An award winning energy saving switch which can save businesses money and energy has been invented by Carbon Reduction Industries Managing Director Rod Sheppard.

One of the largest areas of businesses’ energy consumption is through computers and printers that are left idle overnight. The Carbon Reduction Industries energy saving switch, the eco-switch™, saves energy and electricity costs by switching off multiple computers and printers.

The device is plugged into areas where there are multiple non-essential appliances or equipment plugged into a power board, and then switched off when not in use.

Mr Sheppard says that the device – to be released in October – could save large businesses up to 24 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and approximately $3,343 per year.

Mr Sheppard had the idea for the device when he was trying to turn off the power at a power point one day and thought about how he might easily relocate the switch.

“I saw the need for a simple and inexpensive way to gain access and turn the appliances completely off thereby eliminating unnecessary use of standby power. I then realised that the need was also there not just for me but for everyone — not only the home but in the workplace, institutions and so on. I think people are very much now wanting to make a change and the eco-switch allows them to do this with ease,” Mr Sheppard says.

“Businesses are increasingly aware of their impact on the environment and are increasingly committed to using less electricity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he explains.

The new device is part of a new range of electricity abatement products being launched by the company that Mr Sheppard hopes will create a new product category of energy saving devices.

“The eco-switch product is to be the flagship product of whole range of energy saving devices. This range of products, all under the eco-switch brand, will allow people to continue with their fast pace hi-tech lifestyles but at the same time offer solutions to enable them to reduce their carbon footprint quite simply and easily,” he says.

While undertaking a Diploma in Building in the late 1970s, Mr Sheppard realised he did not want to spend his life designing “unhealthy buildings for unhappy people”.

“I became involved in low-embodied energy sustainable design because I realised I could have a broader influence on communities by sharing my experience with low embodied energy sustainable design – rather than just construction – and I began to dedicate more time on architecture and permaculture design,” he explains.

Mr Sheppard’s mudbrick homes design was awarded one of the earliest five star design ratings for excellence in energy efficient house design by Energy Victoria in 1994.

The eco-switch was first made public on the ABC TV program ‘The New Inventors’, where it won the People’s Choice Award and was later voted one of the top five inventions in the 2007 series.

Mr Sheppard is confident that Australian society is ready to make changes and move towards a more energy efficient future. “The price of electricity is going up so there are economic imperatives, and there is also emotional pressure from peers and government.”