(Rockford, Illinois) - We've given you tips on how to go green, but how green is our television station?  We had an energy audit, here's how we did.

We brought in Bob and Sonia Vogl from the Illinois Renewable Energy Association.  We spent a few hours going through the station with our chief engineer, looking for ways we can leave a greener impact on our environment.

Some research shows that 32% of the electricity used in the United States goes for heating and cooling commercial buildings, ours is no exception.  Our television station has several dozen computers, almost all of them are left on 24 hours a day.  "Any that can go into sleep mode is very helpful," says Bob Vogl. 

Our lighting is mostly fluorescent, but the good news, they're energy saving.  Good news during our energy audit, but some habits are hard to break.  Many office spaces, including restrooms leave the lights on all of the time. 

And like most workplaces, our breakroom has several vending machines and a water cooler.  That means more costs to keep the beverages cool and the machines use a lot of electricity.  But there are ways to conserve energy here too.  "If you've got a lot of these around, they could be on a timer," says Vogl.

So all in all, we passed the energy audit, and learned a few simple steps to help save the planet.  Our energy audit hopefully gave you some tips to bring into your workplace.  It's those small things that you can do to help save money and help save the environment.