The challenges
All businesses and organisations rely on both energy and water regardless of their product or service. From switching on a computer to the manufacturing and transportation of goods to customers across the globe.
Energy scarcity (a lack of available energy) is becoming a prominent issue throughout global supply chains, with organisations drawing large quantities from unsustainable energy sources, such as solid fuel burning or gas-intensive energies. This affects nearby communities by limiting access to energy. Simultaneously, this increases pollution through contributions from emissions. Additionally, supply chains utilise water-intensive processes for their operations, reducing the availability of clean water for domestic usage to nearby communities. As clean water is a limited resource, a lack thereof harms communities and surrounding ecosystems through issues of drought and water pollution. Together, these physical building blocks in the natural world greatly affect businesses if not managed effectively.
Key goals for improving your energy and water usage
By examining your use of water and energy and measuring your own performance, you can determine areas in how you operate where sustainable alternatives can be made. This includes swapping processing methods for those that require less energy and less water. When doing this it’s useful to thing about the following questions:
- How might you reduce your overall energy and water usage internally and along your supply chain?
- How might you increase the use of sustainable energy sources internally and along your supply chain.
The benefits for business
As SMEs account for 99.4% of all enterprises in Wales, they play a huge role in their ability to limit local environmental impact through mitigating intensive resource use.
| Tax benefits | The UK government has implemented new taxing incentives to increase renewable energy use in businesses, creating opportunities to save money. |
| Engagement | Energy and water-saving initiatives create opportunities to engage staff by building leadership, skills and transparency within the SME. |
| Resource protection | Using water and energy resources in ways that do not exploit the local environment enables consistent use of the resources for future use. This leaves continuous access for companies and communities to meet their water and energy needs while ensuring no resource availability gaps throughout the supply chain. |
Energy and water usage measurements
Energy and water usage measurements may be considered in two ways:
Direct use (within the organisation):
Installing water and energy meters can measure consumption from direct use. The values can be compared against government targets and the performance of similar organisations.
International measure (consumption within the broader supply chain):
It may be difficult for some organisations to control the international processes within their supply chains due to different laws and legislations, including a lack of transparency. However, establishing a baseline of resource use with contracted producers and suppliers allows for a clearer picture. This creates valuable opportunities to engage suppliers to question performance on renewable energy use, energy and water efficient technologies in the workplace, and opportunities for sustainable alternatives to be incorporated within the supply chain.
Did you know
Both the Welsh and UK governments have targets for energy consumption, notably to have all SMEs reach Net Zero (no greenhouse gas emissions) by 2050. A valuable place to begin is by pledging emission cuts—a target of 50%—by 2030, which will allow for changes in energy usage (a shift from non-renewable sources to renewable sources).
In water resources, the UK government targets reducing overall domestic and business water usage by 20% by 2038—an achievable baseline target for most SMEs.
Areas for improving your energy and water usage
Energy usage
In the office
- Install automatic switches to turn off lighting and heat.
- Improve insulation in buildings to help save energy for heating.
- Increase opportunities for natural lighting in building designs.
- Consider green infrastructure, such as green roofs, to assist with thermal insulation.
- Invest in sustainable energy alternatives such as feed-in tariffs (investment into clean energy) with local energy companies.
In the supply chain
- Switch to suppliers and manufacturers who use clean, renewable energy instead of traditional, high-emission energy sources. Changing energy suppliers might not be straightforward, however, beginning a dialogue with suppliers is the first step in achieving reduced energy usage on a wide scale.
- For premises like manufacturing, consider choosing a warehouse or factory that employs facility management strategies such as LED lighting, reduction of motor speeds, better insulation and building design.
Water usage
In the office
- Install leak detection on all water services in the building, including pipework and pumps.
- Invest in green infrastructure such as green roofs allows for both water management techniques and rainwater harvesting.
- Opt for low-flow facilities throughout any building.
- Automatic tap shut-offs where taps are present.
- Invest in on-site water reuse options (i.e. small-scale water treatment or effective greywater recycling, rainwater harvesting systems, etc).
- Consider behaviour change initiatives with staff members to reduce water usage.
In the supply chain
- Invest in new technologies, such as vertical farming and hydroponics.
- Use recycled wastewater in water-intensive processes.
- Opt for local sourcing where possible.
- Consider the transportation route products take – if sourced from different countries, transportation of the product also requires water or may result in water contamination.
📑Resources
What is Water Footprint and how to calculate it? | Iberdrola
Water pollution should be viewed as financial risk, investors warn | IEMA
A Roadmap Towards Water Security for Food and Drink Supply | WRAP
The Energy Saving Trust’s guide to energy efficiency at work
Landlords should champion green leases to help their buildings get to net zero
How to Save Energy: Working with your Landlord | GC Business Growth Hub
