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In response to Covid-19, many companies have encouraged employees to work from home until further notice. The absence of tenants presents an opportunity for Commercial Office Building Owners to adjust their building’s energy output appropriately and even save money on utility bills.

Tips for Commercial Office Building Owners

Here are a few tips to ensure you don’t waste energy during this time:

1. Make sure all lights are turned off. If lights are controlled by a timer, update the status to “Holiday” or “Unoccupied” until further notice.
2. Turn off your thermostats.There’s no need to cool or heat unoccupied buildings.
3. Turn off your plug-load. If you do not have a master plug-load controller, physically unplug all power cords from any active outlets.
4. If you have solar, use this opportunity to build excess energy for utility discounts or to fill your battery.

Tips for Multi-Family Building Owners

This will have an adverse affect on Multi-Family Building Owners. Since most companies are requiring their employees to work from home, the utility bills will most likely increase. Here are some steps tenants can take to minimize the increase:

1. Turn-off lights in unoccupied rooms. If you have not already replaced your fluorescent lights with LEDs, do so as soon as possible. LEDs do not create heat and use less energy.
2. If possible, open a window to cool your apartment, rather than utilizing your air conditioner.
3. Unplug any unused power cords. If an outlet is not switched off, and has a plug inserted, the outlet will still use energy.
4. Take shorter showers. Showers should take 7 minutes or less.
5. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth. Only turn the water on to rinse your toothbrush.
6. Only run the dishwasher when it’s full. Use the energy-saver mode if available. Otherwise, fill the sink and wash dishes by hand.
7. Report any water leaks. This can lead to a much larger problem.