Buying equipment

When buying new equipment for your business you can make long-term savings by looking for the most energy-efficient products.

Needs assessment

Before going to the market to see what is available, it’s important to find out exactly what you need, by completing a needs assessment.

Requests for new equipment may come from staff proposing a solution without fully understanding the situation and considering all the options available. 

As a simple example, staff may request a personal fan heater for under their desk because they are cold in winter. A full assessment of the situation would evaluate the location of air conditioning heating and cooling vents and their effectiveness, and other factors such as whether the doors to the outside are being kept shut as much as possible.  If a heater's still needed, then you would look for the most energy-efficient for the purpose.

Specifications

Specifications for your purchase should include:

  • Standards and ratings that give an independent assessment of energy use, such as ENERGY STAR® and Minimum Energy Performance Standards.
  • Operational efficiency, time control and standby specifications. An example of this is the energy consumption under normal, idling and low-power modes.
  • Total cost of ownership – that is the costs over the lifetime of the equipment, including the running cost and the indirect costs. For example, an indirect cost associated with office equipment is the air conditioning systems needed to remove the excess heat produced by inefficient equipment.

Suppliers

You may want to consider an appraisal of the supplier. For large supply contracts, you could evaluate a supplier’s environmental credentials.

More information