3 energy upgrades to give your business a boost

Businesses that become more energy efficient can now score a tax break of up to $20,000 thanks to a recently-announced government incentive.

But what’s even better… When it comes to your business’ energy usage, saving your business some extra cash isn’t just for tax time.

An energy efficiency upgrade can help you pocket more dollars every month with savings on your power bill. Plus, you’ll be reducing your carbon emissions and helping your business do its part for a more sustainable future.

To make it easy, we’ve rounded up three ways to save energy – including one that takes under 10 minutes.

Go renewable with GreenPower

Would you believe us if we said you could switch to clean electricity without lifting a finger? (Okay, maybe you will have to lift a finger, but just enough to type on your keyboard.)

Because the easiest way to ditch the fossil fuels that cause climate change is to ask your energy provider to switch you to GreenPower. It’s usually as simple as filling out an online form.

GreenPower is a fancy way of saying you’re investing in electricity generated entirely from sources such as wind and solar.

Whilst in some cases, it may cost a bit more in the short term, renewable energy is getting cheaper and cheaper as the infrastructure becomes more widespread.

And there are significant benefits that come from making the switch.

For one, sustainability is becoming more and more important to customers. 57% of Aussies say they care more about it than they did two years ago,¹ and 76% say it affects their purchase decisions.²

This means running your business on renewable energy can provide another selling point in the eyes of a large – and growing – number of consumers, not to mention an excuse for a humble brag.

With GreenPower, you can be sure that your electricity is coming from clean, sustainable sources, even if you don’t own your business’ premises and are not able to install solar panels.

If electricity is your only form of energy, then you could nearly halve you carbon footprint and be well on your way to zero emissions – an achievement that’s increasingly sought after by customers and workers.

Sign up to Greener for Business for our full guide to switching to renewable energy as part of your company’s personalised sustainability pathway.

Step it up with solar

Sourcing renewable energy? Check. How about making your own renewable energy?

There’s no shortage of sunshine in Australia, meaning businesses are well-placed to generate their own renewable energy using solar panels. Solar power is cost-effective because, well, the sun is free!

The main cost of solar power is installing solar panels. But this can be eased by the tax break mentioned earlier, as well as other government incentives designed to offset the upfront cost of installation.

There are a few steps you’ll need to take before you can start generating your own solar power, including determining what’s feasible for your workplace and finding a certified installer. Sign up to Greener for Business for our guide to the process.

Once up and running, your business will be less reliant on the energy grid, bringing down your ongoing power costs by up to 80%.⁵ If you generate surplus electricity and put it back into the grid, you could even receive a credit instead of a bill!

Give gas the boot

Once you have clean energy powering most of your business’ operations, give yourself a pat on the back – you’ve made a huge dent in your carbon footprint! We’ve got one last energy upgrade that’ll help your company get to zero emissions and save money: replacing any equipment running on natural gas.

That’s because natural gas is a major climate change contributor, responsible for 21% of the emissions caused by fossil fuels.⁶ Furthermore, it poses a safety concern to team members and is often more expensive than electricity.⁷

Replacing gas appliances with electric alternatives is a great way to reduce emissions, and while there are upfront costs, the ongoing savings make it worthwhile.

For example, upgrading the average commercial kitchen (such as by swapping gas cooktops for induction) could cost up to $5,000. But the business would save $3,000 annually on its bills and bring down its emissions by 10 tonnes⁸ – the equivalent of flying from Sydney to London six times⁹

Much like solar panels, the cost of installation could be offset by the upcoming tax incentive, helping businesses break even and start seeing the savings even sooner. Combined with GreenPower and solar panels, you could significantly shrink your power bills and bring your company’s energy-related emissions to zero.