Green Purchasing Asia :: December 2011

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7 OPPORTUNITIES: Watch out for South Korea 32 CASE STUDIES: Mud house for modern green living

PURCHASING

ASIA

38 PEOPLE: Nobuo Tanaka talks about global energy in the 21st century 46 EDITORIAL: Mammoth opportunities in megacities 48 INFO: Power play in ASEAN cooperation

Tianjin rises

World’s largest integrated eco-city takes shape

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Contents

cover

Tianjin takes shape (see pages 12–30)

From the managing editor’s desk

5

Buy into a green future

6

OPPORTUNITIES

7

Watch out for South Korea

7

By 2015, the country aims to be a net exporter of clean energy

China accelerates investment in smart grid

8

State Grid to invest US$250 billion to build smart grid infrastructure in the next four years

How a US company supplies China’s solar industry

10

World’s largest eco-city takes shape

14

“We have high expectations and we are confident it will deliver.”

“We are on track to have a basic community by September 2013.”

Lin Xue Feng, ECAC vice-chairman

Ho Tong Yen, SSTEC CEO

From wasteland to multi-billion real estate

18

Location is king, even for eco-cities

21

Opportunities in green retrofitting existing cities

23

Sunway focuses on health & sustainability

25

Magnet for pace-setting Asian builders

27

Keppel takes broad-based 28 strategic position Project attracts a cluster of global giants

29

   •   

US$300 house (see page 57)

Thatch or reused metal roof

Recycled glass bottles for interior light

Photovoltaic panel for night lighting

..

Light upper wall material: mesh reinforced straw wattle, bamboo and woven grass, or conventional compressed earth blocks (CEB)

INFORMATION

48

Power play in ASEAN cooperation

48

Clearing the air over carbon bottomlines

50

Biomassive potential in China

52

Reaching worldwide via cleantech alliances

53

Road to Rio+20 littered with controversy

54

Rebar security grid at window

Rainwater collection system

Solid base walls of inexpensive reinforced earthbag with earthen or lime paster

Biosand or solar UV water filtration

Benches and base walls of water-resistant gravel bags with lime plaster

Solar cooker

CASE STUDIES

32

Mud house for modern green living

32

Carbon challenge for Iskandar Malaysia

34

Mosquito netting over beds for health

Global energy in the 21st century

38

“One country cannot enhance its energy security by risking somebody else’s.”

Nobuo Tanaka, former IEA chief

Balancing the energy equation

PEOPLE

36

Future-proofing our planet

36

40

Ahmad Fauzi Hasan, CEO Energy Commission, Malaysia

Sha Zukang, Rio+20 secretarygeneral

Geothermal bubbling up China’s energy chain

56

44

US$300 house challenge draws global response

57

Hard-nose tactics for soft selling

45

News briefs

60

Mammoth opportunities in megacities

46

Homework

64

Innovators “home in” on energy

47

“Many of the companies that are at the top of green rankings may not even exist in ten years.”

EDITORIAL

44

Sustainability out of the box

John Elkington, co-founder, SustainAbility

    •  

“Failure is not an option… we must use Rio+20 to guide us towards a sustainable world – it is the future we want.”

“We hope to reward utilities for reducing costs and improving services.”

The team Editorial Editor: Lim Siang Jin Managing editor: David Lee Boon Siew Assistant editor: Siaw Mei Li Contributing editors: Ann Teoh, Jason Tan Contributing writers: Eleanor Chen, G Danapal, Stephen Ng, Bhavani Prakash, Suvarna Beesetti, Tan Su-Yin, VK Shashikumar, Mallika Naguran, Jennifer Neoh Tan Columnists: Shel Horowitz, Khoo Hock Aun, Prasad Modak Marketing & sales Manager: Yong Wang Ching +6012 205 7928 Lim Wan Tsau (Singapore) +65 9068 0184 Email: marketing@greenpurchasingasia.com Creative & design Khoo Kay Hong, Faye Phua Szeu Hwui Production & advertising traffic Eddy Yap Subscription & circulation Jessica Lee, Yap Eng Jin Finance & operations Kym Chong Corporate Managing director: Lim Siang Jin Publisher Briomedia Green Sdn Bhd (924679-H) 3-3 Jalan Solaris 2, Solaris Mont Kiara 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: +603 6203 7681 (Malaysia) Tel: +65 9068 0184 (Singapore) Fax: +603 6211 2681 Email: editor@greenpurchasingasia.com Printer KHL Printing Co Sdn Bhd (235060-A) Lot 10 & 12, Jalan Modal 23/2 Seksyen 23, Kawasan Miel Phase 8 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Tel: +603 5541 3695 Fax: +603 5541 3712 © 2011: Briomedia Green Sdn Bhd Letters and articles are welcome, and should be addressed to: The Editor at Green Purchasing Asia 3-3 Jalan Solaris 2, Solaris Mont Kiara 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Email: letters@greenpurchasingasia.com Endorsed by • Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, Malaysia • International Green Purchasing Network

Disclaimer Briomedia Green Sdn Bhd (924679-H) believes that the information published at the time of printing is correct. The views expressed in the articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. While the publisher has taken reasonable care in compiling the magazine, it shall not be liable for any omission, error or inaccuracy. Editorial contributions are welcome but unsolicited materials are submitted at the sender’s risk. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage. All rights reserved by Briomedia Green Sdn Bhd (924679-H). No part of this publication may be reproduced without the publisher’s written permission.

Paper: Cover 180gsm Ningbo artcard PEFC; Text 80gsm Royal Express Silk PEFC/FSC

From the managing editor’s desk David Lee Boon Siew boonsiew@ greenpurchasingasia.com

This month’s cover is a project close to my heart. From conceptualisation to execution, it also had the longest gestation period of all our themed editorial projects so far. At 19 pages, it is the biggest package that we have put together.

When I took on the job of creating content for this magazine almost a year ago, I was a newbie to the world of eco-cities, green buildings and renewables and a latecomer to the climate change discourse. In surfing the internet for content ideas, among the stories that caught my attention was that on the Tianjin Eco-City project in China. I filed it under KIV for development under the subject category of “Eco-Cities”, noting that top Malaysian developer Sunway Group was involved.

After our first couple of issues were published, my publisher/editor Lim Siang Jin and I had lunch with Sunway founder and chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah and several of his top executives. One thing led to another, and in late September, both of us flew to Tianjin where we spent five days (including an unscheduled visit to the Great Wall of China where we discovered that our knee joints and stamina were not what they used to be).

The study tour of Tianjin Eco-City was an eye-opener of sorts on at least two counts. The first was that what is written in websites and blogs may not necessarily be what you see on the ground. And also, artist impressions can play all sorts of tricks on your mind. If you expect a sci-fi setting for this eco-city, you’ll be disappointed.

The second was the Tianjin-Binhai New Area (TBNA), where this eco-city is located. We were given the honour

of a personal briefing by the local government on what TBNA is. For starters, the model of TBNA takes up the whole floor of the local government building! The opportunities that lie in TBNA are immense, and the eco-city is but a small enclave within this super growth area.

In writing the package of stories that form our cover, I looked at the eco-city project as a huge business ecosystem led by the eco-city administrative committee (ECAC) and the master developer (SSTEC), that involves some of the biggest developers in Asia. Further down the value chain, we have the suppliers, the technology players, and the SMEs who want to ride on this high-profile project.

We thank the ECAC, the SSTEC, Sunway Group and all those who helped make this cover package possible. Without them, the project would still be lost in the thick KIV file.

We also hope those who are involved in eco-city projects will take home from this issue some interesting and truly practical ideas that don’t drive up project costs.

The first residents of this eco-city are expected to move in by the second half of next year, and we hope to be there again to record the building of the basic community. The built environment (the “hardware”) is just one aspect of the city. What is equally important is the “software”, the people who help make an eco-city sustainably green.

Next issue: Asia, the next solar frontier Burdened with excess capacity, the solar industry has started placing their stakes in Asian countries that have or are introducing feed-in tariff schemes. Solar energy first took root in the least sunny places on earth; the next decade will witness its long overdue large-scale advent to sunny Asia.    •   

PURCHASING

ASIA 

Buy into a green future Green Purchasing Asia’s main purpose is to provide a well-structured avenue of immediately-useful information to buyers and sellers of green products and services in major sectors, especially in Asia, and to buttress the development of a business community around it.

The magazine will cover the following sectors, which have seen the greatest technological innovations and increasing economies of scale: • Renewable energy, including solar energy, wind power, geothermal and mobile applications • Biofuels from food and non-food sources, including palm oil, sugarcane corn and jatropha • Biomass from various organic, inorganic and mixed sources like oil palm, wood, sugar cane, corn and household waste • Green buildings and eco-cities covering, among others, green building certification programmes, environmentally sound building design and materials, retrofits, and resource-saving technology • Transportation, including plugin electric vehicles (EV), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and automobile alternatives like rail • Smart grids, which turn consumers into producers of energy, smart meters to track consumption and manage electrical flow and new interconnect standards     •  

• Water and waste management, focusing on desalination technology, reverse osmosis and wastewater and solid waste management • Energy efficiency, whereby technologies, processes, materials and design work together to maximise quality of life and industry output at minimal energy cost • Green finance, viz, venture capital and bank loans, grant programmes (NGOs and government) and government incentives.

To help readers navigate the magazine easily, we have divided it into five broad areas, each assigned a weightage to ensure consistent and adequate editorial space allocation.

• Opportunities: These include project announcements, tenders and new eco products and services. This will be a section heavy on actionable information.

Weightage: 30% • Case studies: We focus on projects that use green technolo-

gy, like eco-cities, solar farms and waste recovery projects in large plantations. In these articles, we will list out the names and contacts of developers, suppliers and contractors involved in those projects for networking.

Weightage: 30% • People: This section focuses on interviews with thought leaders and captains of industry in green businesses. We will also cover small and medium enterprises involved in trailblazing projects.

Weightage: 15% • Editorials: Opinion pieces, columns and feature stories on climate change, sustainable development and other relevant subject matters are the meat of this section. It is designed to provoke debate, so that by talking about issues, we think of new ways and approaches to solving problems. Weightage: 15% • Information: This includes news digest, events calendar, letters, reviews of books and reports on climate change, green technology or related topics, market entry conditions and new country regulations, policies and incentives.

Weightage: 10% Target readership The government’s role is not only to set the policy environment to drive the green agenda. It is also a massive market player in the economy, accounting for up to 30% of purchases. Any decision by governments to procure green will have a major influence on the market.

It is this dual role that makes governments important customers, which is why we are targeting 40% of our print and online circulation at senior government servants.

The remaining 60% will be aimed at the business community, international agencies and non-government organisations.

opportunities

 

Watch out for South Korea South Korea hopes to be among the top five countries in renewables sector by 2015 Energy storage technology, including fuel cells, expected to gallop ahead

South Korea is the country to watch as Asia ramps up its momentum of growth in cleantech industries. Its renewable energy capacity grew by 88% from 2005 to 2010, a steep increase that is bettered only by China at 106%, according to Bloomberg’s new energy finance report.

The country’s targets are ambitious. It intends to boost its market share in the global green technology market from 2% to 10% in 2020. Its total investment in the renewable energy space in 2010 was US$356 million, primarily in wind and solar technologies.

By 2015, South Korea hopes to earn its place among the top five countries in the renewable energy sector in addition to becoming a net exporter of clean energy. “The South Korean government has given out tariff and tax exemptions for penetration of these technologies and there is a bigger focus in organising the industries to cater to its markets as well as emerging demands. That’s the difference between what South Korea is doing and what others are doing,” says Ravi Krishnaswamy, Frost & Sulllivan’s vice-president for energy practice.

  

By Mallika Naguran

Frost & Sullivan vice president, Ravi Krishnaswamy

88%

– that’s the growth in South Korea’s renewable energy capacity from 2005 to 2010

Speaking at the company’s Global Community of Growth, Innovation & Leadership Congress in Singapore in October, Krishnaswamy says nine major technology clusters have been chosen for the accelerated development of green energy industry, based on market potential, technology competency, and urgency.

These technologies are grouped under short- to long-term focus. Solar, wind, LED and smart grid come under

immediate to mid-term focus, he says.

Looking at the huge market potential of superior technologies for next generation energy supply, the South Korean government intends to invest heavily in fuel cells, gas-to-liquid (GTL) or coal-to-liquid (CTL), integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), carbon capture and storage (CCS), and energy storage technologies.

Key trends Bent on becoming a net exporter in the energy sector, South Korea will push stimulus funding and incentives boosting the cleantech industries, in particular solar and wind. Small and medium enterprises will play a critical role in developing and advancing this new wave.

Energy storage technology is expected to gallop ahead, keeping pace with the growth in other renewables sectors, while IGCC is to become an important part of South Korea’s energy portfolio by 2020. Smart grids, set to benefit from an expenditure of about US$100 billion, will become commonplace by 2030.

By supporting this growth, Korea will become an important producer of clean energy products and services such as solar panels, wind turbines, storage devices and others. More training and education in this area will be offered, along with greater R&D spend.

According to Krishnaswamy, global investment in clean energy dipped in 2009 but rebounded sharply in 2010 to the tune of US$243 billion – a 30%

Charged-up companies

Samsung: Dominant player among Korean conglomerates with its current interest in solar, wind, LED, fuel cell and energy storage. A report from The Economist states that Samsung will take the lead based on two factors – new environmental rules that favour the use of solar power, LED lighting and electric cars and “exploding demand in emerging markets” such as medical devices and biotech drugs.

It intends to invest US$20 billion in five fields: PV panels, LED lighting, medical devices, biotech drugs and batteries for electric vehicles. The giant predicts sales of more than US$40 billion in these “hot new areas” against target sales of US$400 billion by 2020.

LG: Will be market leader of solar, smart grid and energy storage.

Hyundai Heavy Industries: Will be major player in smart grid, as well as wind and solar Doosan Heavy Industries: Sole provider of GTL/CTL technology in South Korea.

It joins six other providers of wind technology: Dongkuk S&C, Unison, Hyosung, Hanjin and Hyundai and Samsung. Doosan and Samsung are the only fuel cell technology developers.

   •   

increase. Asia was the fastest growing region in cleantech energy, surpassing the Americas in growth for the first time at 33% and “a lot of it was driven

by China.”

He observes that Asian countries are not just top consumers of clean energy; they will also dominate in the provision of clean energy products.

Asia, he says, will invest heavily in clean energy technology and

opportunities

development and “will likely be the dominant location for clean energy investment by 2012.”

China invested US$46 billion in cleantech in 2010 while the US spent US$65 billion. China is now manufacturing for local consumption, beyond supporting the export of products and components, which explains the spurt of growth. “We saw a big switch in terms of policies and

 

China accelerates investment in smart grid Seventy-four pilot substations being set up, 20 already operating

    

State Grid, covering 88% of China, to have 90 GW wind, 8 GW solar by 2015

Workers scaling a pylon

    •  

projects being developed for domestic market and consumption, and we believe the momentum is going to happen,” says Krishnaswamy.

Stimulus funding has been a key enabler. “During the recession, governments made a commitment to invest to stimulate the economy, and clean technology was a politically correct move from a sustainability standpoint,” he says.

Smart grids, the electrical grids designed to predict and intelligently respond to the behaviour of all power users connected to it in order to efficiently deliver reliable, economic, and sustainable electricity services, represent the future trend of power grid development. Many countries worldwide are aggressively implementing smart grid strategies.

