lighting, telecommuting, mobility… What impacts for companies?

The government is counting on the economic world to withstand the energy crisis this winter. In its energy sobriety plan, which Europe 1 has obtained, the executive proposes 16 concrete actions intended for “all companies, including industrial ones” in a “charter of commitments”. These “actions” range from the fight against waste to energy savings, through sustainable mobility and the reorganization of work. Europe 1 takes stock of the impact of this plan for businesses.

Encourage savings on lighting

The executive recommends that offices apply strict guidelines regarding heating and lighting in the premises. It is proposed to companies “to turn off the lights inside when there is no one left, reduce the outdoor lighting, in particular advertising, and turn it off at one o’clock in the morning maximum”. Similarly, it is advisable to modernize this lighting, for example by combining it with automatic presence detection, which would reduce “immediately by 10% the overall electricity bill”.

Credit: Prime Minister’s Office

In this plan, companies must make employees aware of eco-gestures and relay to them the alerts relating to periods of tension on the network that the Ecowatt system detects.

Lighting, heating… Modernizing equipment

To reduce energy consumption, the government advocates the use of “less energy-consuming technical solutions”, such as replacing equipment or adopting low-energy lighting. There is also mention of energy sobriety provisions in the contracts entered into between suppliers, subcontractors, other stakeholders and customers. For the temperature inside, the plan highlights self-contained heating or heat recovery devices.

Haro on “unnecessary” trips

The government is banging its fist on the table also on unnecessary travel. “The air route, exclusively by regular line, should only be used when the travel time by rail is greater than four hours for a single journey or six hours round trip in the same day”, warns the executive, who wants to deploy a sustainable mobility package and a system called “mobility credit” for employees who use a company car.

Mobility plans may also be passed to allow preference to be given to electric vehicles for company fleets.

Use of teleworking in the event of high tension

Companies are then invited to designate, among their employees, an ambassador or a referent of energy sobriety. This in order to think of a strategy to reduce the energy consumption of the building, and of actions in favor of this sobriety to the social and economic committee (CSE) or to the trade union representatives.

Regarding a possible reorganization of work, for emergency situations when the voltage is high on the network (red Ecowatt signal from RTE), “specific teleworking procedures for all teleworking positions could be put in place associated with the closure of the buildings concerned”, advances the government.

Groups that respect these various commitments will be able to register on the “Les entreprises s’engage” platform, which will allow them to be accompanied.

Digital sobriety

The energy sobriety plan also includes a section on digital sobriety. The government recalls that 21% of a company’s electricity consumption is based on IT equipment, and 75% of IT equipment consumption takes place during periods of inactivity. While digital-induced emissions could increase by 60% by 2040, the executive has crafted a sobriety strategy.

The government is thus asking companies to put in place an appropriate transformation plan, to rationalize the storage of data and properly sort its documents and e-mails as well as to adapt the cooling systems of the servers.

Employees are also encouraged to use Wi-Fi when available and put network equipment on standby or even off when not in use. Finally, they are advised to reduce the brightness of the screens, to turn them off when they are not necessary, and to turn them off when they are absent. To continue on this path, the government is finally proposing the purchase of products bearing environmental labels such as EPEAT and TCO Certified, and favoring less energy-consuming and more durable devices.