Practical tips for energy managers

James S Murray
clock

BusinessGreen and Global Action Plan reveal how some of the UK's top energy managers are pioneering new techniques for cutting energy bills and carbon emissions

Reducing corporate energy use is often easier said than done. Management intransigence, tight budgets and dismissive colleagues can make it difficult for organisations to improve their energy efficiency, even when significant financial and environmental savings are on offer.

However, a number of tried and tested techniques and technologies have been shown to help organisations of all shapes and sizes to reduce their energy use and improve their environmental performance. Environmental charity Global Action Plan has pulled together many of these successful approaches to energy efficiency improvement and employee engagement gathered over its 20 years of leading environmental behaviour change.

The organisation recently ran a day-long course for energy managers and those with influence of bills such as FM contract managers, supported by funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The training reached 180 managers across the country, in workplaces with an annual energy expenditure of approximately £750m.

Working in partnership with Global Action Plan, BusinessGreen caught up with some of the energy managers involved to discover how they are embracing best practices and using new technologies and employee engagements initiatives to help enhance their energy efficiency. Each day this week we'll bring you a new in-depth case study revealing how a leading organisation is improving its energy management, starting today with the work of the Westminster Park Plaza hotel:

More on Management

CCEP's Joe Franses: 'I wish someone had told me how much patience is required in sustainability'

CCEP's Joe Franses: 'I wish someone had told me how much patience is required in sustainability'

The chief sustainability officer at world's largest Coca-Cola bottler explains the importance of hiring both technical expertise and 'generalists', and why communication is an underrated skill

Stuart Stone
clock 18 August 2026 • 9 min read
Novartis' Korab Zuka: 'Early on, I underestimated how much sustainability is about trade-offs'

Novartis' Korab Zuka: 'Early on, I underestimated how much sustainability is about trade-offs'

Swiss pharmaceutical firm's CSO reflects on how his upbringing in Kosovo, experience of war and displacement, and human rights activism shaped his approach to healthcare and sustainability

Stuart Stone
clock 11 August 2026 • 10 min read
RFU unveils sustainability strategy for English rugby

RFU unveils sustainability strategy for English rugby

Rugby Football Union tees up plans to improve environmental, social, and governance across the sport and 'spaces where rugby is lived'

clock 06 August 2026 • 2 min read