Energy-Saving Tips for Coworking Spaces: Where to Start

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A coworking space can cut its energy use without a major renovation. Start with lighting, heating and cooling, and the equipment that stays on after hours, then ask members to help. Track your bills so you can see what each change does.

Where does a coworking space waste the most energy?

Shared spaces run long hours with changing occupancy, so energy often goes to empty rooms. The usual culprits are lights left on in meeting rooms, heating or cooling set for a full house on a quiet day, and screens, printers and chargers that stay powered overnight.

ENERGY STAR's checklists of energy-saving measures for commercial buildings suggest a nighttime audit as a low-cost first step: walk through after closing and note what is still running that should not be.

How do you cut lighting costs?

• Swap old bulbs and tubes for LEDs. ENERGY STAR recommends replacing old fluorescent and incandescent lighting with certified LEDs.
• Add occupancy sensors or timers in meeting rooms, phone booths, storage and bathrooms, where lights are most often forgotten.
• Use daylight. Put desks near windows and keep glass clean, with blinds open when glare allows.
• Offer desk lamps so members need less bright overhead light.

How do you keep the space comfortable without overusing heating and cooling?

Comfort complaints are common in shared offices, so make changes in a way members can see and understand.

Schedule the system

A programmable or smart thermostat can follow your opening hours and run the system less when the building is closed. Keep an override for events and late sessions.

Maintain it

Dirty filters and neglected equipment make a system work harder. Put filter changes and a yearly service on the calendar. If rooms are always too hot or cold, ask an HVAC technician, since leaking ducts or poor insulation may be the cause.

Split the space into zones where you can

Quiet rooms, open areas and meeting rooms are used differently. Separate controls let you avoid heating or cooling a room nobody uses.

What about computers, monitors and other plug-in equipment?

• Set shared computers and monitors to sleep after a short idle time.
• Put printers, kitchen appliances and AV gear on power strips or timers so they switch off at night.
• When buying new equipment, look for the ENERGY STAR label.
• Ask members to unplug chargers and switch off personal screens when they leave.

If you are also thinking about what equipment to put on desks, our article on building a portable work kit shows what members often bring themselves, and the Gadgets for the Office collection at MaviGadget has more office tech to browse.

What can you do about water and waste?

These matter less for the power bill, but members notice them.

• Fix dripping taps and running toilets quickly.
• Fit low-flow aerators on taps where the plumbing allows.
• Set up clearly labelled recycling for paper, plastic, glass and metal. Check with your local waste provider what they accept.
• Provide mugs, glasses and cutlery that can be washed instead of single-use items.
• Default printers to double-sided and keep printing out of the way of daily habits.

How do you get members on board?

Rules posted on a wall are easy to ignore. People follow habits that are easy and that they understand.

• Explain the why in your welcome pack and a short note near the door: lights off in empty rooms, screens off at the end of the day.
• Make the right choice the easy one with sensors, power strips and clear recycling bins.
• Ask for ideas. Members who run their own businesses often have practical suggestions.
• Share results when the bills improve, so the effort feels worthwhile.

Sustainability can also be part of how you describe your space to new members. It fits well with the community focus covered in our post on hosting workshops in a coworking space, since many events bring people in for evenings and weekends when energy use is hardest to control.

How do you know if it is working?

1. Record your electricity, gas and water bills for a few months before you change anything.
2. Change one thing at a time where possible, such as LEDs first, then the thermostat schedule.
3. Compare bills with the same months of the previous year, since weather and occupancy affect them.
4. Ask your utility whether it offers a free or discounted energy assessment.
5. Repeat the nighttime audit every few months.

If you rent your space, talk to your landlord before changing fixtures, thermostats or insulation. They may pay for upgrades or have a say in them. For larger projects, such as new heating systems, get advice from a qualified energy auditor or electrician.

Where should you start this week?

Do a nighttime walk-through, put sensors or timers on the rooms that most often get left lit, and set a sleep timer on shared computers. Those three steps cost little and show you quickly where the rest of your energy goes. For ideas on other upgrades to a shared space, see our piece on how a coworking space can work as a studio alternative for small businesses.