Sustainable Works helps local companies save on expenses
MID-CITY Don’t underestimate the power of a photo copy machine.
Literally. When Amanda Schmidt, a project engineer at RMC Water and Environment decided to “green” the engineering consulting firm’s office on Broadway, she was surprised just how much electricity could be saved by adding a few energy efficient bulbs and even altering the power-save mode on a photo copier.
Schmidt changed the setting on the photo copier, making it enter energy save mode after 15 minutes of inactivity, instead of the previous setting of three hours.
The changes to the photo copier coupled with other energy efficient additions to the office have resulted in the savings of an average of $450 a month over the past year, Schmidt said on Friday.
The Northern California-based company worked with Sustainable Works’ Business Greening Program, which sent a team of experts that helped identify energy and cost savings opportunities in the Santa Monica office on Broadway and 24th Street. Those changes helped RMC’s Santa Monica office win the Sustainable Quality Awards (SQA) in 2007.
“It’s helped reduce our energy consumption and given us new ideas on how to further save energy,” Schmidt said.
Since its inception in 2001, Santa Monica-based Sustainable Works, a non-profit organization, has helped more than 100 businesses “green” their operations, from offices to restaurants to retail. The free program runs for about one year.
“It’s a marketing business trend right now,” said Susy Holyhead, the program’s director. “Across the board, businesses are seeing the economic benefits, the employee health benefits, the marketing benefits and of course, the environmental (benefits).”
In 2007 alone, 20 businesses participated in the Business Greening Program, from small coffee shops to larger restaurants, altogether saving 50,000 kilowatts of energy, and diverting a total of 20,000 gallons of waste from landfills, Holyhead said. “It results in economic savings and less toxins in the water,” she said.
Being green can be easy on the wallet as well. The Phelps Group, which won the SQA in 2006, saved an average of $800 a month from retrofitting the office’s light bulbs to compact fluorescents and by installing timers and sensors throughout the office.
The Aura Shop, a Main Street store that specializes in products and services for self-empowerment, is currently participating in the Business Greening Program. As a result of retrofitting the bulbs in the display window and showroom, shop owner Kate Mitchell said she has seen a savings of about $150 a month in her electricity bill.
“It’s a big expense for businesses to have,” Mitchell said. “We need all the help we can get.”
Seeing the changes in her electricity bill was a pleasant surprise. Even though she was told that there would be great savings as a result of the retrofitting, Mitchell said she was still a bit skeptical.
“Until you see the bill, you’re not sure,” she said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 21, 2008. Read the original PDF.