Workplace energy conservation index (WECI): A tool for attaining energy conservation at workplace

Abstract

Workplace energy consumption exceeds household usage, due to which, even small changes in workplace energy behaviour can minimise emissions associated with energy consumption. Despite global workplace energy conservation efforts, measuring progress is impeded due to the involved complexity. Building on this gap, this study developed Workplace energy conservation index (WECI), that can assist a company in measuring the attainment of energy conservation with respective to the benchmarking company. The proposed index is built by considering individual and organizational enablers. A total of 20 enablers identified through extensive literature review complemented with the outcomes of focus group discussions are the components of developed index. For demonstration of the proposed WECI, a target company and a benchmarking company from the automobile sector have been selected and the involved computations are expounded. Findings suggest that the attainment of target company is 46 % indicating the scope of improvement. Detailed evaluation of WECI guides the stakeholders to identify the thrust area that can improve the attainment of energy conservation at the workplace. The proposed framework can be extended to companies in other sectors where the relevant enablers can be added in the phase of focus group discussions.