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STEP 5.2: Raise Awareness

Everyone has a role in energy management. Effective programs make employees, managers, and other key stakeholders aware of energy performance goals and initiatives, as well as their responsibility in carrying out the program.

Communications strategies and materials for raising awareness of energy use, goals and impacts should be tailored to the needs of the intended audience. To raise awareness, consider doing the following:

Increase general energy awareness

Most people are unaware of how their everyday actions and activities at home and work affect energy use and impact the environment. Increasing overall awareness can be an effective way to gain greater support for energy initiatives.

Increasing general awareness of energy use can be accomplished through:

New employee orientation programs

Provide basic information on organizational and individual energy use to new employees.

Poster campaigns

Develop attractive and informative posters for break rooms, bulletin boards, etc, that discuss energy use.

Download the ENERGY STAR Break room poster PDF(3.6 MB)

Earth Day events

April 22 is Earth Day and provides an appropriate context for increasing awareness of the environmental impacts from energy use and how to reduce these impacts through everyday actions at work and home.

Intra and Internet sites

Publish information on energy use, environmental impacts, and energy-saving options geared towards a general audience on your organization’s web site or intranet site.

Pay statement mailers

Include energy-savings tips and energy efficient product information with pay statements.

Fairs and summits

Conduct an energy fair or summit oriented towards employees with information on energy saving activities and products.

See the ENERGY STAR Employees and Sales Training Tools for useful information on general awareness campaigns

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Improve facility energy awareness

Individuals working in or even managing a facility may have little understanding of the energy performance of the facility or its impact on the organization and environment. Targeted efforts designed to increase awareness of facility energy use can help build support for energy management programs.

Like general awareness efforts, facility-oriented energy awareness can take many forms. In developing facility energy awareness programs, consider using the following types of information:

Summary statistics

Use general facility energy facts and figures, such as overall energy costs, costs to operate equipment, environmental information related to energy use, and so on.

Sources of energy

Most Americans do not know how the energy they use is generated. Providing information on the sources of energy used at your facility along with the associated pollution that results from its use could increase awareness of the environmental aspects of energy use.

Energy use of equipment

Provide information on the energy performance of equipment or processes that employees regularly use as part of their jobs. For example, most employees probably do not know how much energy their computer uses during the day and how much that costs the organization when it is on, but not in use.

Scorecards

Develop charts and graphics that illustrate energy performance across your organization or compare it to a national standard, such as the ENERGY STAR buildings rating system available through Portfolio Manager and industrial plant rating system available through industry specific Energy Performance Indicators (EPIs).

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Gain management support

Frequently, managers who are not directly involved in energy management are not aware of how energy use effects the organization. Increasing the awareness of managers can help to build support for energy management initiatives.

Keys steps include:

  • Identify key audiences, such as:
    • Executive management
    • Facilities managers
    • Operations managers
  • Purchasing officers and procurement staff
  • Communications and marketing staff
  • Tailor the information to address the chief concerns of each audience, such as cost of energy per pound of product, or cost per square foot of building space.
  • Determine the most effective way to communicate with each audience. This could range from a presentation, to a memo, or an informal meeting.
  • Maintain regular contact to keep managers up-to-date on progress or changes in performance.

— Read the Elevating Energy Management Tip Sheet

— See the ENERGY STAR Challenge Toolkit for additional information and templates.

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