by Andrew Pust

Conservation is the byword of today. Maintenance catalogs are filled with bold print and bright colors designed to draw your attention to the latest, energy- saving devices. Trying to figure out which ideas, if any, are worth implementing can be time consuming and discouraging. What we are really talking about is efficiency. We all would like to be able to spend less and get more for it. The problem we face is that becoming efficient often costs more than the utilities and upkeep of what we currently have.

If efficiency were just about saving money, it would still get some attention; but more is at stake than money. What if greater efficiency meant that three people could adequately care for a facility that currently requires four? What could your organization accomplish if they could use one of your people in another important role and did not have to hire additional staff? If you did not have to replace five or ten light bulbs everyday, what would you be able to do with that time? If you learned a new skill such as basic A/C and refrigeration repair (which can potentially save your ministry hundreds of dollars a year in repair costs), where would you find the time to actually use that ability?

Yes, efficiency is also about time. Anything that requires less time now to take care of than before gives me the ability to do more somewhere else. Time and money are two commodities that we talk frequently about saving, but really we cannot “save” either of them. We can only use them more efficiently by improving the quality of the supplies and equipment that we use and by improving our skills and abilities.

Consider the following things in your pursuit of efficiency.

Create a list of immediate savings solutions. Limit the list to five and focus on those. Sometimes it is the seemingly insignificant things that cost us the most.
Go slow. Do not just tear it all down and start over. All the same, get started. Efficiency is a cumulative process. Start with the item that will make the largest improvement immediately, or start with the improvement you can afford, even if it is not the one you would really like to do.
Understand the big picture. Take time to understand the impact that different components have on each other. For instance, old light fixtures not only use more electricity than modern fixtures, they also generate more heat, which in an air-conditioned space means more work for the air conditioner.
Determine payback time. Find out how long, if ever, it will take for an upgrade to pay for itself. Decide if it even needs to pay for itself. Some things are valuable enough just in being reliable that the payback is not an issue at all.
Be a team player. Every department should have the goal of helping the team fulfill its mission. Be willing to spend funds from your budget that will result in savings for someone else.
Do not upgrade your ministry out of the ministry. The idea of efficient quality means there is a balance point between cost and quality. Figure out where that point is and honor it.
Plan carefully before building something new. The additional cost of efficiency is more easily absorbed in the course of new construction than after the building is completed.
Replace dead equipment with something better. This will mean some research so that you can compare the improved benefits with the difference in cost and make an informed decision. Remember that just because it costs more does not mean it will be better.
Teach your colleagues how to help. Even in this modern day of automation, efficiency is not always convenient. Encourage your team to take the responsibility to properly shut down rooms they are leaving. All the little things left on will eventually add up.