A bottom up approach to energy cost reduction is a path of heroes: long, hard and massively ineffective, because it requires convincing managers on the way up.

The top->bottom approach, on the other hand, is a simple and powerful approach known for decades as management: set goals, allocate resources and assign responsibilities.

Now instead of a uphill path of heroes we have a tried-and-true management process. A game changer.

Energy management, as any other branch of management that vitally depends in employee engagement, works best when benefits are shared and authority is delegated to the level where action happens. Every time when portion of energy cost reduction was left at the plant level – for local improvements, bonuses and New Year parties – owners were overwhelmed with achieved results. Worth trying, isn’t it?

Earlier we have discussed “6 steps of energy management in manufacturing” and “How make behavioural energy savings work