China, with its 1.3 billion population, is frequently beset by power shortages and already faces huge challenges to meet its electrical power needs. State Grid Corporation of China, the country’s largest power grid developer and operator, plans to accelerate the development of a “strong and smart grid” and increase investment in the sector.

China may be the second largest country worldwide in terms of installed capacity, but on a per capita basis, the country ranks 85th, with a mere 0.21 kW installed capacity per person. The country generates just 900 kWh per capita, a third of the world average, or 1/15th the amount generated per capita by developed countries.

State Grid president and chief executive Liu Zhenya said recently at the Smart Grid World Forum 2011

that the company plans to invest some 1.6 trillion yuan (about US$250 billion) in the construction of the grid between now and 2015. The goal is to have a safe and secure smart grid by 2020, with an ultra high voltage (UHV) synchronous grid at its centre, coordinated development of UHV AC/ DC grids at different levels, and widerange, large-scale, high-efficiency allocation of energy resources. In addition to the UHV backbone grid, plans include the establishment of 2,950 new electric vehicle charging stations with 540,000 charging bays, as well as the installation of 230 million smart meters.

China initiated research into a smart grid in 2007, with State Grid announcing its plan for the grid and publishing the specifics in 2009.

Development is to be completed in phases. Over the next five years, several areas, including smart substations, distribution and dispatch, are expected to benefit from the huge investment in the sector, with smart substations being given top priority.

Construction of smart substations requires major investment as it involves a large amount of equipment and application of highend technologies. State Grid gave special emphasis to the construction of smart substations at its mid-year capital construction conference. The 74 pilot substations which are part of the first two phases of State Grid’s pilot programme have completed the bidding process, and 20 substations are already operating. The construction of additional smart substations is expected to continue at an accelerated

    

pace over the next several years.

According to forecasts from China’s National Energy Commission, the stark imbalance between the supply and demand for electricity across the country for this winter and next spring is expected to continue.

For this reason, construction of the smart gird is a major priority in the country’s 12th Five-Year Plan starting this year. During the 2011–2015 period covered by the plan, State Grid plans to invest 1.6 trillion yuan in the construction of power grids while China Southern Power Grid (CSG) plans to invest 400.5 billion yuan. By the end of 2015, State Grid, whose service area covers 88% of the country, is expected to have the capacity to provide power grid access to facilities responsible for 90 GW of wind and 8 GW of solar power. To put this in perspective, access to the grid currently is about 38 GW for wind and about 0.45 GW for solar.

Compared to that of developed

State Grid president and chief executive Liu Zhenya

countries, China’s smart grid has its unique requirements. On the one hand, the country’s demand will continue to grow at a rate of 10% annually; on the other hand, the country’s energy resources and points of maximum consumption lie geographically far apart from each other, putting special pressure on the need to build ultrahigh voltage transmission lines over long distances as a major component of the plan. These two factors have led to the decision to split the investment in the grid so that roughly half is

focused on transmission, and the other half on distribution.

State Grid will spend around 300 billion yuan while CSG will invest 100 billion yuan in the development of the power grid this year. The huge investment benefits many companies in the sector, including NARI Technology Development, Beijing Sifang Automation, Guodian Nanjing Automation and XuJi Electric, among others.

State Grid has already made major headway with core ultra-high voltage DC transmission technology, developed key UHV-related equipment and components, including large power transformers, and obtained hundreds of patents. However, the present technical standards still fall short of satisfying all the needs for developing China’s smart grid. In due course, the company plans to establish a systematic and open proprietary system of smart grid technical standards. – Nanjing Shanglong Communications



THE CREATION OF TIANJIN ECO-CITY – AT 30 SQ KM, THE WORLD’S LARGEST INTEGRATED GREEN CITY – IS QUITE A REMARKABLE FEAT What was once a wasteland almost devoid of vegetation is now valuable real estate supporting not just people and buildings but a restored ecology of bird and plant life. On top of that, the organisational skills of the Chinese and Singaporean investment machinery have created an ecosystem of a different sort – the kind that



supports entrepreneurship.

opportunities

-

World’s largest eco-city takes shape US$8.5 billion invested or committed in the initial stage of the eco-city project Investment from companies setting up base here valued at 3 billion yuan so far

All stories by David Lee

    •  

efficient and economically sustainable, is already the highest-profile residential real estate in the Tianjin-Binhai New Area (TBNA). TBNA is northern China’s super growth centre that is an hour by fast train from Beijing.

It has attracted the attention of several leading technology giants who see in it an opportunity to test-bed innovative eco-solutions that can be scaled up. Many small and medium industry players from Singapore and China have also made a beeline for this address, to be the pioneer members of a huge business ecosystem that the project represents.

The eco-city’s administrative committee (ECAC) vice-chairman Lin Xue Feng tells Green Purchasing Asia that a preliminary calculation shows that to date, 54 billion yuan (US$8.5 billion) has been invested or committed by the Chinese government and private entrepreneurs for the initial stage to provide the infrastructure and social projects that will support

development of the start-up area. “This is just the beginning,” he says.

The sheer size of the project area posed huge challenges from the word go, inspiring engineers to come up with innovative solutions. One such challenge was rehabilitating the wasteland. In true Chinese style, some 3.8 million cu m of polluted soil was



Just three years ago, if you drove over the Rainbow Bridge to the designated site of the Sino-Singapore Tianjin EcoCity, you would come upon a dismal watery landscape of deserted saltpans stretching as far as your eyes could see. It was deemed a hopeless place.

Worse, it was tainted by decades of chemical pollution from industrial sites that border the area. Nothing could grow on the land except hardy weeds.

Yet this was where the Chinese and Singaporean leaders broke ground for what is being billed as the world’s biggest integrated eco-city project covering 30 sq km, one that will take up to 15 years to complete. The challenge thrown up by this government-togovernment initiative was to turn a piece of non-arable wasteland that lacks fresh water into a world-class model of a practical and replicable ecocity housing 350,000 people.

Today, even before any resident has moved in, the eco-city, designed to be environment-friendly, resource-

Lin Xue Feng, the eco-city’s administrative committee (ECAC) vice-chairman

treated using a system that has since been patented. Out of that effort, a wetland and habitat for birds has been created (see accompanying report).

In late September, we drove over the Rainbow Bridge that has today become a popular backdrop for photographs in media write-ups and a recent CNN report. On the left, we saw five giant windmills that were not turning that day. A thick haze hung like a blue blanket over the city on most of the five days we were in Tianjin; we wondered if the solar panels that topped the streetlights would get enough irradiation to do their job.

Further ahead, after a stretch of boulevard lined with flowering shrubs, was the start-up area. Numerous blocks of high-rise apartments topped by tower cranes stood before us.

One of the projects, belonging to Hongkong’s Shimao Group, had a telephone number emblazoned in huge lettering on its outer wall, an open invitation to purchasers.

 

• Size: 30 sq km • Start-up area: 4 sq km • Development investment committed in the initial stage: US$8.5 billion • Commencement: 2008 • Expected completion: 10 to 15 years

“We hope to start this culture of paying attention to how you can use measures that don’t cost a lot but can achieve a high level of sustainability.” – Ho Tong Yen, CEO of SSTEC

Driving around, we also saw gaily-painted blocks of completed apartments. They turned out to be public housing projects that have been sold to the lower-income group at 7,000 to 8,000 yuan (US$1,100 to US$1,258) per sq m, a discount of



QUICK TAKES

20% off market prices. These are now being given finishing touches. Their owners will be the first to move into the eco-city by mid-2012. Twenty percent of the residential quota in the city is meant for this market, to ensure it does not become a playground for the elite. Throughout the start-up area, the roads were well maintained, and our guide pointed out the wide pathways, meant for pedestrians and cyclists, that run parallel to the roads.

Parts of the 4 sq km start-up area are ready, including the National Animation Centre which also houses the office of the master developer, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co Ltd (SSTEC). The place is popular with families on weekends, as the animation park features sculptures from various children’s tales including Disney characters and the Monkey God and his companions on their journey to the West. Nearby is a five-star hotel being built by Shimao; it will be operated by    •   

opportunities

ď˜‰ď˜‡ď˜“-ď˜‡ď˜?ď˜˜ď˜?ď˜‰ď˜—

the Hilton chain when ready next year.

We also visited the impressive sales galleries of Shimao and Taiwan’s Farglory Group – among the ďŹ rst to start selling their properties. Futuristic and grand, they are designed to impress. (One even had a robot on duty, although it did not function on the day of our visit.)

SSTEC chief executive ofďŹ cer Ho Tong Yen tells Green Purchasing Asia the handover of the ďŹ rst apartments will be in mid-2012. “We are on track to have a basic community by the

Key performance indicators: How the eco-city’s greenness is measured

ďŹ ve-year mark, which is September 2013. By this, I mean there will be a certain number of companies, a certain number of residents, basic infrastructure, schools and so on.â€?

Although the focus is on completing the start-up area, really there is much planning work and even some construction going on for the rest of the eco-city. For instance, the ďŹ rst phase of Malaysia’s Sunway Group’s project that is just outside the start-up area will see piling work by year end.

Aside from residential apartments,

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the ďŹ rst commercial building – the agship 19-storey Landmark Building belonging to SSTEC in the 26.6 ha Eco Business Park (EBP) – was structurally completed in August.

When I ďŹ rst read of Tianjin Eco-City at the end of 2010, I had, admittedly, a mental picture of a futuristic place, no thanks to the imaginative artist impressions carried by many websites.

But that is not the case in reality.

Says Ho: “Observers, especially young students, come here and they have a science-ďŹ ction image of this

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glass city that’s very nice. They come here and they say hey, it actually looks like a normal city. And it is intended to be a normal city. If people say it looks like a normal city, I take that as a compliment, not a criticism. “If you look deeper, you see the subtle features, the utilisation of eco-design active features but more importantly, the passive features. What we hope to do is to start this culture of paying attention to how you can use measures that don’t necessarily cost a lot but achieve a high level of sustainability. This is not to belittle others who do demo projects in a small area to show the extent to which one can stretch technology. And that is ďŹ ne. But that’s not what we are doing here.â€?

This somewhat explains the concept of this eco-city as being practical, replicable and scalable. But is there a bilateral agenda to create more Tianjin eco-cities?

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Public housing: There is a 20% discount for the lower income group who will be the first residents. They are expected to move in mid-2012

“We don’t expect there’ll be another Tianjin Eco-City clone somewhere else,� says Ho. This project is a melting pot of ideas from various developers, and those that arise from the interplay of cultures and practices and at international forums. “If you drive through the Tianjin area, especially Binhai, every other

development talks about how eco they are; even the concepts we are pushing are already being replicated.

This is a huge market.� Many new cities, emphasising sustainability, are being developed, says Ho. Others are expanding with the same emphasis. “We are not holding ourselves out as a beacon. However, we are showing that eco-cities are viable, they are attractive propositions and they can be built at only a small increase in cost.�

According to a 2009 World Bank report requested by the Tianjin municipal government while Tianjin Eco-City was being planned, China has launched more than 100 “ecocity� initiatives in recent years – more than any other country.

Implementation has been patchy at best due to poor planning and ďŹ nancing hiccups. With this huge potential going forward, all eyes are on Tianjin, with its impressive progress, to pave a way. ď˜‹ď˜–ď˜‰ď˜‰ď˜’ ď˜”ď˜™ď˜–ď˜‡ď˜Œď˜…ď˜—ď˜?ď˜’ď˜‹ ď˜…ď˜—ď˜?ď˜… • ď˜ˆď˜‰ď˜‡ď˜‰ď˜‘ď˜†ď˜‰ď˜– ď žď źď ˝ď ˝ ď ˝ďĄƒ

opportunities

-

From wasteland to multi-billion real estate

An eco-city is like a piece of fertile land that nurtures and grows green technologies and green industries. This is just the beginning. We have high expectations and we are confident it will deliver.

Some 3.8 million cu m of polluted soil rehabilitated, treatment system patented Special fund to support wind, solar and other renewable energy projects



– Lin Xue Feng

The Animation Park has started attracting families during weekends. This will be a hub for the creative industry

    •  

How the eco-city site used to look

enjoyed for its beauty and serenity.

“We have also built an ecological corridor that follows the river that flows through the eco-city to the sea. This has created an ecological system where natural and man-made environments complement each other superbly,” he says.

Other aspects of the eco-city development as shared by Lin:

free. This was followed by large-scale planting of endemic species. Lin says they were so successful at the soil treatment process that they have registered and obtained national patents for the system.

An area of 3.5 sq km that was used as a “sewage plant” for wastewater and effluents has also been transformed into a “clean lake” that can today be

Overcoming water scarcity Water recycling and rainwater harvesting are used to help overcome the problem of scarcity. The first phase of a water treatment plant which can process 100,000 cu m daily has been completed and will be commissioned soon. Ultimately, non-traditional water resources will meet more than 50% of the total water needs in the eco-city.



The 30 sq km on which the SinoSingapore Tianjin Eco-City is taking shape is now a far cry from what it was – land laid barren and toxic by about 40 years of salt farming and chemical factory discharge. Rehabilitating this non-arable land and restoring its natural ecology have been a triumph of human ingenuity and industry.

In an interview with Green Purchasing Asia, Eco-City Administrative Committee vicechairman Lin Xue Feng says they had identified an area of 5 sq km – equivalent to one-sixth of the total land area – to be a natural wetlands and a habitat for birds.

To do this, they spent three years treating about 3.8 million cu m of tainted soil so that it is now pollutant-

Social undertakings This is a people-oriented urban construction, with an excellent education system, and a healthy and harmonious environment with job opportunities. So far, we are focused on building apartments to improve the living conditions of the construction workers. We learnt from the experience of Singapore’s

sstec

Salt farms were a feature of the landscape for up to 40 years before the land was rehabilitated for use as the eco-city site

Polluted water from chemical factories

gpa photo

Property development We expect the eco-city to be a platform for the promotion of the eco-friendly concept as well as a training centre for the national environment protection and ecology project.

We have built the National Animation Park, National Film Park and Ecology Park to develop the industries of animation, film and broadcasting, culture, publishing, software, information technology, outsourcing and others. The first phase of the National Animation Park has been completed and opened to the public. We are speeding up the construction of the National Film Park and National Ecology Park. We are also building an Eco Industrial Park and an Eco-Technology Park to enhance R&D, develop energy-saving technologies and find new energy resources. More than 500 entrepreneurs have agreed to invest a total of more than 30 billion yuan.

sstec

Development of new energy Although the city is built on the principle of energy saving, we also emphasise the development of new energy based on the target that renewable energy will provide 20% of the power needs of the eco-city. We are exploring an operating mechanism to establish a connection between new energy and traditional energy so that they complement each other.

Solar energy will provide 12.3 MW while the wind capacity will be 4.5 MW. Nearly 2,000 street lights in the eco-city will be powered by wind and solar energy. A development area of 500,000 sq m will use geothermal energy. The residential area that uses solar water heating systems total 300,000 sq m. Smart power substations have been put into use and the electric buses will be in operation.

