While the implementation of carbon taxes is set to begin in January 2015, facilities management company Servest Group notes that it is important for companies to start investing in energy management systems to immediately reduce energy consumption.

Servest Group COO Steve Wallbanks says it is concerning that not only are many small and medium-sized businesses unaware of the looming carbon tax, but often they also do not know their carbon profile. This subsequently affects the way in which a business shapes its business model and budget to correlate with government’s policy on carbon taxes.

The South African government has indicated that the implementation of carbon taxes will take place in two phases. The first phase will start on January 1, 2015, and continue until December 31, 2019. The second phase will be rolled out on January 1, 2020, when the tax rate will be revised and previously excluded sectors will be included.

Wallbanks argues that companies need to carefully consider possible impact of the new planned tax and investigate the viability of making investments that can help them managing and/or reducing energy consumption.

“Regulatory requirements aiming to reduce carbon emissions and energy use require accurate energy data collection and effective management systems. Companies can save up to 20% in fuel costs by managing their energy use. Subsequently, this reduces the risks of energy-price fluctuations and supply shortages,” says Wallbanks.

Having designed energy management solutions for many companies, Servest Group notes that, in most companies, successful energy management solutions are usually an integral part of a company’s culture and the solution is included in the company’s overall strategic plan.

“A written plan identifies specific objectives, or perfomance goals, and courses of action to be taken; it also indicates how performance will be measured. Undocumented energy management actions implemented within an organisation may lack consistency of purpose and represent a set of short-term tactical actions, compared with longer-term strategic action,” Wallbanks points out.

He highlights that the implementation of such tactical actions may require few organisational resources, but they are more easily subject to termination or reversal in the daily allocation of operational resources. Tactical actions are more useful for fine-tuning strategy, but may lack the permanence required to achieve meaningful long-term results.

Servest Group notes that there are specific trends in South Africa with regard to energy management preferences and development that are being implemented in companies. These trends include the Green Building Council of South Africa Green Star Rating for new buildings, which has had an impact on energy management and has been a key driver in the implementation of submetering.

“We can expect a similar trend once the government’s operational rating comes into effect. Also, companies will probably apply key perfomance indicators at management level to improve on its overall energy management strategy,” concludes Wallbanks.