The biggest savings in retail and wholesale can be made in areas where the energy consumption is highest, such as in lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration.

In each of these main areas, there are clear opportunities to save energy:

• Switching off: all energy consuming equipment should be switched off when not required or in use; this can be done by staff, by timer switches or by adjusting building-control systems and need not cost any extra
• Maintenance: a number of energy efficiency measures can be carried out as part of routine maintenance procedures at no extra cost
• Refurbishment: when planning major store refurbishment, energy saving measures taken at this time can be extremely cost-effective

Implementing energy management measures in retail usually means:

• Setting the energy management team or the responsible person
• Understanding how energy is used by identifiying the major consumption points in the store
• Identifying opportunities to involve staff
• Developing an action plan, setting the targets or priorities for a given period (e.g. year)
• Finding an energy specialist for actions that need expertise 
• Implementing the actions, monitoring, comparing with baseline consumption, checking if targets have been reached, and adjusting