Tenuousness – from bikes to lights

There’s always a moral in every story – oh yes there is.

I know full well that I’m never going to win any literary prizes for the grumblings, mumblings and musings posted on this blog. So, in a tremendously cac handed fashion, I’m going to tell the following tale only to shock and amaze you with a left-field and incredibly tenuous link to the world of efficient lighting at the end!

Look out for it – it’s a subtle one.

So 2020’s man in the USA, serial entrepreneur, founder of his own super successful lighting business and a driving force in our European affair decides it’s time to dump the SUV and take to two wheels. You can’t just talk the green talk – you’ve got to walk the green walk as well.

He’s a big chap is our man, a whirlwind of mid-western activity, hunting, fishing, drinking - the usual. I know what you’re thinking. It’s Orange County Choppers all the way – some sort of hard tail hog, a custom built bruiser that sounds like thunder and looks like trouble.

Nope – although running a motorbike is considerably more planet friendly than your average yank-tank there’s not a motor in sight. He only went and bought himself a bicycle…a BICYLE.

At 2020 we’re all cyclists, some do silly things like riding up mountains on their summer holiday or to Paris for ‘charidy’, others slug their way through the London traffic to get to meetings and jobs around our glass strewn city. [Punctures are a perennial problem.]

When we heard that the bug had crossed the Atlantic we were mightily pleased….primarily for his wife – those 10 ounce stakes and curly honey fries take their toll over time.

Little did we know how close to tragedy our lycra clad [shudder] colleague was to come. Here’s an excerpt from the email we received early today….

“On Saturday I was riding my bike home and had a car make a left turn in front of me. The car T-boned me and I was taken to the ER, I am ok. Everybody kind of freaked that I walked away from this, but all I can say is thank God I was wearing my helmet".

Above "is a picture of the car. You can see where my butt and head hit the windshield then I flew up and over the car and landed on the pavement, flat on my back. I don't know why I did not break anything, but I do know the helmet saved me from serious injury as it is broken down the middle. Bottom line---WHERE A HELMET!”

Of course we’re all really glad that he made it through this terrifying and potentially fatal encounter. Although we do have suspicions that he staged the whole deal to get out of the two wheel horror show he’d inadvertently bought into…the sweat, the tears, the inappropriately tight clothing, the risk of being chased down by a grizzly while off-roading through the woods etc. etc.

But his ‘Charlie says’ message at the end is worth considering.

Are you ready for this – here it comes….

It’s all about protecting yourself from significant dangers you see. Sure you may never be unfortunate enough to encounter a station wagon on your push bike but you’d be a numbskull and have a numb skull if you didn’t wear your helmet.

Many businesses are ignoring clear and present dangers right now and I’m not talking about catastrophic tidal waves born of human induced climate turmoil…I’m talking about the dangers of democratic governments in a whirl of global warming driven legislative action.

I don’t have a bunker below my house stocked with food for the family and guns a plenty. I don’t wear camouflage and develop conspiracy theories for kicks but I do know that global governments are coming to get your business and mine armed with big environmental tax bats and climate penalty chains.

Your helmet ladies and gentleman, in this particular analogy anyway, is to act now to decrease your environmental impact and the associated liabilities.

Those that work hard to improve the efficiency of their heating, cooling and lighting systems, those that look to minimise the waste that their companies generate and dispose of it responsibly, those that ‘do’ rather than ‘wait’ will be the winners.

So if you want to avoid paying through the nose to bring your company in line with the inevitable energy and waste legislation being drafted in every town hall and government building in the globe the time is now.

Not only will you save loads of cash to invest in new stuff for your shiny 21 speed business, like our man in the mid west you’ll breeze straight out of the ER after your encounter with the legislative hummer whilst others are bumped upstairs for a period of intensive care.

[Gets hat and slinks off slightly ashamed – what was I thinking whilst writing that! ]

Analyst gets it right in Banking Shocker!

Please don’t get me wrong! This is not something I make a habit of…but I was flicking through Environmental Valuation and Cost-Benefit News the other day.

[You know how the Internet is – always sucking you towards the obscure and the unmentionable.]

Still, news of the Merrill Lynch Energy Efficiency Index caught my eye. Particularly the quote attributed to Asari Efiong one of their SRI / Renewable Energy equity analysts.

"While there has been a clear shift of resources and investor attention into renewable energy, energy efficiency remains an area that is relatively under-explored…We believe that energy efficiency represents a significant market opportunity for investors, as policy changes look set to force a structural shift in demand."

OK, so whilst I’m sure Asari is a top notch professional this is pure PR department stuff. Even if it wasn’t, one of my old friends may or may not be responsible for this dynamite column http://www.cityboy.biz/- you'll find the articles in the London Paper every Monday if you happen to be on the tube in old London town. Have a read and you’ll not only work out what analysts really do for a living but understand why you need buckets of salt at the ready before acting on their advice

Still, hats off to Asari and the suits at Merrill. They’ve finally twigged where the really big, guaranteed, low risk gains live…energy efficiency land! Something some of us have known for a very, very long time.

So If you happen to be a senior representative of any of the unfortunates on the Index and need a hand cutting your carbon footprint through the overhaul of 17 squillion feet of industrial space, your 60 story headquarter building and an assortment of public space illumination schemes – give us a call at 2020 we’re ready, willing and able.

Before I go – I was talking about getting older in the last post and how it seems to trigger not only a sensible but also a smart gene.

I decided that my favourite trainers were distinctly malodorous after the drenching they repeatedly suffered during our ‘oh so sunny ‘summer’ this year. Did I spend the usual £70 on big brand skate-style replacements this weekend [Reef, DC, OP etc]

Did I hell… there’s no turning back now. If you were to glance below my desk as I type this you’d be dazzled by the cool looking, no-branders I managed to dredge up. Sure, it took a while to find them but at £13 pounds it was well worth the stress.

Yours, Cheap Cheapman of Cheapsville, London

I'm turning into my Dad

Yes - old news huh.

Many a comic has done a 10 minute routine based on this old trueism. Still...my Dad has managed to plant a series of time-bombs in my deep subconscious.

The one that seems to have exploded recently is 'never go upstairs empty handed'.

This particular life rule seems to have kicked in relatively shortly after I suddenly found myself turning lights and power sockets off around the house like a person with OCD.

I put the latter down to the amount of time I spend preaching that although energy effeciency programmes deliver big benefits to companies...an extra 5% saving can be made if people would only turn the lights off when they leave the office store room!

Still - the activation of the 'never go upstairs empty handed gene' suggests that there's an age thang going on here.

Do you - I ask myself - hit your late 30s and suddenly become more receptive to this type of sensible...if undeniably boring...advice?

Given the almost religous acceptance of most things green by the under 30s I've always been slightly disappointed to find yet another facilities manager or energy manager conforming to the usual stereotype...mid to late 50s, glasses, Mr Buyright shirt.

Here we go again I think... I'll have a job on my hands to get them past the environmental and onto the big savings and quick returns the systems we provide can deliver.

Perhaps I've been wrong all along.

Looking back on the business we've done over the last year. We've been disappointed by the funky glasses, suit and trainers brigade who seem to drown in the environmental aspect of any energy efficiency proposition, where as Mr Mannering and friends have not only bought into the low carbon strategies we propose but immediately recognise the hard cash savings they can deliver if they get with the programme!

Older and wiser eh.

I'm not there yet... but the number of unnecessary trips between the kitchen and loft has decreased significantly in recent weeks. With a bit of luck there's lots more 'wise' to come.