How will your office-based business save money with The Climate University? Knowledge is the key.

When properly educated, employees can significantly contribute to reducing energy consumption.

Train your staff on energy efficiency through mindful daily office practices that result in substantial cost savings. Create environmentally conscious employees who are aware of every light switch flipped, every computer, phone charger, and printer left on, every door left open, and the settings of heating and air-conditioning temperature controls. Ensuring that nothing is wasted fosters a deeper appreciation for resources and encourages the reduction of unnecessary energy consumption, leading to a more cost-effective office environment.

Today, the typical office worker uses an ever-growing collection of electronic devices, all drawing power from the grid and running up the utility bill. "Plug load" energy use is on the rise and can represent up to 50% of energy use in office buildings that have already improved the efficiency of lights, heating and cooling. The good news is that plug loads can be managed through low-and-no-cost measures that are straightforward to implement. The Climate University course content offers the solutions that could reduce your plug load energy use by 40%. CLICK to see SCE Energy Conservation Series report on Smart Plug Load Management.

The Climate University's short, interactive, and engaging video courses on climate change topics foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of our planet's resources. Each course contains gentle reminders to encourage employees to adopt small behavioral changes that increase energy efficiency and yield significant savings in utility bills. These simple, low-cost tips raise awareness of ways employees can implement company cost-saving greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction initiatives.

We focus on cost-effective solutions and do not involve expensive upgrades, time-consuming energy audits, or complex carbon accounting.

Businesses can enjoy significant cost savings by managing their carbon emissions. By adopting The Climate University's inexpensive behavioral changes and best practices, businesses can expect a reduction of 4% to 10% in GHG emissions (*with office-based businesses ranking highest in savings compared to other sectors).

Examples of The Climate University's cost-saving behavioral GHG reduction initiatives included in the climate change course content:

Green Team Implementation Stickers: Cost-effective, behavior-changing reminder stickers for light switches, computers, printers, refrigerators, thermostats, and doors that engage staff and help instill these behaviors as habits while promoting best practices found in The Climate University course content.

Specific initiatives include:

• 40% reduction in "Plug Load" energy draw for the ever-growing collection of electronic devices.
• Activating sleep settings, enabling aggressive power management settings, and dim brightness control settings.
• "Turn Off" campaigns for electrical and heating devices.
• Adjusting air-conditioning and heating by just one degree in summer and winter.
• Using zone airflow fans for more efficient heating and cooling.
• Unplugging equipment at night to reduce standby power needs.
• Installing energy-efficient LED lighting with occupancy and daylight sensors.
• Improving access to natural light by moving desks to windowed areas.
• Using programmable thermostats that turn off when spaces are vacant.
• Utilize energy-smart power strips to reduce "phantom energy" draw.
• Engage in treasure hunting for leaks to improve weatherstripping.
• Incentivizing teleconferencing with Zoom and Teams for out-of-town meetings.
• Promoting ridesharing and using ENERGY STAR model computers, printers, and refrigerators.
• Switching to electronic correspondence, catalogs, and invoices.
• Leading by example with award and recognition programs, and nominating departmental Green Teams.

Your employees will be continually reminded of these best practices and other innovative GHG and cost-reducing tips throughout our climate change video courses. Both the EPA and FEMA list employee involvement as a top priority for businesses looking to save on energy costs. Let us train your employees through The Climate University education. 

Implementing The Climate University's best practices can lead to a 4% to 10% reduction in GHG emissions.

Most of our subscribers report a similar 4% to 10% decrease in costs. This means your business will benefit from net savings that exceed our monthly subscription cost alongside these additional advantages of being a Climate University subscriber:

• Offset your company's unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions.
• Enhance your climate-friendly branding. Carbon offset retirement certificates are customized to display your company's name.
• Save time and money compared to increasingly costly, complex, and rigorous carbon accounting platforms.
• Elevate team-building and unify corporate vision to create a competitive advantage in your industry.
• Attract and retain environmentally conscious customers.
• Improve recruitment and retention of employees.
• Achieve your sustainability goals.
• Promote green energy and greenhouse gas reduction projects worldwide through carbon offsets. 

Business activities generate carbon emissions, which have associated costs that affect profitability.

A typical business's emissions profile includes electricity, heating, staff commuting, air travel, land and water transport, paper use, landfill waste, shipping, cloud services, data centers, artificial intelligence, and streaming internet usage. When combined, these factors represent the emissions that can affect your business's expenses and overall performance.*

Estimates vary between 3.4 and 6 tons of CO2e emissions generated annually for each Full Time Equivalent Employee (FTE). Estimates vary dependent on grid carbon intensity, climate zone, air travel, commuting mileage**, building size, public transit use, and many other factors.

*Gathering and analyzing data to create trustworthy metrics is a costly and time-consuming task.  While many small businesses want to be more sustainable, they don’t have the time or budget to hire an army of consultants. The Climate University fully supports any organization that identifies, measures, reduces, and reports their carbon dioxide and other carbon compound emissions. However, the emissions generated by some businesses can be difficult to quantify and calculate throughout its supply chain, costly to implement, and complex to report due to ever changing methodologies. In a voluntary market, companies with no public equity are under no formal obligation to reduce net emissions, but the Climate University offers a simple and convenient option to accomplish your sustainability goals.

**Employee Commuting DEFINITION: Employee commuting emissions differ from the required mobile source emission reporting in that they account for employee travel to and from work in vehicles not owned or leased by the organization, including personal vehicles, buses, and trains. COLLECT: Collect information about each employee’s commuting method. For commuters that use a personal vehicle, the appropriate vehicle type should be selected from the Calculator and data collected for the vehicle miles during the reporting period. For rail, bus, and air travel, the mode of transport should be selected from the Calculator options and an estimate of the passenger mileage data provided for each. QUANTIFY: After the data have been collected, enter the data into the appropriate orange colored boxes (Tables 1-2) of the Calculator section titled Employee Commuting. Once the data are entered into the Calculator, the CO2e emissions are calculated and summarized in the green colored box. The Guide to Greenhouse Gas Management for Small Business & Low Emitters is HERE.

EPA calculator link for businesses is HERE.
(https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/quantifying-energy-savings-and-greenhouse-gas-ghg-reductions)