Hybrid of solar panels and mini wind turbine: 2,000 to be in place

Housing Development Board flats, and have targeted that 20% of the residential units in the eco-city will comprise tastefully-decorated and fully-furnished apartments to meet the housing needs of the low-income group. The first phase of 600 units of public housing is completed. We have started construction of the community centres, schools, hospitals and 17 other public infrastructure projects. All these public facilities will be ready for use next year. Currently, the total housing area has reached 3 million sq m. The first batch of residents is expected to move in during the second quarter of next year.

Incentives for greentech adoption We have drawn up a set of incentives, which includes a special fund to support wind power, solar photovoltaic and other renewable energy projects.

China has identified the eco-city as a model city and model for renewable energy applications, and as such, the central government is giving financial support. We have also incentives and subsidies for those who implement solar water heating, geothermal technology and others. green purchasing asia • december 2011 19

opportunities

- of a joint venture project between the National Internet Network Provider and the eco-city to build a smart city network has been completed.

We also “imported” Singapore’s water treatment system, logistics and IT-related enterprises into the city. We are cooperating with companies like Siemens, Philips, Hitachi, General Motors and some 500 companies on green technology-related areas.

An eco-city is like a piece of fertile land that nurtures and grows green technologies and green industries. I feel this is just the beginning. As the project grows, it will provide broader market opportunities to greentech companies. We have high expectations [of the eco-city] and we are confident it will deliver.

The Rainbow Bridge skyline transforms

Public and private investments We operate on the principle of “guided by the government, dominated by private entities, oriented by market behaviour and actively participated by the public”. As such, we actively promote market-oriented public facilities and basic infrastructure. The government’s social projects and the private sector’s commercial projects will be developed in “bundled style” to maximise commercial value.

We have done a preliminary calculation of the capital investment in the eco-city. The total investment in the initial stage of the project is about 54 billion yuan (US$8.49 billion), of which 5.5 billion yuan is from the Chinese government while the companies have committed up to 48.5 billion yuan. Development and construction of public facilities in the initial stage will cost 6.5 billion yuan, of which the government’s share is one billion, and the rest is from the private sector.     •  

Business opportunities generated As this is a brand new area, we are exploring green technologies in green buildings, renewable energy, soil treatment, water management, green transportation, garbage management and smart city development. We let market demand dictate the development of the industry, to provide market opportunities to the entrepreneurs involved in these technologies.

As at today, the eco-city has attracted more than 100 green enterprises and projects. The first phase

Employment opportunities The 5 sq km industrial park with the animation park, technology park, industrial park and information park within it will provide job opportunities in the cultural and creative industry, in energy-saving and environmentalprotection [business activities], and in R&D in science and technology and information technology.

There are two business centres in the north and south of the eco-city, with the establishment of “Qing Tuo Zi Centre” as a key attraction. These will also create jobs in exhibitions and tourism, education and training, outsourcing and other service industries. Other job creators are in education, health, culture, sports and other public facilities.



To achieve 100% green buildings in the eco-city, we support developers in terms of land prices, financing and technical advice. We will be giving out better incentives for green building developers, to further motivate them to use green technologies.



2011



2008

The Hui Feng Xi Park is an oasis carved out of wasteland in Tianjin Eco-City

The people who converge in TBNA are the “entrepreneurial types”, and they form a new class of consumers who are likely to invest in the Tianjin Eco-City.

Location is king, even for eco-cities

Market positioning The eco-city really serves eight industrial zones demarcated according to “function”. They are the oil industry, advanced manufacturing, central business district, airport services and logistics, hi-tech science park, conference facilities and tourism, modern metallurgy, and the Tianjin port and industry.

Land reclamation is going on at top speed at the port area. So many new buildings and warehouses are being built such that in a few years, the area will be unrecognisable.

Ho says that in 15 years, the larger area in which Tianjin Eco-City is located will be a “thriving commercial area”.

The other value propositions are that this is a government-togovernment project, and that it is a fully-integrated green city, where all buildings have to conform to the Green Building Evaluation Standards (GBES).

In a government-to-government project, there must be broader goals beyond just commercial ones, says Ho. For example, “we are building a model

TBNA’s annual growth rate has exceeded 20% for past decade In 15 years, TBNA will be a vibrant commercial area

been in excess of 20% per annum for the past decade, and this was one of the considerations when the site was chosen.”

TBNA was designated as the third economic growth pole of China in 2006, which meant huge support from the central government. Thirty years ago, Shenzen led the economic development of the Pearl River Delta.

Today, it has a GDP of US$100 billion, far bigger than many small countries.

Two decades ago, the Shanghai Pudong New Area was developed to promote the growth of the Yangtze River Delta and eastern China.

Now, TBNA is the new “poster boy” of China’s development zones and is today home to more than 150 multinational corporations from the Fortune Global 500. Its GDP was 503 billion yuan (US$79 billion) last year.

Ra ilw ay

Much has been written on Tianjin Eco-City as a demonstration project in sustainable development. So much so, in fact, that it is quite easy to forget this is a project that needs to sell. The participating developers have to make profits to continue pumping in huge investments. Green projects need to compete with non-green ones in the tough real estate market. For example, the eco-city is not spared the vagaries of the market. Sources say sales were affected after the Chinese government imposed housing curbs to quell speculative sentiments early this year.

Aside from its sustainable model, what the eco-city has going for it is great location. It is in one of the fastest-growing regions of China, the Tianjin-Binhai New Area (TBNA).

SSTEC chief executive officer Ho Tong Yen says: “TBNA’s growth rate has

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Expressway Highway Railway Light railway Proposed Express LRT Line Proposed Eco-City Circle Line The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City

   •   

opportunities

-

for sustainable development that is practical. We are not talking about using very expensive, cutting-edge technology that requires extensive government subsidy. We may use some high technology, but the key emphasis is that it must be practical. It must also be replicable and scalable. So what we do here can be done somewhere else either on a bigger or smaller scale.”

In addition, Tianjin Eco-City “follows a lot of the existing literature on sustainable development, which talk about the three Es: Ecology, economy and equitability. In our case, we have a different way of expressing this.

We talk about the three harmonies: Harmony between people, harmony between people and the environment, and harmony between people and the economy.”

Why green doesn’t have to be expensive According to Ho, a lot of thought went into master planning so that

infrastructure like roads, pedestrian pathways, green connectors, public amenities are all designed to encourage people to walk.

“Our key performance indicators (KPIs) are precise. We don’t say sports facilities are within walking distance. Developers sometimes define walking distance in imaginative ways. Our KPI says it must be within 500 m. Studies have shown that people consider a distance of 200 to 300 metres to be walkable. In our eco-cell (a term that refers to a small community), you can get to amenities like restaurants and shops within 200 to 300 metres.”

Within each development, there is a hierarchy in the infrastructure.

Four eco-cells make a community, and four communities form a subcentre. Access, however, is widely facilitated. There are no gated communities so people can take short-cuts. There are community walkways that cut through eco-cells.

Project challenges • Interface: In a massive project like this, bringing in international developers and concepts, and applying them to the local context, there will be issues. “Those companies that used to operate in the Singapore context, for example, would find SSTEC a useful interface. The challenges would be in integrating different ways of doing business,” says Ho. • Changing mindsets: “Ultimately, an eco-city is not just about hardware, it is also about how people live.

That is the next challenge that we have to work towards our goal of building the eco-city. People who move in here will have to adopt a greener way of life. There is strong governmental involvement in educating people on this process. As people buy homes in the eco-city, and as they look at the amenities that promote sustainable living, I think they will gradually change.”

Green features of the Tianjin Eco-City PROJECT

ECO SOLUTIONS

FEATURES

Entire Eco Business Park (EBP)

• District heating & cooling system + ground source heat pump (GSHP)

• Renewable energy

• Pneumatic waste collection system (PWCS): circle system

• Better sanitary environment

Low Carbon Living Lab@EBP

• GSHP + solar PV + building information modeling (BIM)

• Integrated renewable energy solution

• Winter garden

• Reduce heat island effect

• Double curtain wall

• Enhanced building envelop

Landmark Building@EBP

• Variable air volume (VAV) fan coil + exhaust heat recovery

• Increased energy efficiency

• Variable voltage and variable frequency (VVVF) lift

• Increased energy efficiency

• 70% solar thermal water

• Renewable energy

• Philips test-beds: - Lighting-on-demand integrated into landscape design - Integrated lighting in SSTEC office

• Increased energy efficiency

GEMS International School

• Hybrid solar lighting test-bedding (Philips)

• Energy saving

• GSHP for swimming pool heating

• Renewable energy

• Wind turbine for energy wall & facade lighting

• Renewable energy

Sheng Jing (Mitsui Fudosan)

• Home energy management system (HEMS)

• Increased energy efficiency

• LEED (American green building standards) neighbourhoods

• Globally recognised green building

• Solar thermal provides 60% hot water

• Renewable energy

• Home energy management systems

• Increased energy efficiency

• Solar thermal provides 60% hot water

• Renewable energy

• Double layer low-E glass with argon

• Enhanced building envelope

• Solar thermal provides 60% hot water

• Renewable energy

Ayala Samsung Source: SSTEC

    •  

Opportunities in green retrofitting existing cities Retrofits the biggest eco-city category and most likely to see completion City planning knowledge transfer helps foster international cooperation

Eco-cities worldwide at various phases of development STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT

60

(35%)

By Siaw Mei Li

68 reporting on such projects, as well as better access to national sources on sustainable urban development.

Dr Simon Joss, principal author of the report and IECI coordinator, who presented key findings of this survey via videoconference at the Sustainable Cities Asia 2011 conference in Singapore recently, says the study categorised 16% of the 174 projects surveyed as “new build”, 42% as infill or “expansion of existing area” and 43% “retrofit”.

“It’s often commonly assumed that eco-city initiatives are mainly new developments, and that innovation usually flows from these new developments to existing cities,” he says. “However, our analysis shows that the majority of initiatives consist of retrofit and infill projects, and knowledge transfer flows as much from retrofits to infill projects, or from new projects to retrofits and vice-versa. This is certainly true for both technological innovation and policy innovation processes.”

Type of eco-city development by continent Europe 2 45

23

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6

13

4

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4

2

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Asia & Australasia 15 17

37

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(39%)

45

(26%)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION Examples: • Auroville, India • Tianjin, Binhai, China • Treasure Island, San Francisco, US IMPLEMENTED Examples: • Loja, Ecuador • Tajimi, Japan • Växjö, Sweden :   

Building an entirely new eco-city certainly invites more attention, but researchers say green retrofitting existing cities appear to be as, if not more, significant. Their attractiveness lies in the fact they are completed much faster. This suggests opportunities that urban planners, building designers and technology providers may have underestimated or overlooked.

This is among the observations highlighted in the findings of the 2011 survey of eco-cities by International Eco-Cities Initiative (IECI), a research network among scholars at the University of Westminster (London), the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore) and the Smithsonian Institution (Washington DC).

The “Eco-Cities: A Global Survey 2011” report profiled 174 cities, an increase of over 100% on the 79 ecocities profiled in the inaugural survey in 2009. The jump in the eco-city tally reflects improved international

AT PLANNING STAGE Examples: • Amman, Jordan • Plan IT Valley, Portugal • Segrate, Milan, Italy

Växjö, Sweden reduced 30% of its greenhouse gas emissions per capita since 1993 and the goal was to reduce it by 50% in 2010. Today 51% of its energy comes from renewable sources. The city was awarded by the European commission in 2007, received the prize of International Sustainable Energy was named " the greenest city in Europe"

Retrofits more likely to be completed The attractiveness of retrofit developments lies not only in the sheer number of projects, but also in the relatively fast pace at which they are completed. The survey found a strong correlation between retrofits and the relative implementation stage of a project: retrofit cases were more likely to have progressed to full implementation compared with developments involving entirely new cities.

The survey used data from sources like policy reports, case studies, web profiles and academic literature. Joss’s team analysed their data with particular attention to policy coordination and public-private partnerships.

“We see a great deal of transnational initiatives taking place. That can be in a city-to-city    •   

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collaboration, as in the case of Helsingborg-Helsinger in Denmark and Sweden. It can also consist of bilateral approaches,” says Joss, giving examples of the Indian and Japanese governments’ memorandum of understanding to build four new eco-cities in India, and China and Singapore’s collaboration in Tianjin Eco-City.

He also cites the World Bank’s Eco2 Cities current projects in Indonesia and the Clinton Climate Initiative’s Climate Positive Development Programme involving 16 cities worldwide, from Panama City to Seoul to Pretoria.

Role of governance Joss calls attention to the need to understand and refine the policymaking aspects of eco-cities to ensure their long-term viability. He

also says more attention should be given to the sociopolitical dimensions of eco-city building.

“Eco-city initiatives are much more than mere technical undertakings focusing on technological aspects such as greenhouse gas emission reduction and zero-waste strategies. Instead they need to be understood as wider complex undertakings relating as much to public-private relationships and political and cultural processes.

“Global mainstreaming of eco-city initiatives is a recent and still growing phenomenon and considering the long development trajectory involved in eco-city innovation, it is still a long way before we can say for sure that these initiatives have been successfully implemented. There is therefore a need to pay close attention to the issue of sustainable governance of these projects.”

Primary implementation mode of eco-cities IMPLEMENTATION MODE

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(60%)

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(3%)

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION Examples: • Gothenburg, Sweden • Masdar, UAE • Thames Gateway, UK INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY Examples: • Johannesburg Eco-city, SA • Kottayam, India • Sonoma Mountain Village, US CIVIC ENGAGEMENT Examples: • Auroville, India • Tajimi, Japan • Waitakere, New Zealand

Terms closely related to “eco-city” Sustainable city or eco-city/town: Commonly used in four different ways: • To describe a sizeable mixed-use new sustainable development • Attached to the name of a particular area of an existing city to be developed or retrofitted in a sustainable way • Attached to the name of the city to denote an eco-initiative in an area of that city • By local authorities, as umbrella label for various sustainability initiatives across a city

The reference to carbon (in this and the following two terms) may reflect national aspirations to create “low carbon economies” – often as part of policies designed to mitigate climate change. The focus is on the physical aspects of cities: energy, transportation, infrastructure and buildings.

Sustainable community/eco-community: Usually signifies a development in a suburban or rural location, built or aspiring to ideals of sustainability.

Zero-carbon city: More specifically still, a city which produces no greenhouse gases and is run exclusively on energy from renewable sources.

Smart city: Used to emphasise hi-tech aspects of development – smart energy grids, IT networks, and related efficiencies in utility and service provision.

Solar city: May have a relatively narrow focus on replacing fossil fuels with solar energy, and is in some cases limited in its ambitions.

Slim city: World Economic Forum knowledge transfer initiative to encourage cities to increase efficiency across a variety of sectors, eg energy, transport, construction work.

Oekostadt / Ökostadt: As well as being a direct German translation of the term “eco-city”, Ökostadt also refers more specifically to a series of Austrian, German and Swiss towns and cities which declared their intention to introduce principles of sound environmental management and sustainable development in the 1990s – often as part of an Agenda 21 programme.

Compact city: Use of this term typically implies an opposition to urban sprawl. It is an influential urban design concept whose guiding principles include high residential density and the discouragement of private car use.

Zero energy city / zero net energy city: Uses no more energy than it is able to generate locally. This is achieved through a combination of measures to reduce current consumption and the introduction of new renewable energy sources.

Low carbon city: “Carbon” is sometimes used as shorthand for all greenhouse gases.

