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Rather like a health check up for yourself, or an MOT for your car, an energy broker such as Utility Helpline can conduct an energy audit for your business. And just as with your body, or your car, the results might well be extremely helpful in its future health. Larger businesses will no doubt commission large-scale audits as part of their own green agenda. What we are talking about here, however, is a smaller scale version of such an audit, a bespoke audit designed for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). Such audits can be designed to suit all budgets, and can have a very real effect on highlighting steps that can be taken to dramatically reduce business energy costs. We have had many inquiries at Utility Helpline about such business energy audits.And so, to help field those frequently asked questions, we thought we would take this opportunity to lead you through a step-by-step guide as to how they work:   1 - Ahead of the first meeting, there are some things to consider that an auditor might well ask: working hours of the business, usual operational practices, the equipment used on the premises, and a review of your current energy contract and usage. 2 - There would then be an initial meeting between the auditor and yourself, in order to get an overview of your business and how it uses energy. 3 - The energy audit itself will then entail a survey of the premises, with the auditor accompanied by whomsoever from the business is right able to walk the auditor through the business and its premises. 4 - This walk through will include a precise overview of the premises, locating the main culprits when it comes to energy usage. Some recommendations will be made at this initial stage, where steps might be immediately taken to reduce that energy usage. 5 - As well as a verbal report, however, once the audit is completed a more detailed written report might also be offered. This will contain a fuller description of what might be done to reduce energy usage, how those steps might be taken and what hard and soft ware might be appropriate to make the business more energy efficient. It may merely be a case of replacing lightbulbs with energy efficient models, or perhaps more involved, for instance installing more complex equipment. There may, of course, be a cost element to some of these steps, and the energy audit will also be able to detail these. However, a more important fiscal figure will be the predicted savings you will make, by implementing the suggested measures. At a time of very high energy prices, that is likely to make for very happy reading for most businesses, soon repaying the costs of the audit, and the products needed.

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So, a simple five-point guide to an energy efficiency audit. In our experience, such an audit is only a first step however, towards a more thought-through approach to energy savings for a business and its day-to-day operation, with the utilisation of a more efficient energy purchasing policy. An energy efficiency policy will not only save a business money, but might also be seen as a positive selling point, in a marketplace ever more concerned with a green agenda. Whether reducing costs at the front end, or helping with the back end of actual business operation, an energy broker such as Utility Helpline can be extremely helpful in bringing those bills down.