At The Sustainable Lawyer (TSL), we are thinking 24/7 about ways to make our office more sustainable (and save some money) by reducing energy consumption. Some of these strategies seem obvious, like turning the lights off when we leave a room or shutting down computers at night. However, some of the biggest energy wasters have caught us by surprise, including those that have been hanging right over our heads. This week, we wanted to highlight an often overlooked energy hog almost every office has: exit signs.
TSL first became aware of the impact of indorr exit signs (which are required to be on at all times) during the BBA’s energy audit, performed by Rise Engineering. These signs, which are necessary to comply with building and fire codes, often fade into the background of offices, but our friends at Rise reminded us that they keep working long after we have gone home for the day. The BBA has 24 exit signs, which each use up to 40 watts of power a day. By converting to LED exit signs, which use only 1 watt of power a day, we learned that we can save more than 750 watts of energy every week.
The BBA will soon be installing brand new exit signs throughout the building and, with that switch, instantly start consuming less energy 24 hours a day. In the meantime, TSL will continue to be on the lookout for stealth energy hogs!