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Carbon neutral city / net zero city: Similar to “low carbon city” – except defined more strictly as a city which offsets carbon / greenhouse gas emissions such that its net emissions are zero.

Transition town: The Transition Town movement, which originated in the UK and Ireland, is a growing international movement to build up local communities’ social and environmental resilience to the effects of climate change and fossil fuel shortages. Activities are typically organised at grass-roots level rather than embedded in policies.

Source: Eco-Cities – A Global Survey 2011

Sunway focuses on health & sustainability Piling work to start before year end, and structural works in Q1 2012

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Proven technologies used to reduce high replacement and maintenance costs

The proposed LOHAS island is designed as a zero energy building, which means that energy needed to run the building is wholly generated from renewable sources.The main renewable sources to be tapped are geothermal heat, solar power and possibly also wind

In late 2009, at the invitation of the master developer SSTEC, Sunway’s top officials visited the eco-city site.

This was followed by the signing of a series of agreements: a memorandum of understanding in October that year, a collaboration agreement in April 2010 and the first equity joint venture agreement in October 2010.

Sunway and SSTEC will develop

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Providence had a hand in Sunway Group’s foray into Tianjin Eco-City, the only Malaysian developer to join the league of property giants involved in this high-profile project.

Events can actually be traced back to the 1997 financial crisis, which drained many companies’ reserves, forcing them into an over-geared position. Asset-rich Sunway was one of them. Their white knight came in the form of Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation (GIC), a powerful sovereign fund which today owns 12% of the group’s shares.

When Singapore and China decided to collaborate on the showcase project, and partners were sought, Sunway was one of the obvious choices. On top of that, says Ong Pang Yen, chief executive officer for Tianjin Eco-City, Sunway Property Development Pte Ltd Co, the company has a proven record as a committed and responsible eco developer that has had many international collaborations.

Ong Pang Yen, CEO of Tianjin EcoCity, Sunway Property Development Pte Ltd Co

a total of 40 ha on the basis of a 60:40 equity share. It was earlier reported that Sunway will invite another foreign equity on board, but that option has been dropped. The project, which is just outside the start-up area, has a gross development value of RM5 billion (US$1.6 billion), to be funded through internal funds and borrowings from Chinese banks. The collaboration project comprise up to 600,000 sq m of residential space and 100,000 sq m of commercial area.

Ong says building plans for the first phase of the project – 627 units of apartments in eight blocks – have just been approved by the Eco-City Administrative Committee (ECAC), and building contractors who participated in an open tender are now being shortlisted. Piling will start before year end while the main structural works will kick off after the Chinese New Year in January.

The company broke ground for a sales gallery on November 22nd in preparation for its sales launch in the second half of 2012. The gallery will be used for about five years, which is the planned duration of the whole project.

“The pace of development in the eco-city has been amazing. Almost 400 ha are being developed over just about two years in the start-up area. It is like a very busy airport and we just have to wait for the queue ahead to clear before we take off,” says Ong. In an interview with Green Purchasing Asia, Ong shares about the company’s eco concepts and the sensible and practical approaches it will take to complete the project, in line with master planning guidelines.

How will Sunway’s LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) principles be manifested in its project and eventual property management?

In Mandarin, the words used to describe LOHAS are “happiness” and “liveliness”. They are used to contrast against the busy and weary lifestyle typically associated with busy urban professionals. LOHAS seeks to promote a balance, as it focuses on five key aspects, namely, health and fitness; personal development; social justice; sustainable living; and the environment.    •   

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Groundbreaking ceremony for Sunway’s sales gallery on November 22 (from left): Ngian Siew Siong, managing director, Sunway Property Devt (International); Evan Cheah, CEO Sunway China, Sunway Group chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, ECAC senior vice-chairman Cui Guang Shi, SSTEC CEO Ho Tong Yen and ECAC vice-chairman Meng Xian Zhang

Professionals involved in the first phase

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• Architecture/engineering: Tianjin Architectural Design Institute (Tadi) • Architectural concept: SAA Architecture • M&E consultants: J Roger Preston • Quantity surveyor: Shanghai-based A-Z Consultants • Landscape concept: Australian-based Hassel Consultants • Green rating compliance consultant: Tsinghua Architectural Design Institute (part of Tsinghua University)

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Hence, our project design will consciously and physically provide the space and facilities for the pursuit of this lifestyle. But it is still a matter of choice if the residents want to or will subscribe to this lifestyle. We need to promote, create awareness and encourage. That is where property management will have an important role to play. Awareness that we can choose a responsible and sustainable lifestyle and education are the software that will optimise the value of the hardware.

What eco-solutions and technologies will Sunway bring to its project?

The key to making a difference is to consciously optimise the use of eco-solutions and technologies, to be as cost-effective as possible. For example, if we use solar thermal systems and photovoltaics, we will place them where we get the maximum hours of sunlight throughout the year.

We know exactly which areas in our development are the most exposed to sunlight from our sun path analysis.

Such considerations weigh heavily on our decision-making process. That is why we opted for central water heating with solar panels on the roof top instead of providing individual panels on the balcony of each unit.

In terms of compliance with Green Building Evaluation Standard (GBES) requirements, we would have met the criteria, but in terms of optimising cost-effectiveness of the solar panels, we would not have fared too well as some of the lower units will have much less sunlight exposure.

We are also embarking on designing and building a “zero energy” LOHAS island that will house a mini library and activity areas for the young and old in our project. It will cover about 800 sq m. We will harness geothermal energy to keep the ambient temperature here within a comfortable zone, summer or winter. We will also use geothermal energy to heat the indoor swimming pool.

For the apartments, we are using low-E double-glazed glass for areas where there is exposure to sunlight.

But really, we try to keep windows small so as to reduce heat loss during winter. Our walls are insulated with light-weight plastering. As far as indoor air quality is concerned, we are providing mechanised ventilation systems for all units. Our development has more than 40% green coverage and we will be planting, on average, at least three trees per 100 sq m.

Artist impression of the community square situated at the centre of the LOHAS island development: Community facilities such as the swimming pool, gymnasium, sports hall, community halls, and convenience store will be located around this open space, while all residential blocks will be linked to it via walking and cycling paths

What rating level will your project be aiming for in the GBES? We are targetting at least GBES Gold or Gold Plus. We are also inviting Singapore’s Building & Construction Authority (BCA) to assess and evaluate our project, and targetting at least the Gold standard from them.

What is your position on working with technology providers to testbed innovative products or services?

Being a part of the eco-city development does present us with many such opportunities. We will

evaluate carefully to ensure such collaboration, if any, does not adversely affect our home buyers in the longer term. We have to satisfy ourselves that they are credible products as we see this [test-bedding] as joint responsibility in co-branding.

It was said this project is designed to be practical, scalable and replicable. What do you understand these to mean?

It means essentially that the development must be economically viable and affordable. The green

Magnet for pace-setting Asian builders

with the average selling price at 13,500 yuan (US$2,100)/sq m (furnished, including moveables).

Among the green features are water-saving sanitary fittings, wall insulation, solar thermal for hot water, a pneumatic waste collection system, use of recycled building materials and radiant floor heating.

Leading Asian developers are shaping China’s upcoming metropolis Features range from passive ones to cutting edge energy management systems

Farglory Land Development Group (China) This Taiwanese developer’s project covers about 1 sq km to be developed in three phases. Phase 1 consists of 2,500 units of residential development, while Phase 2 has both residential and commercial developments. Phase 3 will be mainly residential. The three phases will be completed in eight to ten years.

A total of 934 units in Phase 1 was launched for sale on September 2011,

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To set the standards for this benchmarking project, the master developer of Tianjin Eco-City, SSTEC, hand-picked joint venture partners from among the biggest real estate developers in Asia. Their projects are within the crucial 4 sq km startup area, except for Sunway Group, whose project is located at the fringe.

The following are thumbnails of who they are and what they are building in Tianjin.

Artist impression of the eco-city: On track to have a basic community of companies, residents, basic infrastructure, schools and so on by September 2013

features must be there as per GBES standards and criteria, so the benefits are real. Only proven products and technologies should be employed so uncertainties and risks of high replacement and maintenance costs are kept to a minimum. Affordability in the competitive market environment is key, so there is little room to invest in high capital cost technologies that have yet to provide reasonable returns.

So we may not take the approach of building a visionary or futuristic “scifi” project. We take the pragmatic and viable approach.

Shimao Property Holdings Limited This Hong Kong developer’s project includes residential apartments and a hotel with a total investment of over 10 billion yuan. The apartments will be developed in three phases with a total construction area of 1.06 million sq m. The project will encompass eco and sustainable solutions and technologies that will meet at least the silver standard of the Green Building Evaluation Standard (GBES).

The five-star landscape style hotel is almost ready. Alongside the residential project, a 4,000 sq m public exhibition centre is also being built to showcase environment-friendly materials, new energy systems, recycling systems and other advanced technologies.

Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd and Tiong Seng Properties (Pte) Ltd Japan’s largest real estate developer, one of the core companies of the powerful Mitsui Group, is partnering Singapore’s Tiong Seng to develop some 2,650 residences, mainly highrises. This will cover some 40 ha, with project completion scheduled for 2014.

Hitachi will partner Mitsui Fudosan in implementing its home energy    •   

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management system (HEMS) in this project.

Ayala Land Inc The Philippines’ top integrated city developer broke ground for its project, The Elegance, in April this year. Jointly developed with SSTEC, this is Ayala Land’s first flagship project in China. The US$220 million project has a land size of about 97,600 sq m with 1,244 housing units. The first phase of the project is estimated to be completed end-2012.

Eco-features include ribbon paths, which connect different buildings and promote walkability and interaction among residents,

solar water heating, water recycling and an intelligent energy monitoring and management system. The Elegance is designed by Aecom, a US design consultancy, and aims for the GBES Silver standard.

Samsung C&T Corp This South Korean company is developing a housing project called Shou Xi, located close to the GEMS International School and the EcoValley. With a land area of about 54,900 sq m, the project will have 643 apartments. The 500 million yuan (US$78 million) project is expected to be completed in 2013. This is Samsung C&T’s first residential

Keppel takes broad-based strategic position First phase Seasons Park launched eco-homes in October 2010 Other business units involved in wastewater treatment telecoms and R&D

Multinational Keppel Group leads the Singapore private sector consortium in a 50-50 venture with its Chinese consortium partner to form Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co Ltd (SSTEC), the eco-city’s master developer. SSTEC in turn has equity stakes in projects of other developers.

Strategically placed in the business eco-system, Keppel also has some choice projects in the 4 sq km start-up area of Tianjin Eco-City. It has taken up a 36.6-ha site which will be developed in phases by its unit Keppel Land. This site is located along the main Eco-Valley, near the Eco-Business Park and a commercial sub-centre next to a planned light rail station.

The entire development will comprise 5,000 homes and commercial properties, with a total gross floor area (GFA) of about 680,000 sq m. Seasons Park, the first phase, launched its ecohomes in October last year. Over 70% of the 701 launched units were sold as at March 2011.

Another development in the same     •  

site is Seasons City, which comprises three office towers, retail premises and serviced apartments with a total GFA of 254,398 sq m. The first phase broke ground in April, and comprises an office tower called Keppel Eco-Centre and retail premises. The tower will be built to Green Building Evaluation Standard (GBES) platinum.

Serenity Cove is another Keppel Land project that was launched in phases. It comprises 573 units of bungalows, apartments, semidetached, terrace and villa units. The first two phases of 233 units have been sold and completed. Phase 3, consisting of apartments, semidetached and villa units, is to be launched soon.

Other Keppel units also have a strong presence in this eco-city: • Keppel Integrated Engineering (KIE) will build, own and operate a water reclamation plant through a joint venture agreement signed in April 2011 with Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co Ltd (TECID), the Chinese consortium

development in China, and is designed by multi-award winning Samoo Architects. Samsung C&T was involved in building three of the world‘s tallest buildings: the Petronas Twin Towers (Kuala Lumpur), Taipei 101 and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Sunway Group One of Malaysia’s biggest developers brings to Tianjin its experience in turning a piece of ex-mining land into one of the country’s leading townships.

In Tianjin Eco-City, the company will develop a total of 40 ha with a gross development value of US$1.6 billion.

(See accompanying interview with company CEO Ong Pang Yen)

partner. The proposed plant will serve the entire city, upgrade treated effluent from an existing wastewater treatment plant to meet stringent national standards for wastewater discharge, and also produce highquality recycled water.

The proposed plant will include a wastewater effluent polishing unit with capacity of 100,000 cu m per day and a water recycling facility that will produce 20,000 cu m per day of recycled water initially, with the possibility of increasing the capacity to 42,000 cu m per day.

• KIE is the first anchor tenant of the Tianjin Eco-City Sustainable Development Innovation Centre (TSDIC), which gathers international educational institutions, government agencies and leading international companies under one roof to forge an R&D and innovation community.

• In 2010, Keppel DHCS made its first significant step into China to provide district heating and cooling system services in Tianjin Eco-City.

Construction is underway.

• Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation (Keppel T&T) is developing a 35,000 sq m green integrated logistics distribution centre in the Eco Industrial Park which it will also operate. This logistics centre will help to draw high value-added manufacturing investments and provide integrated logistics services to North China.

Flagship Landmark Building topped out The first commercial building in Tianjin Eco-City to be structurally completed is the flagship Landmark Building located in the Eco Business Park (EBP). Topped up in August, the multi-tenanted 19-storey building will set the standard for business space in the eco-city.

It will have ready-built offices (RBOs), R&D set-ups and commercial facilities such as eateries, retail stores, gym and a crèche. It is aiming at a silver rating in both the Green Building Evaluation Standard (GBES) and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system (LEED).

The “eco features” are designed to lower energy consumption, which translates into cost savings for the tenants. These include: • Solar thermal water heaters to

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•

Project attracts a cluster of global giants Tianjin's Eco-CBD to become a regional hub for cleantech companies Alliance of 11 companies to take EV ownership to 90% in eco-city

Being the largest integrated eco-city project in the world, Tianjin Eco-City is a magnet for technology players wishing to test-bed new technologies or cutting-edge products in a real-life environment.

Such technological collaborations showcase the eco-city’s position as a “living lab” for eco-solutions where companies can conduct last-mile commercialisation for their products.

The Eco-Central Business District (EcoCBD) is where most of the action is.

Master developer SSTEC has signed on a number of companies and is negotiating with more multinationals, which see the eco-city as a springboard to similar projects in China and the rest of Asia. These are some of the companies offering their best technologies:

Hitachi This Japanese technology giant is focusing on its smart city business,

which has been demonstrated in several countries around the world. In Tianjin Eco-City, it will: • Develop a building energy management system (BEMS) for the EcoCBD • Introduce the community energy management system (CEMS) for efficiently controlling energy within a local area • Introduce the home energy management system (HEMS) in condominiums, reportedly in collaboration with Panasonic which is now aggressive on HEMS. The system will be deployed in 450 residential homes in the Sheng Jing residential development – a joint venture of SSTEC, Mitsui Fudosan Residential Co Ltd and Tiong Seng Properties Pte Ltd

meet more than half of the hot water consumption Pneumatic waste collection system (PWCS) for clean and odourless waste disposal Solar tubes from the ground surface leading to underground parking areas Variable air volume (VAV) system with CO2 sensors to control the exchange of fresh air within the building to better regulate the temperature and reduce dependence on air-conditioning.

