Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

SME's are a dynamic and oft under-appreciated part of the Australian economy. Businesses with under 200 employees drive the most employment and provide the most economic benefit to Australia, with SMEs making up over 57 % of the Australian economy.

The way these 2 million+ businesses consume energy, water and other resources, is critical to our societies ability to transform its economy to a more sustainable level. The good news is, then in doing this, the owners and managers of these businesses will save money and increase their profits.

Configure your lighting for efficiency By utilizing natural light, installing skylights, sensors switches and separating lights into multiple zone switches we can cover our lighting needs, with less electricity.	Conserve water in your business Water efficiently in your business you will save money and insulate your business from increased costs when the price of water rises.		Establish a recycling program Most businesses generate "waste" products that should be recycled, if only to prevent harmfull chemicals entering our food chain.
Implement efficient air conditioning and heating Large amounts of energy are required to heat or cool the air inside a building, so doing it as efficiently as possible is essential to minimizing this expense.	Maintain, downsize and turn off your fridge Refrigerators and cool rooms consume a lot of energy. The benefit of bringing them up to best practice efficiency is a heavy financial and envronmental reward.		Purchase energy efficient appliances When investing in new office or workplace equipment and appliances, use the Energy Star® ratings (stars) to guide you to the most efficient products.
Switch off un-used appliances By switching off equipment when it is not in use, we save energy and money. It is that simple.	Teach energy efficient driving Teach your staff the art of eco-driving and reduce your fleet’s fuel consumption by 10-20 percent per annum. Every year.		Upgrade to energy efficient lighting By replacing your current lighting with the new generation of efficient lights, such as compact fluorescents and LEDs, you can half the lighting component of your electricity.
	Use your recycled printer paper twice Paper, and printing on it, cost money. It consumes resources and could often be avoided.

Environment

Small and medium businesses control their use of resources through their application of efficient work methods and technology. As a result, as efficiency technology grows, there is much room for improvement in the environmental performance of many SMEs. Business owners are recognising that as the cost of energy, water and other limited resources rise, the value of best practice efficiency increases, thus speeding our transition to a sustainable society.

Wellbeing

SME owners and managers are proud independently minded entrepreneurs who, are, in general, aware of the environmental issues that unsustainable consumption of resources is causing. As a result many SMEs are committed to wise and progressive environmental programs and having their business reflect and enact their concerns about our declining environment.