WWF Ear Hour is not about seeing the world in a different light, it is about creating a different world

This Saturday (28/3) will be Earth Hour, an annual global initiative in which governments, businesses and individuals in cities and towns around the world turn out their lights for an hour at 20:30 local time as a call for action on climate change. BT Tower, Harrods, the Royal Naval College, Tower Bridge, Southwark Cathedral, Mansion House, Barbican, the Gherkin, St Paul's, the Royal Opera House have all pledged to dim their lights.

Tanuja Randery, UK & Ireland President at Schneider Electric, comments;

Earth Hour is not just about seeing the world in a different light, it is about creating a different world. It is about educating everyone to think differently about energy. After all, the energy kilowatt that is not used is the most powerful one.

Lighting accounts for about 20 to 30 per cent of electricity consumption. So, whilst it is a good place to start with energy saving, there is so much more that can be achieved. Heating, cooking, powering the TV and sending tweets all consume more energy than we think. And, collectively we need to make smarter energy choices to make a real difference.

Let's think beyond Earth Hour. And, together find ways to reduce energy consumption and stop energy wastage. Here are a few tips that individuals, businesses and communities can use to apply the principles of Earth Hour to their everyday living.

Tips to Make Every Hour Earth Hour:

1. Take a digital break: Time spent updating Facebook or posting pictures to Instagram consumes more energy than you think. The digital economy uses a tenth of the worlds electricity. And, it is poised to grow dramatically, with cloud computing projected to use 1,963.74 billion kilowatt hours of electricity by 2020.

2. Pledge green family time: Often lights are left on when they are not needed. Choose to turn your lights off and the heating down for a specific hour every month, or even every night. Setting daily or monthly reminders on your smart phone will help accomplish your commitment to saving energy.

3. Use data smartly: Smart meters and devices put energy usage data in the hands of consumers, businesses and Governments. And, provide us with the power to make smarter energy choices. Everyone from consumers, businesses to landmarks and utilities can optimise energy use in a way that wasn't previously feasible.

4. Share more: Sharing and comparing can motivate people to change in a very powerful way. www.MyEnergyUniversity.com offers more than 350 courses and has been helping individuals make smarter choices about the top issues impacting the energy industry since 2009.

5. Automate dark time: Using occupancy sensors to detect movement within offices, shopping centres, hotels and public space ensures that energy wastage can be cut dramatically. If no motion is detected for a period of time, the occupancy sensors turn off the lights and air-conditioners automatically as they assume the area is unoccupied.

6. Darken empty spaces: By installing occupancy sensors in storage rooms and corridors, organisations can eliminate electricity wastage in unused or empty spaces.

7. Harvest natural light: Daylight harvesting is a great way to provide sustainable energy. Solar energy could provide four per cent of UK electricity by 2020. Whereas in rural areas in Africa, up to 48 hours of lighting can be provided from energy efficient, eco friendly lamps with 120 lumen light output, through a one day solar charge.

8. Benchmark building performance: Managers of large buildings, campuses or other facilities can significantly reduce operating costs by cutting down on their energy consumption. To help organisations, ISO 50001 was launched to provide businesses with a recognised framework for integrating energy performance into management practices. This benchmark has quickly gained recognition, and could influence up to 60 per cent of the world's energy use.

9. Drive clean: Clean, zero-emission electrical vehicles make for a smart energy choice. Today's EV charging solutions can typically offer around 100 miles following a three-hour charge. So with the UK's average car journey being just 26 miles, the argument for electric vehicles is a strong one.

10. Pull together as a community: The power of communities coming together is very potent. Community dark time is set to be demonstrated at Earth Hour - BT Tower, Harrods, the Royal Naval College, Tower Bridge, Southwark Cathedral, Mansion House, Barbican, the Gherkin, St Paul's and the Royal Opera House will be turning off their lights for Earth Hour. Imagine if we replicated this daily, or the savings that switching off Canary Wharf each night would accrue. By coming together to make smarter energy choices, we can make a sustainable difference.

LINK:	http://www.schneider-electric.co.uk/sites/uk/en/company/news/news-view...
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