“It’s just a culture”
When people leave their homes for work, most turn off all the lights. A few will remain on for security reasons. But Richard Gordon believes many of us view the work place differently.
"It's just a culture of Americans being brought up and think you just leave stuff on at work,” Gordon said. He has a doctorate in Physics and works for the non-profit
Bridging the Gap, which works with business and government, teaching how to reduce energy costs and increase their bottom line.
“Wasting money by leaving lights… on when nobody is sitting there again is something we shouldn't even be discussing,” Gordon said passionately.
He has a rule of thumb when explaining how much money can be spent. Most offices are staffed with employees and cleaning crews 50 percent of the time or 12 out of 24 hours in a day. But if lights, computers, the heating or air stay on after employees go home, Gordon says that is wasted money.
That means a building with an average monthly utility bill of $10,000 could save up to $5,000 a month or $60,000 a year by cutting out those overnight costs.
That is money Gordon believes can be saved and spent to “actually deliver something important to the citizens of the city.”
