What is energy efficiency and how can we achieve it?

Energy efficiency is one of everyone’s priorities in this collective transformation towards a more sustainable society. Energy efficiency must be integrated into industry and households in order to better preserve the planet’s resources. In fact, SINTAC has been applying this concept of sustainability for years in all its management and production policies.

But what exactly is energy efficiency? In a nutshell, it is about achieving the maximum possible services and products using only the resources that are absolutely necessary. This minimises the carbon footprint of the human activities we carry out in our daily lives while preserving the Earth’s limited energy and material resources.

But energy efficiency is not just about buying energy efficient appliances, installing LED lighting or adjusting air system temperatures. It is a comprehensive sustainable philosophy, which applies to all areas of our lives and requires everyone’s conscious participation as responsible consumers.

What is the energy certificate and what is it for?

One of the key ways to integrate energy efficiency is to ensure that our buildings – be they homes, offices or industries – meet energy saving standards. To achieve this, it is necessary to put in place comprehensive policies that anticipate future needs and adapt to our fast-moving lives.

The energy performance certificate is one of the mechanisms that institutions make available to everyone to ensure energy savings in buildings. This document objectively describes the energy consumption and CO2 emissions caused by heating, hot water and similar installations. It assigns a letter from A to G to each building or instance, with A representing the highest energy saving. It is valid for 10 years.

At SINTAC, we design our offices and industries according to the strictest energy saving standards as part of our commitment to sustainability. The architectural design of our offices includes different energy efficiency measures such as installing solar panels on the roof for energy supply, covering the building with white paint that reflects sunlight to avoid the use of air conditioning as much as possible or using recycled plastic materials to reinforce the structure of the building. These measures go hand in hand with our specific resource reduction policies to achieve true industrial energy efficiency.

What are the benefits of energy efficiency?

Energy efficiency, and more generally sustainability, brings great benefits to individuals, communities, businesses and, above all, the planet as a whole.
Implementing energy saving measures not only preserves the Earth’s resources, but also saves money by reducing energy bills. Using renewable sources, such as the solar panels installed at SINTAC, means even greater savings.
When a piece of technology or machinery is efficient, it tends to have a longer service life. Investing in such machines not only saves money by having to replace them less, but also preserves scarce minerals such as coltan, gold or neodymium.

The great advantage of saving energy is that companies like SINTAC that apply these measures help to take care of the planet. Protecting the environment and contributing to the fight against climate change is everyone’s responsibility, which is why implementing ways to reduce the ecological footprint is a great help for everyone on Earth.
In the past, some of these tips were presented as disadvantages. Implementing systems such as switching to LED lights or buying efficient equipment can be a bigger investment at first than their more polluting counterparts. But in the long run, as noted, these systems save costs by reducing electricity bills and avoiding unnecessary renovations.

Others pointed out that some of the energy-saving features of buildings, such as large windows or white paint cladding, were not aesthetically pleasing. While not to everyone’s taste, these designs are cost-effective in the long run and also help to care for and protect the environment. The most important thing to remember is that responsible design is a bet on the future, regardless of the ephemeral trends of the moment.
These energy-saving measures are just some of the measures we have been implementing in our company for years. Environmental protection is one of SINTAC’s founding commitments. For this reason, we have been applying circular economy and sustainability policies since the company was founded.
Energy saving applied to industry

It is important to apply energy saving to the industrial sector in order to reduce its consumption and ecological footprint. Industry continues to be one of the sectors that contributes most to the pollution of the planet, which is why it is inexcusable not to take advantage of all the tools available to us to reduce our environmental impact.

Moreover, by taking the environmental protection initiative, the rest of the population is encouraged to do their bit in reducing energy consumption and thus pollutant emissions. This awareness-raising and sensitisation is the path towards the sustainable world to which we are moving faster and faster every day.