to save energy

Lighting

• turn off the lights whenever you leave a room, even just for a short time
• keep the lights in common-use rooms off occasionally (bathrooms, meeting rooms, etc.) and turn them on only when necessary
• take advantage of daylight as much as possible, so as to reduce the use of artificial light
• to illuminate your work table, favour table lamps over fixed electric lights

Heating/Cooling

In winter:

• don’t adjust radiators to high temperatures, wear sufficient clothing and keep the temperature to around 20°C
• if it’s too hot, don’t open the windows, instead lower the room temperature by adjusting the thermostat
• whenever possible, heat only occupied rooms and keep the doors closed. That way you avoid heat being dispersed into adjacent rooms that don't need heating
• when radiators are on, don’t cover them with radiator covers and don’t place large objects in front of them, in order to avoid obstructing the circulation of air and the proper diffusion of heat

In summer:

• don’t adjust the air conditioner to excessively low temperatures, keep the temperature to around 25°C
• keep windows closed when the air conditioner is turned on
• in occupied rooms turn on the air conditioning occasionally and only if necessary, remembering to turn it off when you go out
• if lighting requirements allow, keep the curtains drawn at all times to increase the thermal insulation of rooms both in summer and in winter

Computer

• adjust the brightness of your computer screen depending on the available lighting
• don’t use screensavers, set the monitor to sleep instead
• set the standby feature to turn off the display when you are not using your computer for short periods
• turn off the monitor when you leave the computer for more than 15 minutes
• always turn off your computer when you stop using it for a long period
• at the end of the day, turn off your computer and unplug it: computers draw power even when turned off!
• set the power management settings to shut down the computer after a certain period of inactivity.

Printer

• turn on the printer only when you need it
• avoid using a personal printer in the office, instead use the network printer
• at the end of the day, turn off the office or network printer
• only print documents or emails when a hard copy is necessary or really useful. Get used to reading emails on-screen first to determine their usefulness, and avoid printing all the footnotes (privacy information, anti-virus controls...)
• to avoid printing the same document multiple times unnecessarily, use the "Print Preview" option to check whether the page layout is the one you want
• to print drafts of documents, use a low-resolution print mode (“Draft” or “Economy” mode)
• before printing a document, reduce the page margin and font sizes as much as possible
• whenever possible, print documents in a single session
• always print in duplex (double-sided) mode
• if the printer cannot print double-sided, use the "print even pages" and "print odd pages" option to first print on one side, then manually reinsert the sheets and print on the reverse side.
• use recycled paper
• avoid printing pages containing just a few lines: if the last page of a document contains only a few lines, reduce the font size or page margins of the document, so that you can print one page fewer
• don’t print an excessive number of copies of a document, only print as many as you actually need

Photocopier

• if the photocopier does not have an automatic standby option, remember to press standby yourself after using it, or press the power save button
• at the end of the day, especially before a weekend, turn off the photocopier
• photocopy multiple pages or documents all at once, and avoid copying one sheet at a time
• whenever possible, reduce the page size so that you can fit two pages next to each other on one sheet

Domestic appliances

• never put hot food in the refrigerator
• when using the dishwasher, don’t set the drying cycle at the end of the wash cycle, as drying dishes by leaving the door open uses up to 45% less energy
• use microwave ovens rather than electric ovens, consume less and choose cooking methods that ensure minimum nutrient loss
• run your washing machine at full load and wash at low temperature (reducing from 90°C to 60°C generates energy savings of up to 30%)

in addition...

• turn off all electronic devices when not using them and don’t leave them on unnecessarily
• disconnect mobile phones and charger plugs from the mains: they consume power even when not connected to a device or when the connected device is switched off