Exhaust heat recovery technology to retain heat from exhaust air Variable voltage and variable frequency (VVVF) lifts which use less energy Philips “lighting on demand” system in the Landmark Building’s landscape design and within the building (this will be a test-bed project)

– allowing residents to track their energy consumption patterns so they can use energy more efficiently.

These smart grid systems will embrace solar photovoltaics and other renewable energy and storage batteries. This is the first time Hitachi is using the system in a large city.

Hitachi’s track record includes a residential smart grid demonstration project at Rokkasho Village in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The village has the world’s first wind power station equipped with large storage batteries.

It also has a smart grid demo in the US state of New Mexico, and is conducting a feasibility study in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor in India.

Philips This Dutch multinational has a contract to provide energy-efficient lighting solutions for the Landmark Building in the Eco-Business Park, having done three lighting test-bed projects in the building as well as at the GEMS International School. One of these is the lighting-on-demand system where video sensors (instead of motion sensors) are installed to detect human presence at 20 lamp posts.    •   

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Philips (China) Investment Co Ltd will shift its Tianjin head office to the Tianjin Eco-City’s Eco Business Park and build it as its regional base.

New Energy Vehicle Alliance This grouping of 11 international and local companies aims to achieve an electric vehicle (EV) ownership rate of 90% of all vehicles in the eco-city by 2020. It includes the following players: • Hitachi will help create an EV hub that provides EV charging, rental and other services. The scope of work includes the development of systems for managing EV positioning, an emergency vehicle management system and a car-sharing system.

• General Motors (GM) will introduce the next generation of electricnetworked vehicle (EN-V). The zero-emission EN-V aims to tackle problems like traffic congestion, parking, air quality and affordability.

• Chinese carmaker Chery is to collaborate on the EV hub investments and services, including bundling Chery EVs with the sale of ecohomes.

• Tianjin Electric Power Corporation will develop a charging infrastructure system to support the use of EVs. Other signatories include Xiamen King Long and ST Kinetics.

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering) ST Engineering is installing a pneumatic waste collection system (PWCS) at the Eco Business Park that will allow tenants and residents to enjoy cleaner and odourless waste disposal. The system is accompanied

by a garbage sorting system and does away with garbage collection trucks.

It does however, have some detractors who feel the low-carbon benefits are debatable.

Siemens Ltd China, Corporate Technology (Siemens) Together with several other companies, this German giant signed a memorandum of understanding in September last year with SSTEC to collaborate and participate in the research and development of new green technologies, and develop sustainable and practical solutions for the Eco-CBD in areas such as green buildings, alternative transport solutions, connectivity, pollution, congestion and energy efficiency.

Room for many players in the business ecosystem Some of the 500 companies that are setting up base in Tianjin Eco-City include:

• LHT Holdings: This manufacturer of eco wood products listed on the Singapore Exchange will establish a wood waste recycling plant in the Eco-Industrial Park to manufacture and assemble eco wood products. LHT Holdings’ products will help developers in the eco-city achieve the Green Building Evaluation Standard (GBES) through the use of recycled materials in their buildings. This is the company’s first manufacturing facility in China.

• SITO Jia Hua (Beijing) Investment Co Ltd (SITO): It will invest 130 million yuan in the Eco Business Park and set

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• Pan Asian Water Manufacturing (Tianjin) Co Ltd (PAW): It will set up its China headquarters and key manufacturing base in the Eco-Industrial Park.

The facility will consolidate its manufacturing operations in China and serve its growing global needs and markets. In addition, this will serve as its global logistics and warehousing hub, R&D centre, and control centre for brand building and marketing for Duvalco products. The total investment is 100 million yuan (US$15.7 million). PAW is a subsidiary of Pan Asian Holdings Limited, a Singapore Exchange-listed quality pipe and valve manufacturer.

Artist impression of the Low-Carbon Living Lab that will house companies growing green solutions that can be scaled up. Located in Eco Business Park, it will be the first dualPlatinum (GBES and Singapore BCA Green Mark) low-carbon building in the eco-city. Its green features include: (1) Green lungs and green skins interspersed within the building (2) Intelligent

up an ecological demonstration base, which will include its regional office, an R&D centre for solar PV, solar thermal power generation and biomass power generation. SITO will also act as a multiplier and use this platform to bring its portfolio of companies into the eco-city and its surrounding areas.

lighting system and comprehensive energy management system (3) Rooftop solar thermal, solar PV panels, mini wind turbines (4) Light pipes, basement skylight, shading devices and light shelves (5) Rainwater collection and waterefficient strategies.

Design and project management are by Jurong Consultants Pte Ltd (Singapore)

• Enersolar New Energy Technologies Pte Ltd: This solar heating company will be taking up plug-and-play ready-built factory space in the Eco-Industrial Park to assemble and provide renewable energy and solar thermal systems for the eco-city.

opportunities

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How a US company supplies China’s solar industry SunSi Energies aims to control 25% of key solar panel ingredient in China Russian company made first order to test the company’s product purity

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By David Lee

Zibo Baoyun Chemical plant, Shandong, China (artist’s rendition – current)

An American company has embarked on a campaign to acquire a range of China-based plants that produce trichlorosilane (TCS), a key ingredient in pure polysilicon that is used in the manufacture of about three-quarters of all solar panels worldwide. TCS is a colourless liquid containing silicon, hydrogen and chlorine, made from industrial grade sand, the second most abundant element on earth.

New York-based SunSi Energies Inc wants to control 140,000 tonnes of TCS annually by the end of 2012, that it estimates will represent a China market share of between 20–25%, according to company president David Natan, a trained accountant whose experience in over 15 mergers and acquisitions will come in handy as the company scales up.

Presently, the company, which

Who SunSi sells its TCS to From its Wendeng plant (the first three names are its biggest customers) • Jiangsu Zhong Neng Silicon Industry Technology Development Co Ltd (also known as GCL Silicon Technology Holdings Inc). This Chinese company is one of the largest polysilicon and wafer producers in the world in terms of production capacity • Zhejiang Zhong Neng Technology Development Co Ltd • Luo Yang Zhong Silicon Hi-Tech Technology Development Co Ltd • Wuxi Zhong Cai Technology

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Development Co Ltd • Lian Yun Gang Zhong Cai Technology Development Co Ltd • Zhejiang Xie Cheng Gui Co Ltd • Wendeng Shi Huahai Chemical Co Ltd From its Baokai plant • Luo Yang Zhong Silicon Hi-tech Technology Development Co Ltd • Jiangsu Zhong Neng Silicon Industry Technology Development Co Ltd (GCL Silicon Technology Holdings Inc) • LDK Solar Co Ltd, Hi-Tech Industrial Park

has been operating in China for two years now, produces a total of about 45,000 tonnes of TCS at its Baokai and Wendeng plants in China. Production capacity was ramped up to 55,000 tonnes end of July this year.

It currently owns 100% of a Hong-Kong-based company, SunSi Energies Hong Kong Inc, which will be one of the entities through which SunSi will acquire Chinese TCS facilities. It also holds majority control over one production facility and one distribution facility, and aims to acquire another production facility in 2012.

“In light of the anticipated future growth of the solar energy industry within China and worldwide, combined with the fact that TCS is used in about 75% of solar cell production globally, SunSi expects to occupy an extremely advantageous position within the solar cell value chain,” says Natan.

Government policy driver Last year, the Chinese government announced that it intends to spend US$454 billion in the next decade on alternative energy, and to implement a five-fold increase in solar production by 2020. According to a Financial Times report, Beijing is guaranteeing solar developers between 1 yuan (US$0.15) and 1.15 yuan per kWh, depending on project timing and location, for the clean energy they feed into the nation’s grid. This move is likely to make China a global leader in the solar industry.

As big markets such as Germany and Italy move to reduce subsidies for solar panels, many people believe Beijing’s increasing support for the industry will see the country – which is already the world’s largest maker of solar panels – become one of the world’s biggest buyers of solar panels as well, says Natan.

He believes that as China ramps up its commitment to solar power, SunSi’s fortunes may rise along with it due to the strong business ties it has forged in the country. SunSi’s business is focused on the TCS used in “traditional” solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, which has a higher energy conversion efficiency than its thin-film counterpart, and hence, a smaller area consumption per watt production.

SunSi plant (above and right): As China ramps up its commitment to solar power, SunSi’s fortunes may rise along with it due to the strong business ties it has forged in the country

SunSi generated about US$15 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending May 31st this year. It projects revenue of between US$49 million and US$52 million in the next fiscal year.

Competition The company competes with independent TCS producers on the basis of reputation, technology, delivery, service and price. Natan believes there are 25 TCS producers in China, most of which have relatively small production capacity, and fewer than ten can produce over 2,000 tonnes per year.

The total independent Chinese TCS production capacity is estimated at about 300,000 tonnes per year.

Natan admits many of the producers have greater resources than they do. “We also expect the number of our competitors to increase significantly in future. We also compete indirectly with polysilicon and solar PV panel manufacturers that produce their own proprietary TCS, as opposed to purchasing it from independent TCS manufacturers such as us. The development of other TCS plants,

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Market positioning Not all of SunSi’s business is located in China. The company recently announced a US$155,000 order of 117 tonnes of TCS by Nitol Solar, a Russian company and one of the world’s largest polysilicon producers.

Nitol is using this small order to test for product purity. This is SunSi’s first order outside of China, and it expects more as the solar buy-in increases given the recent drop in solar cell prices worldwide. This is why SunSi is increasing production capacity at its Wendeng plant.

Natan says the financial difficulties of American solar energy companies have been widely reported – problems that stem from the steep drop in the cost of solar cells driven in part by Chinese subsidies. “Due to its position on the solar value chain, a raw material supplier that can sell to China is immune from such turbulence,” he says. Consequently, as the Asian solar industry becomes larger, companies such as SunSi are poised to reap the rewards.

The price of TCS varies on a daily basis, and is not published unlike other commodities. It normally follows the prices of polysilicon. Natan says the price as at end of August was about US$1,100 per tonne.

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Overcoming market barriers The existing barriers to enter the solar energy industry vary, says Natan, depending on where along the solar value chain a company wishes to become involved. “Becoming a TCS or polysilicon producer – at the front end of the chain – is difficult, because it requires special permits and large capital investment, in addition to several years of planning and construction,” he says.

This accounts for the higher profits made by companies such as SunSi that have managed to set up their business around these early links in the chain. One of the most significant barriers to entry is the expertise needed to run a TCS plant. “There are very few TCS engineers in the world who have run facilities equaling SunSi’s in production capacity. Even with unlimited funding, the engineering expertise in building the plant and the process itself is not a trivial matter,” says Natan.

particularly those near our plant, will increase the supply of TCS and may result in lower local TCS and glycerin prices and higher costs for feedstock.”

China’s independent TCS producers are mainly located in Jiangxi, Tangshan of Hebei, Zibo of Shandong, Chongqing of Sichuan, Wuhan of Hubei, and Shanghai. SunSi sees its main direct competitors as Leshan Yongxiang Resins Co Ltd, Tangshan Sunfar Silicon Industries Co Ltd, Huaxiang Chemical Industry Co Ltd and Kaihua Synthetic Material Co Ltd.    •   

case studies

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Mud house for modern green living Idea based on harmony with nature, optimising resources, not new technology Mud used to make sun-dried bricks, other ingredients sourced locally

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By Mahashwetha Dass

Revathi Kamath’s mud house, surrounded by greenery. The rooftop is covered with grass to keep the house cool

Indian architects Vasanth and Revathi Kamath have built a unique mud house amidst the concrete maze of India’s National Capital Region (off Delhi) in Anangpur village, Faridabad.

The emphasis of this structure is on back-to-nature construction techniques, use of locally-available building materials, and being ecologically sensitive.

“There is a need in this country to understand that there is scope for the interaction of architects and architecture with the poor, even in the rural areas, to better understand local ecology and improve the quality of life for people. So, I started designing ecological buildings by which I can     •  

improve the state of the environment,” says Revathi.

The Kamaths’ two-storey mud house is built on 1.25 acres of a disused quarry that is today lush with vegetation including neem, dhak, and babool trees. Its roof is alive with grass that produces oxygen, absorbs heat and keeps the building cool.

“The bamboocrete roof uses the intrinsic tensile strength of bamboo with a minimal one and a half inches of cement mortar over it to form a structural slab,” says Vasanth, adding that the roof is supported on A-frame tree trunk trusses.

The key uniqueness of the Kamaths’ house, however, is in the use of

sun-dried mud bricks instead of clay bricks. “Clay bricks are burnt, using fossil fuel (mainly wood in India), with significant energy consumption and ecological consequences. For our house, we used mud from our land, moulded the bricks on site and sun dried them.”

For wall plaster, the Kamaths used the traditional mud and cowdung mixture for the first coat, while subsequent finer coats had chandan and haldi (sandalwood paste and turmeric) mixed into the mud. These natural admixtures have antiseptic and aesthetic qualities.

Keeping cool, naturally The house’s drainage system uses a natural recycling process that purifies the waste and water through an anaerobic chamber. Above the chamber are plants that draw up the water and purify it as well.

During the warm summer months, occupants of the mud house benefit from its natural cooling system.

Revathi says: “We have a courtyard and sprays where, with just four large buckets of water, our entire house is cooled in the heat of summer. The temperature in here is about six to seven degrees lower than outside.”

There are also three ponds in the compound that cool the breeze that ventilates the house.

The mud house does not run on solar power, however, although the Kamaths rely heavily on solar cookers and have fitted solar lights at the entrance of the house.

“We have not used solar panels to generate electricity, even though we would have liked to, because of their prohibitive initial cost. Individuallypowered solar lights have been installed in the landscape and are functioning, but solar water heating is yet to be incorporated,” says Revathi.

Spreading eco-knowledge The couple’s lifestyle has influenced many of their clients to follow their footsteps, resulting in them being engaged to construct such dwelling places and buildings in different parts of the country, from Nagaland to Jaipur.

One of their latest projects, based on the idea of utilising renewable

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• Top: The amphitheatre in the Gnostic Centre in Palam, Delhi. The walls are mud plastered and the hall is soundproof and lighted with LED lights. Rags have been used in the mud walls to make them sound absorbent • Above: This pond in the compound of the Kamaths' mud house helps bring down temperatures around their home • Right: Natural elements are used to decorate the premises • Bottom: The Kamaths have built an earth tunnel system in the Gnostic Centre to prevent rainwater from flooding the compound.

The water can also be recycled to keep the house cool and the grass green on the rooftop

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Contextual, local design solutions Revathi believes architects should work with their clients in a participatory way, and that each person has his set of values that needs to be respected.

This is why, despite having the same essential elements, each project looks different. Revathi works with the locals in deciding which designs best suit the particular project site’s unique environment.

In building the mud house and Gnostic Centre, the focus has been to minimise even the use of modern green building components such as LED lights, water chillers, solar panels, solar lights and fan coil units. “Our effort has been to build ecologically, with natural materials, many of them from our land and the others from nearby, using labour-intensive techniques, which makes sense in over-populated India where traditional building craft skills are dying out.”

When asked about energy bill savings, Vasanth explains: “We have never attempted to compute the savings in our energy bill because of the passive cooling features, so I would not like to hazard a guess, but surely, about 18 tonnes of air-conditioning have been saved by the design, materials and features used, as we have no air-conditioning, and yet have an incredible level of thermal comfort in summer.”

