Did you ever wish you made more money at your job? Sure, most of us have and who couldn’t use a few extra dollars in their pockets these days. In many cases, even if you deserve a raise, companies are struggling to make ends meet and keep you as an employee to begin with. For this reason I was shocked when my boss told us that we were all getting a bonus this year. The company had been saying for years that the cost of operations was too high and that was why we hadn’t gotten a raise in quite a while. When we inquired about the change of heart, my boss just said that the company had been able to save a significant amount of money over the past year. This got be thinking back and remembering that there had been a major upgrade to our HVAC and ventilation system earlier in the year. This change was supposed to improve our work environment but apparently it also saved the company almost 30 percent in its annual utility costs. When the system was installed and all of the thermostats removed we were worried that we would be uncomfortable. The opposite was true because the new automated system maintained the same air temperature and quality throughout the entire building. We no longer have drafts caused by one part being hotter or colder than another and the program can adjust constantly so there is no major draw on the HVAC units. This will help prolong the life of the equipment too. All of this has me thinking of installing a programmable thermostat at my own home to see if it has the same impact on my own HVAC system and utility bills too.