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Writer's pictureJeremy Carter

Aggressive Energy Management?

Updated: Jun 1, 2019

The term “Getting more aggressive” is not one that is usually welcome in any work place. But I wonder if we as Energy reducers should consider becoming more aggressive. In the world of stocks and shares we often hear expressions such as “aggressive take overs” or “aggressive market manipulation”. So why haven’t we heard the term


“Aggressive Energy reduction campaign?”


Is the expectation that we should be seen to be going about our business without ruffling any feathers? Who has any feathers to ruffle in any case? Are we just too fluffy?


It seems odd that in carrying out an energy reduction campaign that has the potential to significantly impact on both energy consumption and costs we are not more AGGRESSIVE.


Whereas an aggressive stock manoeuvre leading to company growth and increased revenue, but possibly job losses for another company is deemed OK. Especially when energy savings have the potential to safeguard jobs.


I once ran a very successful screen saver and poster campaign. Which highlighted the energy savings gained if everyone were to shutdown their PC/monitor and switched off at the plug when they left for the day.


One day the campaign gathered real momentum. I had the foresight to place one of my posters on the back of the Chief Exec’s toilet door. Upon reading my poster, the Chief Exec took it to a senior managers meeting. Following which, an email came down from the mountains (like Moses, no doubt on his tablet, pardon the pun) addressed to all staff encouraging them to follow the posters advice as this could save the organisation significant funds.


“Thou turned off thy PC and Monitor and when the plug was switched off at the divine power socket, a voice cried out, it is done……..” Psalm 1. Jeremy’s book of Energy revelations


Following that email, I received numerous calls and emails from worried colleagues complaining that they were not able to switch their PC off at the plug as the plug was either hidden or buried under their desk. They were worried because the email sender was a powerful individual and failure to comply may have consequences. I also started getting asked "What else could be switched off?" - was the word of Jeremy starting to take effect?


The campaign was a huge success but only because of the political support gained by a well-placed poster. The Chief Exec’s response was an aggressive move towards energy savings, the kind I believe, we do not see often enough.


Time for a passive aggressive example. I have previously faced the challenge of convincing scientists to adopt a more energy efficient approach.


I acquired some data from a ultra low freezer (ULT) supplier regarding the power consumption of their unit set at both -80c and -70c. I was surprised to find that the difference in power consumption equated to around £100 per annum per unit.


On this occasion, I chose to use this data passively. I managed to convince one of the lab managers to run a trial whereby he would increase the temperature of all the ULT’s in his building to -70c. This trial was run covertly and involved 40 ULT’s with numerous user groups.


“Listen to me getting all cloak and dagger with the scientists”


After 6 months, we broke the news of our trial at our crowded Environmental committee meeting. The news was met with a lot of head turning and scientific eyes looking amongst each other. The lab manager (who was well respected within the group) informed the committee that there had been no detrimental effect to science, no complaints and no disruption. Upon hearing this, the group decided to increase all ULT’s (160 in total) to -70c.


“Yep you’ve guessed it Time to give it the big un”


This campaign was a massive success saving £16,000 per annum just by changing some settings. However, the real success lied in cajoling a well-respected member of the scientific inner circle to change his modus operandi. I could have given them the exact same argument and it would have fallen on death ears.


I suppose the point here is that I believe energy savings, should be aggressively sought and maybe energy awareness campaigns should be delivered more aggressively. After all……..


“If our targets are supposed to be testing why are we pussy footing around achieving them”.


With all forms of aggression, you have to choose your fights wisely. If more people in this industry started to think more aggressively, imagine what we could achieve.



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