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energy, is the Gnostic Centre in Palam, Delhi. Here, they used mud-and-rags technique to plaster the internal walls of the conference room, where sound absorption was an issue. The room uses energy-saving LED lights while solar-powered lights are fitted in the compound.

This site, where construction is still ongoing, has been designed with the natural environment in mind. For example, the Kamaths built an earth tunnel system to prevent rain from flooding the compound. Rainwater is recycled to keep the grass on the rooftop green. The building uses a chilled water air-conditioning system that not only keeps the building cool even in summer, but also saves a significant amount of energy. Air for the rooms is cooled by fans blowing it over chilled water coils in devices called fan coil units.

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case studies

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Carbon challenge for Iskandar Malaysia

sion for Iskandar Malaysia can go down to 6.5 tonnes CO² by 2025.

As more people flock to the region, the energy demand will more than triple from 3.3 million tonnes oil equivalent (toe) in 2005 to 10.9 million toe in 2025 for the Business as Usual (BaU) case. The bulk will come from the industry (6.6 million toe; 61%) followed by transport (2.2 million toe; 20%), and residential and commercial (2.1 million toe; 19%).

Petroleum consumption will also grow in tandem. By 2025, the region is forecast to consume 5 million toe of petroleum and 3.9 million toe of natural gas. As Iskandar Malaysia develops, there are opportunities to introduce renewable energy to meet energy demands, without increasing carbon emissions.

Its carbon emissions will triple by 2025 if no countermeasures are undertaken Huge opportunities to introduce renewable energy as it scales up

Prof Ho Chin Siong: New and bold policies needed to encourage countermeasures

“For a land area three times the size of Singapore (2,217 sq km), its per capita emission of 9.3 tonnes of CO² (2005) is expected also to rise to 15.1 tonnes of CO²/year by 2025,” says Ho. “This is higher than the national average of 7.1 tonnes per capita. With countermeasures, the per capita emis-

Where savings will come from: Breakdown of emissions reduction potential 46,000 Emissions reductions GHG emission/reductions (kt-CO2)

40,000

Logistics improvement Transport demand management Fuel shifting $ƧciencX improvement (Auildings) $ƧciencX improvement (transport) $ƧciencX improvement (industrX) $ƧciencX improvement (poVer sector)

30,000 45,484 20,000

GHG emissions

19,598

10,000 12,552 0

2005

2025BaU

2025CM

Note: Estimated based on (1) 2025 BaU (Business as usual – without mitigation measures) and (2) 2025 CM (With counter mitigation measures) assumptions of employed technologies as well as the potential to reduce the GHG emissions by low-carbon measures available by 2025

Higher than Asia Pacific Based on the National Communications Report (data submitted to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change), Malaysia’s emission of CO² per capita is about 7.1 tonnes, nearly triple the average for Asia Pacific of 2.6 tonnes per capita.

In December 2009, the Malaysian premier committed to a 40% cut of the carbon emission of the 2005 levels, by 2020. To achieve this, countermeasures, especially in urban and economic development regions such as Iskandar Malaysia have to be taken.

Ho is confident that early intervention at Iskandar Malaysia will help

Iskandar Malaysia energy demand by sector 12,000 10,936 1,442

10,000

790 EnergX demand (ktoe)

Baseline studies were carried out for Iskandar Malaysia, a new economic supercorridor at the southern tip of Peninsula Malaysia, to determine the countermeasures needed to make the region a low carbon urban development.

Professor Dr Ho Chin Siong of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), whose team conducted the studies, says the project was jointly undertaken by Malaysia and Japan under the SATREPS (Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development) programme to promote low carbon cities. Participating universities include UTM, Kyoto University, Okayama University and Ritsumeikan University.

One significant finding is that if no proactive measures are taken, the annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Iskandar Malaysia – estimated at 12.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO²) – will rise to 45.5 million tonnes by 2025, or 3.6 times higher than the level in 2005.

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By Stephen Ng

8,000 5,915

6,000

4,000

2,000

0

6,635

3,286 572 359

834 253

3,494

1,733

978

382 240 2005

1,091 2025BaU

Source: Ho Chin Siong, Supian Ahmad, Muhammad Zaly Shah Muhammad Hussein and Chau Loon Wai (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia)     •  

Freight transport Passenger transport (ndustrX Commercial Residential

685 649 2025 Vith counter mitigation measures

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Early intervention will help save millions of ringgit from being spent on remedial work some 20 years down the road

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save millions of ringgit from having to carry out remedial work some 20 years down the road. “If mitigation measures are adopted, the emissions can be decreased by 60% and suppressed to 19.6 million tonnes of CO²,” says Ho. Ho says efficiency improvement for industry will account for the largest proportion (43.2%) of the total CO² reduction, followed by that for the power sector (18.3%), buildings (17.8%), fuel shifting (15.3%), logistics improvement (3.1%), transport (3.0%) and transport demand management (2.5%).

Local governments should manage the region’s transport demand, improve energy efficiency and increase the penetration of renewable energy (given that the feed-in tariffs will go live in December), he says. Stakeholders, too, have to understand the importance of preserving the environment to make Iskandar Malaysia the most liveable and sustainable metropolis in the region. “In order to realise a low carbon society, Iskandar Malaysia has to have new and bold policies to encourage and promote businesses and citizens to take these countermeasures,” Ho says.

Five flagship zones of Iskandar Malaysia Flagship

Key economic activities

Key players

Flagship A: Johor Bahru City

Financial services, commerce and retail, arts and culture, hospitality, urban tourism, plastic manufacturing, electrical & electronics, and food processing

Financial institutions: Citigroup, HSBC and Kuwait Finance House Manufacturers: YKK, Celestica, Lion Group, Sumitomo and Kerry’s Ingredients Developers: Danga Bay Holdings, Pelangi, Mah Sing and Crescendo

Flagship B: Nusajaya

Mixed property development, government administration and logistics. Hub for creative arts & entertainment, medical facilities, educational institutions, tourism, biotechnology and hi-tech manufacturing

UEM Land, Iskandar Investment Berhad and Mulpha International Bhd, SP Setia In 2007, the Middle Eastern Consortium (Mubadala, Kuwait Finance House and Millennium Development) and Iskandar Investment Berhad signed a MoU to develop a US$1.2 billion integrated international city, referred to as Medini

Flagship C: Western Gate Development

Port and marine services, warehousing, logistics, engineering, hi-tech manufacturing, food production, petrochemical industry, entreport trade, power generation

MMC Corp Bhd, via shareholdings in Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) and Tanjung Bin Power

Flagship D: Eastern Gate Development

Electrical and electronics (E&E), chemical, oleochemical, food and engineering-based industries, ports, logistics and warehousing. Has the largest concentration of palm oil refining industries and downstream activities in the world

Bahru Steel, Panasonic, Titan, Kiswire, Western Digital and IOI Loders

Flagship E: Senai-Skudai

Airport services, engineering, electrical & electronics, and education. Hub for agro & food processing, ICT and retail tourism

Senai International Airport, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Lee Rubber, Boustead, Genting Property, IOI Properties and Johor Corporation

Source: Iskandar Malaysia    •   

people

Future-proofing our planet

For author and visionary John Elkington, innovative sustainability is not about fiddling with bits and pieces of new technology, nor is it about doing good works or even carrying out corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, which unfortunately, is what too many CEOs think sustainability is all about. Elkington believes that unless we change the world’s economic system, the planet will not be able to sustain its growing human population, which has just surpassed 7 billion.

To him, technology and policy are not the barriers; capital is. Capital needs to be re-deployed and some parts of the economy must be destroyed (Elkington likes economist Joseph Schumpeter’s term “creative destruction”) in the pursuit of sustainable innovation. Genuine sustainability calls for initiatives that are broader, deeper and “almost insanely ambitious”, to quote the words used by Elkington himself to describe Unilever’s recent bold moves towards greater corporate sustainability.

The following are some of his thoughts on securing the future of businesses and the rest of the planet: Impermanence of green rankings Last week [in October] saw the launch of the “Newsweek Green Rankings 2011”. I have been on the judging panel and it’s exciting to see companies from Asia, for example Tata from India, flagged out in these rankings. I published a blog posting on the Newsweek site that coincided with these rankings, and the point I made is simple but very important: I think these sorts of rankings, even though they drive interest in big businesses in these sorts of issues and challenges, are misleading.

The next decade may see a profound economic shift. Many of the companies that are at the top of these     •  

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John Elkington, 62, the man who in the 90s coined the triple bottom line of “people, planet and profit”, is now pushing the idea that systemic change is essential for the survival of the human race. Ann Teoh heard him speak at the Singapore International Foundation’s Ideas for a Better World Forum entitled “Zeronauts – A New Breed of Leaders”.

Policy is not the main issue here, although it is important. Technology, again, is not the main issue. The real problem is capital rankings may not even exist in ten years. They may go quiet, or in some cases, even go bankrupt. We need to keep these thoughts at the back of our mind.

Urgent challenges A survey was done among experts on corporate social responsibility and sustainability fields around the world, and the question was “What do you see as the most urgent challenges?”

People would have imagined climate change would come out top, but well, water came tops!

But if you look at the deeper message there, there were 12 urgent priorities: clean water shortage, climate change, poverty, loss of biodiversity, food security, economic instability, undernutrition, corporate accountability, diseases (eg, malaria,

• Founding partner and executive chairman of Volans (a consultancy working on sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation) since 2008, and cofounder of SustainAbility • Recognised by The Evening Standard (London) as one of the “1000 Most Influential People” in 2008. The CSR International survey of the Top 100 CSR leaders voted him No 4 in 2009. In August 2001, he was named among the “100 Global SustainAbility Leaders for 2011” by ABC Carbon and the SustainAbility Showcase Asia, based on nominations and recommendations received from around the globe • Sits on 25 boards or advisory boards.

Also on the council of ambassadors for WWF • His latest book, The Zeronauts, will be released in March 2012

HIV/AIDS), air pollution, ocean acidification, and persistent bioaccumulative toxins. Once again, we are seeing evidence of a systemic challenge.

Need for intervention For some of these urgent issues, business can do a great deal, if given the right incentives and guidance.

But there are a bunch of things (lack of clean water, loss of biodiversity, poverty, economic instability, food security and under-nutrition) that are really problematic for individual companies or even for business, overall, to deal with. So this is a plea not just for business involvement but for investment institutions and governments to also have crucial roles in all these.

Sustainability not just about CSR In an Accenture study for the United Nations Global Compact, 766 CEOs were interviewed and 88% think they should drive [sustainability] like Walmart did, and integrate it through

supply chain. But to me, the real killer was when I saw that 81% of the CEOs around the world think they have already embedded sustainability in their businesses.

I really do not think that they are lying but I don’t think they are telling us the truth either, because what I think they have embedded often is CSR in its various forms, stakeholder engagement reporting, whatever. They may have achieved sustainability of sorts, but not sustainability as I would understand it.

From 768 g to 6 g per dollar This target is the working of environmental economist Tim Jackson but it is being used by the Carbon War Room [a non-profit project created by Sir Richard Branson to facilitate capital flow to entrepreneurial solutions to climate change]. Basically, for every dollar of GDP, we use or produce 768 g of carbon. [According to Jackson, the figure needs to go down to 6 g to avoid climate change.]

It is inconceivable, but it’s got to be done.

The Carbon War Room, in looking at all these, basically says policy is not the main issue here, although it is important. Technology, again, is not the main issue. The real problem is capital.

In his 1997 book Cannibals with Forks, John Elkington coined the phrase “triple bottom line” to describe a holistic, long-term accounting of business success that achieves sustainability by collectively addressing “economic prosperity, environmental quality and social justice”.

Four-minute mile of sustainability In the late 1940s and early 1950s, if you were a pilot and you were in a very fast plane, you’d suddenly slam into something in mid-air… over time [people] started to call it the sound barrier. They thought it was impenetrable but it turned out to be penetrable. Around about the

same time, you remember the fourminute mile. Again, it was felt to be physiologically impossible to run a mile in a faster time than four minutes, but within a year of Roger Bannister getting through, 16 people had gone through. So the problem was in our brains. I think that is where we are in sustainability.

Survey on Sustainability Leadership 2011 15

Unilever General Electric

12

Interface

12

Walmart

11

Marks & Spencer

8

Natura

5

Patagonia

5

Toyota

5

Novo Nordisk

4

Co-operative

3

Shell

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Cost of being sustainable In terms of the reputation or profiles of leading multinational corporations, it’s interesting to look at Unilever, which very recently made very bold announcements about their strategic targets in the sustainability space – for example, their target to increase, by 2020, their sustainable sources of [agricultural] raw materials from 10% to 100% [Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan]. That’s an immense challenge.

Some of you may know that the top management of Unilever were called in to see the government in Indonesia, and asked the question: “Are you serious about this sustainable palm oil? Are you really serious?

Because if you are serious, it’s going to cost you politically.” You start to see the political games being played out and Paul Polman, the CEO, is probably well-prepared for it, but many other companies may not be.

Within a year of Roger Bannister running a mile under 4 minutes, 16 people had gone through. So the problem was in our brains. I think that is where we are in sustainability

3

Coca-Cola

2

DuPoint

2

Ford

2

IBM

2

Ikea

2

Johnson & Johnson

2

Nestlé

2

Nike

2

Nokia

2

Philips

2

P&G

2

Rio Tinto

2

Siemens

2

Timberland

2

In March this year, SustainAbility and GlobeScan asked 559 sustainability experts from 66 countries via an online survey: “Some large companies are committed to sustainable development, seeing strategic advantage in pursuing policies and actions which go beyond the requirements of environmental and social legislation. What individual companies can you name that are leading in this area?”

Unilever – on the heels of launching their “Sustainable Living Plan” – is perceived as an outright leader in sustainability.

The survey respondents, 56% with more than 10 years experience working on sustainability issues, were drawn from the corporate, government, non-governmental and academic/research sectors.

Note: Figures in chart expressed as percentages

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people

Global energy in the 21st century Nobuo Tanaka, 61, who stepped down as executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in September after a four-year stint, took centre stage at the recent Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW). David Lee brings you the highlights of his off-the-cuff lecture on the global energy security situation.

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“The (climate change) negotiators in Durban should talk more seriously about adaptation, rather than mitigation.”

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Born out of the 1973 oil crisis that brought many countries to their knees, the Paris-based IEA keeps a constant finger on the pulse of world oil markets and other energy sectors, and has increasingly focused on the development of renewable energy sources. To ensure there is no repeat of the 1973 oil price crisis, every IEA member country has to maintain oil stock equivalent to at least 90 days of the previous year’s net imports, collectively referred to as a strategic stockpile to neutralise unusual price movements.

On June 23rd, for the third time in its history, the IEA announced a decision to release part of its oil stockpile to counter supply disruptions in Libya then. This had the preemptive effect of prices – which had then marched past the US$100 per barrel mark – dropping immediately.

In his lecture, Tanaka painted a background of a world where uncertain energy supply is a global concern, linked as it inextricably is to economic growth. And that uncertainty finds its origins in many different unexpected events. Recent ones are the March 11th Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, which has brought nuclear power supply to zero, forcing emergency changes in energy policy, and of course, the Arab Spring that is still being played out. The Eurozone’s debt crisis is another.

