FEATURE19 October 2022

A real hot topic

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Steve Hemsley

Cost of Living Energy Features Impact Trends

As bills rise, research agencies are looking closely at how they manage and monitor their energy use. The subject of whether companies should replace traditional means of measuring gas and electricity consumption with smart meters has risen up the corporate agenda as part of the broader sustainability conversation. Steve Hemsley reports

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Asignificant number of insights professionals have already joined forces with the Market Research Society’s (MRS’s) Sustainability Council to launch the Insight Climate Collective working group. A switch to smart meters would certainly make sense for the many agencies supporting the MRS Net Zero Pledge and the organisation’s ambition to be net zero by 2026.

Many research agencies might not even be aware that a smart meter could be installed in some offices as well as homes, and deliver similar time-saving benefits. These paybacks include more accurate bills, and with suppliers who supply an in-home display (IHD), the ability to identify where energy is being wasted across the business.
At a time when margins are being squeezed and the cost of living is biting, smart meters can also be an important weapon for researchers hoping to avoid having to pass on additional costs to clients.

Data from Smart Energy GB, the government-backed campaigning group for the rollout of smart meters, reveals that three-quarters ...