Helping make green choices

By Bridget Cook
GREEN Army member Benjamin Carmichael discovered the potential to live sustainably and has now turned his energy to helping others to do the same.
After more than five years in the wind energy industry, Mr Carmichael wanted to do more at a personal level for environmental sustainability.
It was through this inspiration to help businesses achieve their sustainability goals that his business, Scotch Energy Solution, was born.
For the past six months, the Officer resident has been helping small to medium-sized businesses become greener through energy auditing, sustainability monitoring and in-house training.
“I feel there is a lot of emphasis on big business to make a difference, but smaller businesses that want to make a difference are missing out,” he said.
Mr Carmichael said he joined the Green Army as he thought it was a great initiative to help foster sustainability in the community and as an opportunity to share some advice.
He said some of the practices businesses can employ include the following.
Heaters and oil column heaters can account for a huge 10 per cent or more of annual energy use. Instead, if you need extra heating in an office, use heated floor mats, mica thermic panel heaters and warmer clothing.
Replace old CRT computer monitors with LCD monitors and save around 250kg of greenhouse gases per year, that’s 5000 black balloons per monitor.
The best time to get sustainable is when doing an office fit-out or renovation. Once you lock in your design, you’re also locking in either years of costs or years of savings.
Mr Carmichael has also offered some tips that households can take on board to become more environmentally friendly.
Avoid installing Halogen down-lights as they are a fire hazard and highly energy inefficient. Install a pendant light or use compact fluorescent down-lights instead.
When cooking, always put a lid on your pots as much as possible to both save energy and cook faster.
Install external blinds on north, east or west-facing windows that get summer time sunlight. Stopping the sun getting into a room with external shading is far more effective than simply pulling the curtains or blinds.
For more information on how your business or home can become more environmentally sustainable contact Mr Carmichael on 0434 213 373.