“All these uncertainties are interacting with each other, making it a huge challenge for all policy makers in the world. The IEA has been warning that US$100 oil price will certainly derail economic growth for all countries. And it seems to be the case that the global economy is slowing down. This year, if the US$100 price continues, it will be as bad as 2008 (when oil hit US$147 per barrel),” says Tanaka, adding that the problem is more serious for Asia’s emerging

Nobuo Tanaka: Painted a background of a world where uncertain energy supply is a global concern

“One country cannot enhance its energy security by risking somebody else’s.” economies. These are the other issues that he spoke about:

Impact of the strategic stockpile The impact of IEA’s strategic stockpile will decline through to 2035. If China, India and ASEAN countries start a strategic stockpile of 90 days, their impact will grow and grow. To maintain the impact that IEA has now, we need to work with these emerging economies. There are several options for growing Asia. Join the IEA as full members, or you can build a new IEA for Asia. But these countries in Asia

must be serious about oil security for the future, either way.

The Golden Age of Gas China, India and ASEAN countries are using more gas because it is less carbon intense. There is also development in non-conventional gas, the so-called shale gas, coal bed methane, in North America, China and Australia. Thanks to this huge possible future supply, we may see a different world. A different geopolitics of gas.

This is very good for energy security.

Because the world will use more gas, that means more CO2. Unfortunately, the Golden Age of Gas is good for producers but not for sustainability.

What happened in Fukushima will have an impact on gas supply as Japan will have to look for energy sources to compensate for the huge drop in

Nuclear option after Fukushima To understand Japanese politics is difficult. The situation on nuclear is chaotic. There is so much concern about safety among the public. It is very difficult to predict when the government will decide on restarting the use of nuclear power. If it does not do so, do we just waste 3 trillion yen (more than US$39 billion) to let the nuclear power plants idle? This is irrational. Rationally and logically speaking, it should start very quickly early next year.

I talked with many ministers of the IEA last week. What do you want Japan to do? Almost nobody said stop nuclear. They say Japan should continue nuclear but with safer technology and share lessons from Fukushima.

Sustainability constraints The IEA was aiming for 50% reduction of CO2 by 2050. What are the necessary technologies (to achieve that)? Efficiency, renewables, nuclear, carbon capture and storage (CCS). After Fukushima, nuclear is not that useable, which is as IEA had expected. So we can say, very bluntly, that the 2050 scenario is not possible. Last year, when I came here, I said it is very difficult. This year, we can say it is almost impossible.

The [climate change] negotiators in Durban, South Africa, should talk more

8,000

M toe

7,000 6,000 5,000

7.6 bil toe

Average annual growth rate 1980–2009

2009–2035

Asia

4.6%

2.6%

North America

0.7%

0.4%

4,000

Asia

3.9 bil toe North America

3,000 2,000 1,000

2035

2030

2020

2009

2000

1990

0 1980

Renewable energy Renewables is a very important solution, especially in emerging economies like China and India. Towards 2035, China will increase by six times its power generation from renewables, India four times more. But renewable energy is very costly although technological advancement has led to declining costs. But you also have to design carefully the electricity market.

It is not only technology; without smart grid or good markets, you cannot truly utilise the potential. Japan has one of the poorest potentials in terms of using renewables because its grid system is not interconnected. The system is very weak and, unfortunately, we have recommended for years to strengthen this grid system but Japan learnt a very painful lesson on March 11th.

Primary energy demand: North America and Asia

1971

supply from nuclear plants. The gas market will be tighter as a result.

• By 2035, primary energy demand of Asia will double from the current level, reflecting high economic growth; 3.9 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) (2009) – 7.6 billion toe (2035) • Non-OECD will represent 90% of incremental growth of global energy demand toward 2035

“The Golden Age of Gas is good for the producer, but not for sustainability.” seriously about adaptation, rather than mitigation.

How Asia should act Asia, as a growing centre for energy demand, should prepare for the future.

We need to start discussing what the future is for Asia. Our Japanese experience shows that we have to collectively think of the future of energy security, just as the Europeans do. Green growth paradigm, yes; every option should be maintained – efficiency, renewable, nuclear, electric vehicles, smart grid, everything. We need all these options open. We need all the technologies. Gas is a very important bridging source for now.

So, invest in shale gas, methane, in any place in the world, and the infrastructure to supply them.

Coal is important, but it locks in CO2 emissions. So, CCS or more efficient coal power plants are important prerequisities to use coal in future.

Comprehensive energy security Oil is getting less and less important in total energy supply. Twentieth century security is oil price security but the 21st century’s would be the stable supply of electricity using different

sources – coal, oil, gas, renewables, nuclear, hydro and tapping new technologies like the smart grid.

An IEA minister in Paris last week decided to go much further in [discussing the] comprehensive energy security concept. Some Asian countries were invited to discuss it. As IEA executive director, I talked with producer countries, ministers of oil and the secretary-general for OPEC [Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries] and I also talked to Chinese leaders and a Russian oil minister about how we have to work together, we have to have good dialogue, because IEA has learnt a lesson from its creation that one country cannot enhance its energy security by risking somebody else’s. And that is what I want to share with you as former executive director of IEA.

Real challenge for FiT Many mistakes were made by some countries. If the level of feed-in tariff (FiT) is too high, the bubble starts to form. When investments build up to a high level [too high], the bubble will always burst. The challenge is to make the FiT predictable and flexible at the same time. This is a real challenge. But in general, there is a strong undercurrent of moving towards renewables. Bloomberg’s new energy finance’s investment numbers show it is not declining but the pace has slowed down.    •   

people

Balancing the energy equation While there is a lot of hype over Malaysia’s feed-in tariff (FiT), safety is also very important. What is the role of the Energy Commission?

While the Sustainable Energy Development Authority of Malaysia (SEDA Malaysia) administers the FiT scheme, our role is to ensure power generators meet all electrical safety requirements.

[This] is done through licensing and registration. Except for photovoltaic (PV) generating systems producing not more than 72 kWp for three-phase installations and 24 kWp for single phase installations, the others have to apply for a licence from the Energy Commission that is valid for 21 years. However, installations of more than 5 kW need to be registered with us.

Renewable energy (RE) project developers must engage registered electrical contractors for RE installations.

The operation of electrical installations must also be under the control of engineers, supervisors or chargemen, depending on installation size.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has announced that it will have to spend up to RM3 billion to generate electricity because of a gas crunch in the power sector. This sort of problem will continue as long as TNB depends on Petronas for subsidised gas. Your views?

In Malaysia, there is an overdependence on natural gas for power generation. Gas is still the cheapest source of fuel, compared to petrol, distillate (diesel), fuel oil and coal. Where the industry once used diesel, they started converting to gas in the 90s. Over the years, driven by the heavily subsidised and stable gas price, there has been such an increase in gas consumption that the supply is now unable to meet the demand, and our supply infrastructures have been stretched to the limit.

This has resulted in frequent breakdowns and major planned shutdowns of offshore gas production facilities for repair and maintenance. The fire at Bekok C Platform operated by     •  

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Chief executive officer of Malaysia’s Energy Commission Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Hasan speaks to our writer, Stephen Ng, on a number of issues, from safety aspects involving installations to the grid to energy efficiency and nuclear power plants.

The lighter side of Ahmad Fauzi • Married to Zaweiyah Haron. They have three children • Likes books on business, management, leadership and self-development. Keeps himself updated about industry by reading technical books, articles and magazines, including Green Purchasing Asia • Jogs regularly • In his student days, his favourite genre was Progressive rock. He used to play the guitar. These days, his favourite songs are the Energy Commission’s corporate and energy awareness songs.

Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, 200 km off Terengganu, in December 2010, and breakdowns of coal-fired power plants further compounded the problem in the power sector.

When there is a gas supply shortfall, power producers have to use distillates to run their gas turbines and maximise the operation of coal-fired power plants. This is an expensive way of generating power and it accelerates the degradation of the plants. We have been working with Petronas, TNB, independent power producers and the major oil producers to manage this situation to ensure uninterrupted supply of gas and electricity.

What is the government doing to solve the shortfall in the supply of natural gas?

The latest initiatives undertaken by the government through Petronas include: • Development of marginal fields.

Petronas is developing in phases marginal offshore fields under a new risk service contract (RSC) petroleum arrangement. Recently, Petronas awarded a RSC for the Berantai field (offshore Peninsular Malaysia) to the Petrofac-Kencana-Sapura partnership, which is planned to come onstream early next year.

• Increasing imported gas. Petronas has been negotiating with Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam to bring in more piped gas through existing transborder pipelines. By August 2012, the first LNG regasification terminal in Malacca will be commissioned to import gas. This will be an open access system that allows not only Petronas but also other interested industry players to import gas into the Peninsula.

Another LNG regasification terminal in Johor will be commissioned in 2016. However, we must be willing to pay market price for this imported gas.

The government wants to withdraw subsidies for fuel completely in four years. Is this do-able?

We have to face reality. We have been importing oil and gas to replace supply from depleted fields, and to meet burgeoning local demand. Supply infrastructure and operation costs have also been rising. Subsidies will ultimately result in the gas supply industry becoming unsustainable since they discourage development of new energy resources and tend to encourage irresponsible consumption.

Subsidies also benefit the rich.

Under the government’s plan, gas and electricity subsidies will be withdrawn by 2016. We think it is do-able. It will be a gradual process.

The government will look at fuel price

every six months, and revise the prices based on market conditions.

Besides the FiT, what other measures are undertaken by the government to promote renewables?

Malaysia has great potential for renewables. Solar PV has the potential to generate as much as 6,500 MW, followed by biomass and biogas from palm oil mill waste (1,300 MW). Investors should tap into these potentials with the FiT.

Between 2006 and 2010, we funded the ‘SURIA 1000’ programme under the Malaysia Building Integrated Photovoltaic (MBIPV) Project and 1.2 MW of solar electrical energy was generated.

Whether the government will introduce new initiatives to reduce the cost of installing solar PV, I can’t say, but I am optimistic many investors are queuing up to enter the renewable energy sector because of the FiT scheme.

The FiT has been proven to work in a

number of countries. The FiT scheme, assures access to the grid for the successful bidder. A simplified Renewable Energy Power Purchase Agreement has also been introduced to facilitate implementation.

We have also simplified the licencing process for renewable energy power plants. To avoid delays, provisional licences will be issued in under a month. We have also prepared the licencing guidelines.

Since 2001, the government has

Cutting back to get ahead

Initiatives to improve energy efficiency We’re building the capacity of industry players through workshops and seminars.

We’ve also been working with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) on fiscal incentives for energy efficiency projects such as cogeneration and high efficiency motor programmes.

We’ve also implemented the energy efficiency labelling scheme for household appliances. Under the Sustainability Achieved Via Energy Efficiency (SAVE) programme, buyers of electrical appliances with a five-star rating in energy efficiency are given rebates of up to RM200.

Last year, with our advice, the government announced the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs starting from 2011 to 2013. Next year, we plan to introduce Minimum Energy Performance Standards regulations and collaborate with SIRIM (Malaysia’s national organisation for industry standards and quality) to test and allow only appliances that meet the minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) to be imported into or manufactured in the country.

Identifying big users, building new expertise After the Efficient Management of Electrical Energy Regulations 2008 came into force in December 2008, we embarked on a nationwide awareness programme. Then we started to monitor consumers, who consume 3,000,000 kWh or more over six consecutive months.

These include energy guzzlers in the iron, steel, electronics, petrochemical

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Increasing energy efficiency and minimising wastage is an essential – if somewhat less glamorous – part of sustainable energy management. Energy Commision CEO Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Hasan elaborates on the commission’s current efforts in this area:

Energy guzzlers like steel mills have to work harder on improving their energy efficiency

and cement industries and those in the commercial and government sectors.

There are 1,467 companies and agencies on our list.

At the same time, we developed competency requirements and conducted tests for registered energy managers.

Today, there are 166 registered energy managers. Energy guzzlers have to engage the services of registered energy managers who then regularly report to us.

Big picture: Raising system efficiency What is also important is improving the efficiency of the entire power system. Hence, we have embarked on a competitive bidding exercise for new capacity plant-ups. A 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) concession with competitive rates was recently awarded to Transpool Sdn Bhd to build and operate a 1,000 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant. The supercritical technology is 3% more efficient than conventional plants, and hence, requires less fuel.

Future new generation capacity plant-ups will be based on the competitive bidding approach. Recently, we have worked with utilities to further reduce non-technical losses, which is about 2 to 2.5% of electricity sales.

Slow to change: Lumbering guzzlers We have yet to see significant improvement. In fact, it has been more or less flat over the last decade, at about 0.18 GWh/RM million GDP at 2000 prices.

Two years is too short to assess the impact of the efficient electrical energy management regulations. But generally, efforts by our energy professionals to get companies to invest in energy efficiency have not been very successful. I suppose this can be attributed to our country’s relatively low energy prices, such that there is no urgency to improve energy efficiencies.

This is unfortunate since studies have shown that business owners can save about 5% of their energy consumption through prudent practices alone.

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been giving fiscal incentives through the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) under the Small Renewable Energy Programme. There are tax breaks such as the pioneer status or investment tax allowance for companies that implement renewable energy projects. In 2010, loan interest subsidy and loan guarantees were introduced under the Green Technology Financing Scheme (GTFS).

To support RE initiatives, institutions such as SEDA, GreenTech Corporation and various R&D centres at universities were set up.

Earlier, the government was bullish on nuclear energy. But with the Fukushima disaster, has the nuclear project been shelved?

There are no decisions yet on the nuclear project. I understand the government, through agencies such as Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation

“We hope to reward utilities for reducing costs and improving services. Savings will be shared between the utilities and consumers.”

(MNPC) and Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), is still studying the nuclear option considering the instability of the nuclear plant in Japan following the earthquake. These studies include a comprehensive evaluation of the country’s preparedness and public acceptance. A decision will have to be made within two to three years.

What else can the industry expect in the near future?

The Energy Commission is implementing mechanisms to motivate utilities to be more efficient and

INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION WEEK (ICW) 2012

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effective in their supply. One is the Incentive-based Tariff Regulation, which we hope to implement by 2013 for piped gas and 2015 for electricity utilities. We hope to reward utilities for reducing costs and improving services. Base tariffs and performance targets will be set every three or five years and savings will be shared between the utilities and consumers.

We have prepared the regulatory implementation guidelines.

Next year, we will gradually enforce mandatory performance standards for electricity supply services in the Peninsula. Rebates will be given to affected consumers on a claimable basis if the utility performs below expectations.

Our national utility has recently launched three smart grid pilot projects in the Peninsula to enable more RE to be injected into the grid, and to improve energy efficiency.

Briomedia Green Sdn Bhd (924679-H) 3-3 Jalan Solaris 2, Solaris Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia • Tel: +603 6203 7681 (Malaysia) • Tel: +65 9068 0184 (Singapore) • Fax: +603 6211 2681 • Email: editor@greenpurchasingasia.com • Marketing & sales Yong Wang Ching (Malaysia) +6012 205 7928, Lim Wan Tsau (Singapore) +65 9068 0184 • Subscription & circulation Yap Eng Jin

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editorial

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Sustainability out of the box Global green packaging industry expected to double revenues in five years

Dr Prasad Modak is chairman of the Green Purchasing Network of India. His email is prasad. modak@emcentre.com

Underpackaging can cause wastage and harm the environment too

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and nearly double in revenue from US$88 billion to US$170 billion within the same period.

