Conversations around climate change are becoming louder every day. Increasingly, people are turning to businesses to set an example, and expect organisations to get to grips with their environmental impact – and do something about it.
Carbon monitoring is one of the most effective ways to understand your carbon footprint. But if this isn’t something you’ve thought about before, you might not know what it is, and why carbon monitoring is important.
In this blog, we will break down some of the key reasons why your business needs to undertake carbon monitoring as a critical priority.
What is Carbon Monitoring?
Simply put, carbon monitoring is the process by which you track and measure the amount of carbon dioxide – plus other greenhouse gas emissions – that your business generates, through both direct and indirect activities.
Why is it important to undertake Carbon Monitoring?
Understand your environmental impact
If you aren’t measuring your carbon and energy consumption, how can you possibly manage and improve it?
The old business adage applies here: what gets measured, gets managed.
Measuring your carbon consumption will help you to make better business decisions and is a critical first step in your journey towards a Net Zero future. You will be able to gain a clear understanding of which of your activities are responsible for the most emissions and determine exactly where you can reduce your energy footprint, waste, and costs.
Eliminate waste
Once you have analysed every aspect of your business activities, you will get a full picture of where you can make changes and measure your progress over time.
Carbon monitoring is important as it gives you this full picture, with data available in real time. Tracking your energy use over a period of a few months will help you see where consistent issues are coming up, and also any spikes that could be curtailed too.
Backing up your carbon reduction initiatives with robust data helps you to make the best decisions and pivot your approach if necessary.
Eliminating unnecessary energy waste is a win in every regard. Not only will you further optimise your business operations, but you will also improve efficiency and can considerably cut your costs.
Remain legally compliant
As climate change and Net Zero become more pressing concerns, regulators are increasingly making it a requirement that businesses are transparent about their carbon emissions.
While this may not be the case in your industry yet, getting ahead of the game with save you a headache in the long run. If you choose to start undertaking carbon monitoring now, you will ensure your business is ready for any new compliance measures in the future and will be able to easily report on your carbon
consumption.
Show your environmental commitment
People are becoming more and more concerned with climate change, and so want to work with companies who are committed to sustainable operations and reducing their impact on the environment.
Pledging to reduce your carbon footprint and move towards Net Zero sooner rather than later will help to build your brand reputation amongst your customers.
More and more staff want to work for a sustainably minded business too, so this could help you to attract and retain people that will develop and grow your business in countless ways.
Reduce business costs
Carbon monitoring doesn’t just make your business more energy efficient – it will also make it more cost-effective.
With energy prices ever on the rise, any unnecessary energy use will be costing you a lot of money. By pinpointing exactly where your inefficiencies are and taking the time and effort to streamline them, you will be surprised at just how much your bills could decrease in the long term.
Take one of our Eniscope’s clients as an example. They worked with Corus Hotels to evaluate energy inefficiencies and wastage in Burnham Beeches Hotel, which was spending around £150,000 per year on gas and electricity alone.
After undertaking carbon monitoring, their projected results over the next 10 years are:
- Over £319,000 in savings
- 34% less energy consumption
- 1483_ Equivalent tonnes of Co2 saved
- 40,000kWh saved per month
Just think about the other areas of your business you could re-invest these funds into!
If you would like to learn more, you can read some of our other case studies here.
In conclusion, why Carbon Monitoring is important
We hope this blog has helped you to understand why it is important to undertake
carbon monitoring for your business.
Here at Utili-Tay, we are passionate about leading you to a greener future and saving on your energy usage. We work across a wide variety of industries in Scotland, including hospitality, manufacturing, retail, agriculture, the care sector, and more.
Our Carbon Monitoring services can help you to understand how much work you need to do to hit Net Zero by 2035 or even sooner. We will work with you to track real-time data, providing you with all the information and guidance you need to make decisions on how to reduce your carbon footprint.
Get started with our Self-Assessment Energy Audit, or contact us today to determine where you can start to save.
Back to Knowledge Base