I have spent almost every day over the last 4 years working with energy and sustainability professionals; trying to understand their workflows and how they can be more efficient. This is an important piece of work as the success of our planet is hugely dependent on these energy-saving experts being as good at their jobs as is humanly possible.

Why?

We need energy professionals to identify energy saving opportunities quickly in their organisations and reduce carbon emissions effectively at scale to save our planet from irreversible climate changes.

As a result of my work in this space I've got to know a lot about the key elements of a successful energy-saving project. And the most important element is planning. Without proper planning an energy-saving project can fall short and fail, or worse, have detrimental effects on the business.

I have gathered a handful of free tools that any business can use to help kickstart their energy-saving journey by putting a solid plan in place.

Here are the 3 best free tools/templates I've found:

1. Tool #1: The Energy Conscious Organisation's Gap Analysis Matrix, which helps businesses to identify where they can improve their organisation according to 5 key factors, thus allowing businesses to understand where they need to focus their efforts. It also provides a score to help businesses keep track of their progress over time. The tool can be downloaded on the following page, just under the title where it says 'download here' - https://www.energyconsciousorganisation.org.uk/organisations/

2. Tool #2: The Surple energy policy/strategy template, which helps businesses to quickly put a plan in place that puts some structure around their energy-saving plans. This template can be downloaded here: https://mailchi.mp/surple/energy-policy-template but make sure to take a look at the following blogs before you start:

   1. https://surple.co.uk/writing-energy-policy-for-business/

   2. https://surple.co.uk/tips-for-creating-business-energy-strategy/

3. Tool #3: One of the best wins if you have the capital readily available is installing on-site renewables. The 'pvfit calculator' from the Energy Saving Trust is a great place to get an understanding of your solar potential. https://www.pvfitcalculator.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

If you end up using these tools, let me know what you think!