Photo by Lenore M. Edman, www.evilmadscientist.com
Sometime you have to step backfrom your standpoint and see things as they really are. I would be keen to believe that nobody would ever leave the lights on 24/7 in the office, not these days, not when climate change is said to be on top of every business agendas. Yet the sad truth is, this is still not the case. How many times you do walk around in the night and see loads of empty office buildings, all lighted up, screens on, as it was the busiest time of the day?
Does it just come down to energy management or is it a general behavioural issue? There are so many ways you can drive energy efficiency in an office environment, like occupancy/daylight sensors for the lighting system, timers, more efficient equipments. But how far one should go down the road of automation?
There are gadgets out there that can even remind you to turn off your screen when you leave the office. To me that equals to: extra cost for the gadget (yes, extra, as I don't think it will never pay back. People would just forget what that little funny button is there for); extra carbon costs for all the embedded energy in the product manufacturing (including shipping and disposal); and ultimately that means considering people as monkeys, not even capable of remembering to switch off their monitors. Sorry, actually monkeys would do that if properly instructed.
The big question: how do we balance between investing in technology and investing in people?
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