in revenue. Certainly, there will be changes in the way business will be done.

What might those changes be? Many people are working from home now. Might it stay that way when people can commute to their offices again? What are the real estate implications of this? Many companies will need to reconfigure their offices. Some will learn from this and look to add more space with the same number of staff (office social distancing). Some will downsize their space as staff will continue to work from home.

Another given is that companies will need to make up for the shortfall of revenue of many months. Getting your product, sales, delivery, and other systems running again and reliable for your customers is important. And there will certainly be gimmicks and other inducements to get customers back.

However, part of the equation for being a viable business again is to cut expenses, and a great way to do this is through sustainability. What can you do to make your business more sustainable, your staff more healthy and productive, and cut back on energy and water usage and waste generation? As you await the end of the lockdown and prepare for your business to operate again, take some time to plan actions your business will implement to be more sustainable, have your staff more productive, and reduce those pesky expenses, by being more energy efficient.

Here is a true story that just happened. In February, I presented an industrial client a proposal to change their fluorescent lighting to LEDs. With utility incentives, the client would have to lay out $6,000, but would save about $70,000 in avoided energy costs in 5 years. What a deal! But they turned it down. They said they would go to the local hardware store, buy the LEDs, and install them themselves; after all, they were very handy. Well, March came with all of our issues with lockdowns and the client certainly did not have the time to go out and buy the LED tubes. The company, like so many others, is still operating, but has seen a significant drop in revenue. They realized they have to react to this by cutting expenses; they have asked for a new proposal for LEDs.

In your preparation to re-start or bring your company back to where it was, give some serious thought to energy conservation and sustainability to give your business a better footing to weather future situations.

CCES has the experts to help find ways to reduce your energy and water usage, saving potentially significant costs for you. We have saved others both cost and greenhouse gas emissions. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.