Despite evidence that energy efficiency upgrades are saving businesses up and down the country thousands of pounds – sometimes with a payback of less than two years – one in three board directors remains unconvinced of the return on investment (ROI) on energy refits, new research shows.
The research published yesterday by Siemens, the global engineering and technology services company, reveals that 70 per cent of businesses are planning investment in energy efficiency projects in the next three years. However, almost 30 per cent of directors said they had yet to be convinced of the return on investment (ROI) of energy efficiency measures.
The survey of 600 businesses – including board directors, financial directors, energy managers and senior managers – also highlighted a lack of focus on energy management at board level, with more than a quarter (27 per cent) of board directors not knowing what their energy bill was and one fifth (18 per cent) admitting they did not know what their investment in energy management would be over the next three years.
One bright spot, according to the report, is the food and automotive manufacturing sectors. It found these industries demonstrated the strongest commitment to energy management in terms of their knowledge and attitudes, current behaviours and investment plans.
