EUGENE WATER  &  ELECTRIC  BOARD

If your business leaves equipment on 24-hours-a-day, then you can uncover an immediate 75 percent energy savings by simply turning off office equipment when you leave for the day. Savings are substantial, immediate, and don't cost a dime.

While office equipment, such as computers, copiers and fax machines, are easily overlooked as a major category of energy use, recent studies show that these devices account for five to seven percent of all energy used in commercial buildings, putting this category in third place behind lighting and cooling.

Individually, most electronic devices use only a small amount of energy. However, with a computer on almost every desk along with printers, copiers, faxes and scanners, it all adds up to an energy load that is hard to ignore. While every office has different equipment, and equipment features vary by brand and size, you can be an energy sleuth at your workplace. Here are a few general recommendations for cutting energy wasted by office equipment.

Photocopy machines are the biggest energy users in most offices and much of the time they aren't doing anything. Be sure to turn copiers off before leaving the office at night or over the weekend.

Use the automatic document handler. It feeds pages faster, which means the fuser needs to stay hot for a shorter time. For similar reasons, duplex printing (printing on both sides of a sheet) uses slightly less energy. Duplex printing also cuts paper costs substantially.

Most copiers have a low-power "sleep" mode, but chances are good that you'll have to enable it. It is possible that your copier will even turn itself off at a specified time. Check your owner's manual or contact the copier service for more information about these built-in features.

Be sure that your copier is properly sized for the workload. For example, a mid-volume printer in a small office can use 70 percent more energy than a small volume copier. On the other hand, large offices will benefit from a single large volume machine instead of several smaller units.

About half the energy of a typical desktop system is used by the cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor. The most direct approach is to simply switch off the monitor when not in use, including short meetings, breaks and lunch. The new LCD monitors use a fraction of the energy of CRT-based monitors. Monitors for most file servers are rarely used and can be turned off when not needed for server maintenance.

Flipping off the computer "box" is not as easy as flipping off the monitor. When you return, it may take several minutes for the computer to complete its startup routine. Recent operating system software, such as Windows 98 or later, have a built-in low-power mode, generally called "sleep." You can generally enable this sleep mode through a "control panel" icon. Separate settings are available for the monitor and hard disk.

Set the monitor for a very short time, perhaps five minutes, while twenty minutes is typical for the hard disk. You may need to experiment with time settings that match your work habits and requirements. Unfortunately, older operating systems, such as Windows 3.1 and Windows NT, don't offer power management features.

Laser printers use printing technology similar to photocopiers and with similar energy impacts. Power-managed laser printers and those using light-emitting diodes (LED) can use half the energy of typical laser printers. Ink jet technology uses so little energy that all ink jet models use less than even ENERGY STAR® laser printers.

Energy saving strategies for printers are similar to those for copiers. Select the proper size printer for the workgroup and use duplex printing as much as possible. Also consider ink jet printers shared among smaller groups of three to five employees.

The energy use of fax machines depends on the type of printing mechanism used. Laser-based printing devices use the most, while ink jets use 70 percent less. Thermal printers use the least energy. The main issue with fax machines is that they stay powered on all the time. Newer fax machines have a sleep mode similar to other devices that drops standby power requirements into the 15- to 45-watt range.

Perhaps the most troubling trend in energy use is "phantom load." Many devices use a considerable amount of power even though they are supposedly "off." Any electric device with an external transformer (that small block with the ele ctrical prongs attached) or any device that has a light or clock burning, is slowly consuming energy. While phones, faxes and answering machines must stay on, many computer peripherals can be turned off. Plug selected devices into a conveniently located power strip and switch them all off together.

Like the ants that brought down the rubber tree, the small amount of power used by the large and growing number of office machines will have a growing impact on your business. To combat the onslaught, first recognize the enemy. Tour your office and quickly assess the number of electronic devices in use. Then, work with your staff to find ways to curtail energy use. When it comes to the bottom line, you'll be glad you did.

The graph below compares the energy cost to operate a typical package of office equipment. The estimate shows that simply turning equipment off manually at the end of business each day slashes energy costs by two-thirds. The highest savings are obtained by engaging the built-in energy management features (sleep mode) on all equipment and turning the equpment off manually when the office is closed on evenings and weekends. This estimate is based on a package of office equipment comprising 20 desktop comptures with CRT monitors, one file server with CRT monitor, three laser printers and one photocopier.