The push for green initiatives is forcing the private sector to adopt
elements of green as part of their corporate strategy.
Companies
are beginning to incorporate them as part of their strategies to
improve branding and reputation. Many adopt green measures as they see
potential in savings in the long run.
Most of these companies are
Western-based but the YTL group seems to have a strong proponent in the
form of Ruth Yeoh, the group’s director of investment and daughter of
group managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh.
Georg Harrasser
… Using green technology products will last longer and provide less
carbon emissions.
“Businesses are one of the largest
contributors of carbon to the environment so we have the responsibility
to create and develop environments that are responsive to the current
and future needs of people and the planet,” she says.
“There are
ethical obligations we have to face to be part of the solution. We have
the opportunity to use our positions, influence, and connections to
affect changes at a higher level, including policy decisions.”
Yeoh
says the group has seen first hand how sustainability programmes and
policies have reaped outstanding results and helped saved an enormous
amount of resources.
She says
YTL has a two-fold strategy in pursuing green practices group-wide.
First, it has a strong monitoring system put in place to measure and
track energy usage. Secondly, they are pursuing and steadily increasing
renewable energy usage, wherever possible.
Some of the group’s
green initiatives include the Sentul Urban Revitalisation scheme where
they maintain a 35-acre green lung in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
“That
project helps to improve residents’ quality of life. We have since then
adopted that strategy in all YTL’s residential property developments
(Lake Edge in Puchong, Lake Fields in Sungai Besi and Pantai Hillpark)
by reducing density, and having adopted building and design techniques
and guidelines based on sustainability.”
Waste management
In the power industry, YTL’s power stations are now using fly ash
(ashes recovered from waste gases) to reduce the cost of making
concrete, replacing cement which is expensive.
The utilisation
rate of fly ash has increased from 26% in 2003 to 78% in 2006 for one of
its power plants in Indonesia.
“All YTL’s cement plants are
designed to ensure that any kiln dust or air borne particulates
generated by the cement-making process are returned to the system. All
waste materials are sent for recycling where possible,” Yeoh says.
The group has also set up a carbon credits consultancy,
YTL-SV Carbon, to help companies go green.
YTL-SV Carbon
specialises in clean development mechanism (CDM) projects. Examples of
projects include biomass, biogas, and other clean energy from waste
arising from agricultural municipal, cement and industrial sources.
YTL-SV
Carbon also covered the development of technology to convert
traditionally harmful waste elements (such as Palm Oil Mill Effluent, or
POME) into environmentally-friendly resources.
Yeoh says in the
water and sewage services sector, Wessex Water Operations Centre is
among Britain’s greenest when it was completed in 2000.
“The
building is naturally ventilated, rain water is recycled, hot water is
solar-heated, and heat pump technology has been employed. The Centre was
also used as a test bed by the British Research Establishment (BRE) for
its Breaam 98 for Offices, an environmental assessment method for
office buildings.
Reducing CO2
In the telco sector,
DiGi Telecommunica-tions Sdn Bhd head of corporate responsibility,
Vimal Kumar says spearheading green technology was imperative, given the
impact that local businesses have on the environment.
“The ICT (information and communication technologies)
industry is set to become the major contributor of carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions by 2012, surpassing even the aviation industry.
“In
Malaysia, it is estimated that currently 585 tonnes of CO2 are emitted
for every 1GwH (gigawatt per hour) of power generated. This is a clear
indication that steps must be taken to reduce CO2 emissions, especially
as our consumption of electricity is ever increasing,” she says.
In
2008, DiGi launched its Deep Green Programme to address energy
efficiency within the company’s business.
“Our ambition is to
reduce our business-generated carbon emissions, namely reducing our CO2
footprint by 50% by 2012 (from 2008), as well as making available
solutions to reduce our shared climate impact with our customers and
suppliers.”
Under its Deep Green initiatives, DiGi has achieved
several milestones already, says Vimal.
“In terms of our network
and IT, we have converted 20 sites powered by diesel-based gen-sets to
on-grid electricity, which resulted in CO2 savings of 2,500 tonnes.
“We
also saved 600% of our Technology Operations Centre pre-construction
demolition costs by incorporating recycling as a key consideration in
our vendor selection process.”
Vimal adds that DiGi has also
conducted numerous programmes internally to increase the awareness level
of its employees.
Green roofing
In the building
component sector, Frankfurt-based Monier group, specialist in roofing
solutions has, over the years, pursued a strategy of what it calls green
roofing solutions.
In the tropics, its products are made to keep
out the heat, while in the colder climate, its roofing solutions are
geared towards insulation during winter months and to provide a cool
solution during the summer period.
Monier Sdn Bhd (Asia Pacific)
chief executive officer Georg Harrasser says the company has adopted
this “green” direction for years because the group saw the “green wave”
coming years ago.
As a result, the group has seen a greater rate
of growth of its green technology roofing components compared to other
products within the group. Concrete and clay roof tiles contribute to
more than 60% of the group’s worldwide sales of 1.5 billion euros (2008)
but it is the roofing components (22%) that are experiencing the
greater rate of growth.
Harrasser defines its green technology
roofing components and tiles as those that will have a longer lifespan,
both functionally and aesthetically, and with qualities that provide a
cool interior and with less carbon emissions. On this score, concrete
tiles have the least green house effect (in carbon dioxide equivalent of
1,542kg per 160 sq metre roof), followed by metal roofing sheets
(3,295kg) and clay roof tiles (3,404kg).
“In Asia, the standard
for roofing solutions have become more demanding from developers and
home owners building their own properties. Because air-conditioning and
water heater take up more than two-thirds of a residential household’s
electricity consumption, the demand is for a cooler interior. In a
commercial building, air-conditioning forms more than half of the
electricity bill,” says Harrasser.
“Generally, other than a
non-leaky roof, consumers – both developers and home builders – are
going for green solutions,” he say.
To Guinness Anchor Bhd (GAB)
supply chain director Peter Vogtlander, implementing green technology in
the company’s day-to-day operations make good business sense.
“Green
technology provides us the opportunity to improve our operations by
looking at improvements from a different prospective. Employing green
technology could lead to higher efficiency and lower cost of
production.”
Vogtlander says GAB has incorporated several
measures to reduce its carbon emission. “We have switched from using
fuel oil to natural gas and renewable gas, mainly biogas, generated from
the anaerobic treatment of waste water at our treatment plant. The
switch to these more environmentally friendly alternatives has greatly
reduced our emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“We
have also improved the performance of our refrigeration plant with
frequency control motor for compressor and condenser, resulting in lower
electricity usage. We continue to reduce energy consumption and our
impact on the environment through the upgrading of plant installations
and process improvements.”
Vogtlander says GAB is currently
looking at creating more awareness among its staff on the application of
green technology for their household.
Source : The Star by Thean Lee Cheng and Eugene Mahalingam