As more regulations are implemented in line with extended producer responsibility (EPR) principles, packaging has become a key cost consideration. To reduce cost, sustainable packaging minimises materials used (eg, reduced layers of packaging) while maximising recycled content, recyclability and recovery value, and promotes reuse of packaging. Following these principles of sustainability, therefore, enhances profitability and establishes one’s brand as being responsible.

Dell’s Streak tablet, Venue smartphones and many laptop models are among the products that now ship in the company’s environmentally-preferable bamboo packaging.

Bamboo used by Dell is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to ensure responsible sourcing

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When we evaluate the greenness of a product, the type and extent of packaging should also be part of the assessment. While a product could be green, its packaging may not. Packaging accounts for nearly 10% of the environmental impact of anything bought. In estimating the environmental impact of the packaging, we assess the material (ie, embodied intensity), its biodegradability and recyclability, and the label and method of printing (ink used).

Consideration of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has also influenced packaging design and logistics. The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) in the United States has committed to eliminating close to 2 billion kilograms of packaging waste nationwide by 2020. If GMA hits this target, the GHG emissions reduction will be equivalent to removing 815,000 cars from the road or to cutting electricity supply to 363,000 homes for one year! Environmentally sensitive packaging on a national scale can thus help in combating climate change.

Today, increased consumer demand has compelled many companies to make packaging as sustainable as possible. According to Indian daily The Hindu, a recent Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) study on the domestic green packaging industry reported that “rising environmental concerns about carbon emissions, dearth of natural resources, together with increased health awareness and waste reduction targets” are key drivers of green packaging in India.

The global packaging industry is estimated to be worth US$429 billion. According to a study by Pike Research, sustainable packaging will grow to 32% of the total world market by 2014, up from just 21% in 2009,

It is not surprising, therefore, to see growing commitments to, and innovations in, eco-friendly packaging.

EnviroPAK in North America, for example, uses complex recycled paper pulp for packing electronic goods.

The company claims that opting for paper pulp in the place of expanded polystyrene can save up to 70% in packing and shipping costs.

Sustainable packaging encourages innovation. While the use of recycled paper in packaging is a common option, Dell has pioneered the use of

Every manufacturer has to think “out of the box” and be practical – balancing materials and processes to reduce cost and environmental impact while ensuring product security bamboo to protect certain devices and two-thirds of Dell’s portable devices, are expected to ship in bamboo by the end of 2011. Not only is bamboo locally available, reducing costs of transportation, but it also grows quickly and is strong and durable. Plus, bamboo packaging is biodegradable and can be composted after use.

In the excitement to reduce packaging, however, it must be remembered that “underpackaging” is also not desirable. A recent report by the Global Packaging Project states that the environmental risks of underpackaging can be greater than excessive packaging. By reducing packaging excessively, products get damaged in transit, requiring re-manufacturing and redistribution in order to replace the original items. There are costs and liabilities, too, for disposing of damaged or rejected products. A careful balance is needed so as not to go overboard with “sustainability” efforts that end up backfiring.

In designing sustainable packaging, therefore, every manufacturer literally has to think “out of the box” and yet be practical – cleverly balancing materials and processes to reduce cost and environmental impact while ensuring product security.

As discerning consumers, we must judge a product in its totality – not just how green it is but also how smart and sustainable is the packaging around it. Packaging counts!

editorial

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Hard-nosed tactics for soft selling Ideas on how to draw attention to your services, without the hard sell

Last month, we discussed why hypey, in-your-face marketing doesn’t work for the green market, and looked at how to segment your marketing messages for different audiences. This month, let’s take it a step further, and look at one of the most powerful (and least expensive) of all marketing methods: providing helpful, useful, actionable information that leads your prospect to consider you not only the expert, but the company to go to, when they need what you do.

There are dozens of ways to do this. You will want to find the ones that are in tune with your audience’s preferences and tastes. A few examples: • Get in front of your best prospects as a speaker • Teach an ongoing course • Lead or be a featured guest on expert tele-seminars, webinars, and chats • Join some Internet communities in your field of interest, and participate helpfully, answering questions and giving advice (this single strategy did more to turn my own business from a tiny consulting practice serving my own local area to the successful international business it is today) • Prepare a series of white papers or special reports illuminating certain confusing aspects of your industry and help people make good decisions • Conduct a survey and release the results to major and trade media with some juicy summing-up quotes • Become a published author – publishing a book makes you an automatic expert, impresses a whole lot of people, and is much easier than it used to be • Get quoted in major media – not as hard as you may think – and then send the clips or links to your prospects • Create and distribute your own ezine or printed newsletter (e-zine is greener and cheaper, but in some

Shel Horowitz is the primary author of Guerilla Marketing Goes Green.

He can be reached at shel@ greenandprofitable.com

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Relationship-building is the key to achieving long-term trust and goals

Share great articles, podcasts, studies, and other resources in your field on social media such as Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Facebook

situations, print may be more effective) – and then later repurpose these articles by placing them on article banks such as ezinearticles.com or ideamarketers.com (if you have enough of these articles, and they categorise neatly, you can even turn them into a book later) • Write your own blog and post to it at least twice a week (more is better) • Be a guest blogger or columnist for other people’s publications, including high-status expert sites like Examiner.com, Ask.com, and Triple Pundit.com • Share great articles, podcasts, studies, and other resources in your field on social media such as Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Facebook (two tips: First, no more than 10 to 20% of these resources should point to your own stuff – and second, software tools can automate some of this, for example automatically feeding your blog into your Facebook business page and LinkedIn profile) Since the green market really craves information, as we discussed last month, you are actually doing your prospects a service by providing access to the information they seek.

Provide the information, answer their questions, help them solve a problem

or meet a need – and do it all with a friendly and approachable tone. And then it probably won’t be long before your prospects start coming to you and saying things like, “I really enjoyed your article in Green Purchasing Asia.

Do you ever consult individually with retail stores? I’d like to hire you.”

While old-fashioned push marketing is intrusive and even offensive, nobody gets offended when you simply place pertinent, helpful, well-written information in front of your prospects: information that’s easy to access, easy to understand, and easy to implement.

What you are actually doing is creating a relationship and marketing based on that relationship. You build trust, confidence, and a sense that you can help with their problems or goals.

Instead of going for the quick hit and expecting people to take action on the basis of interrupting them, you become a presence over time, showing up pleasurably in their mailboxes and social networks, and at the green conferences and trade shows they attend.

Another advantage is that, unlike push marketers who have to pay to place their ads, you are reaching your prospects for free, and sometimes even getting paid to do your own marketing.    •   

editorial

Mammoth opportunities in megacities Megacities inspire us to dream big, and make us sense a larger purpose They are places where the demand for quality, price, style and social response unite

Dr Bruce Piasecki is president and founder of management consulting firm AHC Group (www.ahcgroup.com)

By Bruce Piasecki London is choking with automobiles and on-the-street drinkers. Athens alone holds half the population of the 6,000 Greek islands, and my translator into Greek talks of daily congestion that chokes. But in general, the great cities have embraced globalisation in a more intelligent way than the rest. They are going global and going greener at the same time.

I believe that the changes in this new century boil down to two related things: globalisation of more efficient goods and services, and our shared sustainability demands.

This is what William Throop, the provost of Green Mountain College, meant when he said “the global

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The great and lasting megacities like Athens, Paris, New York, London, Sidney and Calgary have evolved through the relentless competition for higher and higher efficiencies of labour, resources, and capital embodied in global capitalism. I am not claiming these lead to paradise, or smarter citizens, or better policy for our near future. I am simply observing how efficiency comes about.

These cities are open to innovation, diversity, and to expert inputs. They compete on the edge, a place where the demand for quality, price, style, and social response unite.

They aspire to host the Olympics, as well as festivals both musical and

Megacities make all of us sense a larger purpose and our role in it. By their very nature, they inspire us to dream big and suggest that we can become more.

athletic. One can find them on the map of the great rock and roll tours. And most significantly, they are all teeming with the logic of advanced capitalism, from the multi-speed world of Asia (witness Singapore or the new coastal China cities) to the mature economies of Europe and North America. The competitive and the frugal thrive in these cities.

Of course, no city is perfect.

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benefit of frugality is that it moves our emphasis from financial capital to social capital.” He refined his claim by noting how frugality enters the city and commerce as “a rich means to buffer individualism by building and maintaining robust social networks.”

You see it in the jazz clubs in any megacity, in the schools, even in Starbucks. Humans, when surrounded by many other humans, become alert to social networks and social capital.

Economies based on this type of

exchange are very different from those in our past based on farming.

While many articulate critics of urbanisation lament this cultural development, I see it as the blue sky of hope and resourcefulness amid the clouds of sprawl. Of course, I, too, hate the waste inherent in ribbon developments. To note Throop again, “The real social dimension in competing on sustainability is that it gives the world a problem-solving disposition.” It is the kind of urban encounter that helps humans learn how to develop the capacity to draw things out of a group, and achieve the wisdom of teams.

You can question whether it is right, or all for the best, but you cannot really question why rising populations and the “corporate race to efficiency” fit together in megacities like a hand in a glove. Maybe it is better to think of them as active and engaged sisters.

I believe that this very important historical development boils down to a new way of understanding value – both the value in one’s firm and the value of one’s role as an economic instrument shaping a responsible society.

Megacities make all of us sense a larger purpose and our role in it. By their very nature, they inspire us to dream big and suggest that we can become more. They are the beehive in which we see our honey; they give us our direction and our sense of what we must protect. And the companies that survive in this challenging new millennium will need to find new and lasting ways to answer key social questions – about poverty, mobility, and energy diversity – now.

This is an edited excerpt from Bruce Piasecki’s new book Doing More with Less: The New Way to Wealth. The John Wiley and Sons book will be released on February 12th, 2012

editorial

Innovators “home in” on energy Green energy entrepreneurship picking up pace despite bleak economic climate Innovations are focusing on empowering consumers and businesses to go green

Elisa Wood is a long-time leading energy writer.

She can be reached at elisawood@gmail.com

By Elisa Wood I had a chance to speak to several optimists recently. They are green energy entrepreneurs, those who are innovating and growing companies as the rest of the world downsizes.

Problems seem to incite their inventiveness. Their inventions are diverse, but their activities are converging into some trends: • Silicon Valley and the energy industry are teaming up more and more. “You can’t throw a softball around here without hitting another solar company,” said Dan Shugar, Solaria’s chief operating officer, from Silicon Valley.

• Energy is producing its own crop of g Mark Zuckerbergs g and Steve rising

Jobs, who I suspect will be the next generation of business legends.

• Perhaps most significantly, a lot of today’s innovation focuses on bringing consumers and businesses greater efficiency and control over energy in their homes and businesses.

International stock photo agency Getty Images, which studies how energy companies speak to consumers through pictures, calls this last new trend “Homing in on Green.” It reports that of late there has been a 40% increase in images that showcase small-scale “green” such as people swapping old light bulbs for gy g energy-effi cient ones,, or neighbour-

hoods with solar-paneled roofs.

Are these images actually getting through to people? Do consumers have any sense of the magnitude of change occurring in energy and how it will affect their day-to-day lives? It seems not. For instance, among the 1,007 US adults who participated in a September 2011 poll sponsored by Emerson, 61% were unaware of government financial incentives they can receive if they integrate new energy technologies into their lives.

So, while big things are happening in energy, consumers byand-large don’t know it yet. But the changes are coming, and this time right to our doorsteps.

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Power play in ASEAN cooperation Leaders targetting cross-border cooperation on electricity and fuel Snapshots: Malaysia’s FiT, Singapore’s R&D and self-sufficiency in the Philippines

By Mallika Naguran

Philippines’ self-sufficiency The energy mix should keep every energy minister awake, not just today, but in the future, jokes Jose Rene Almendras, Secretary of Energy, Philippines.

The confederation of 7,107 islands still uses imported coal and oil to power its economy, and hopes to increase the import of natural gas, including liquid natural gas (LNG). Exploration for gas thus continues.

Self-sufficiency is the main driver for arriving at an optimal energy mix.

“We measure self-sufficiency from a

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high performance economy,” he adds.

Malaysia relies on gas (46%) and coal (40%) for its power, with the remaining needs provided by hydro and renewable sources. “So long as coal prices are attractive enough for us, we will continue to want to rely on coal as part of the energy mix,” he says.

As for gas, a 3.8 million tonnes per annum offshore gas plant is being built in Malacca to cater for the import of natural gas, and should be operational by August 2012.

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Ministers from three Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries – Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines came together as a panel to discuss energy trends and mix at the second Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) recently.

They gave their views on the major drivers that will shape sustainable energy mix, an ASEAN energy community, the government’s role in stimulating growth and adoption of renewal energy, and the prospects for nuclear power.

introduced the feed-in tariff (FiT), but the premium paid to [renewable energy] suppliers will be reduced over time through tariff degression to achieve parity with fossil fuel power feeds.

Idris hopes ASEAN will work “on areas for collaboration with regards to access, pricing, removing the barriers between the corridors and territories” and how countries can buy electricity from each other rather than just supply the fuel.

Almendras: Selfsufficiency is the main driver

Idris: Malaysia is focusing on the oil, gas and energy sector to raise national income

Iswaran: The question is whether we can facilitate greater cross-border flow of electrons

Malaysia’s FiT Malaysia envisions a 2020 where it would have more than doubled its gross national income to about RM1.7 trillion. To get there, it would need an investment of RM1.4 trillion. It would also create 3.3 million jobs. There are 12 areas of focus to help spur this growth and “the biggest of all is oil, gas and energy”, says Datuk Seri Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. “If we don’t place emphasis on that, it will hamper our growth as a

At the same time, Malaysia encourages the development of renewable energy sources such as hydropower in Sarawak. “The Bakun (dam) project is going on-stream and the expansion of it will cause it to grow,” he says.

Malaysia is the world’s third largest producer of solar but, says Idris: “we don’t use the stuff, we export them. The conditions were not right for people to use them.”

To get around that, Malaysia has

total primary energy mix; it’s about 57.5%, of which 46.3% is green, and renewables are 38.9%.”

Almendras says the figures for power generation look even better: 66.8% is “self-sufficient” as well as “green” as a result of a push towards clean and renewable sources. Building upon its status as having the world’s second largest geothermal grid, the Philippines is ramping up geothermal and hydro developments in localised zones.

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Singapore a net importer In view of a substantial increase in energy demand forecast for the next decade, S Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, sees Singapore becoming a net importer of energy. This is “to get the best possible energy supplies that are reliable and competitively priced to meet domestic needs”.

Carbon pricing will have to be considered in view of climate change considerations, even without an international agreement on carbon trading. “In the lead-up to a global regime, even as different countries consider possible scenarios, we have to now consider this in our energy mix from the defence point of view, how we can factor that in our climate change considerations,” he says.

Apart from energy efficiency and R&D in solar leading to greater usability in the region, Iswaran wants to see electricity trading take off.

“The question is whether we can facilitate greater cross-border flow of electrons as opposed to gas molecules or other forms of fuel,” adding that infrastructure linkages are needed, along with regulatory framework and market pricing.

ASEAN connectivity ASEAN energy interconnectivity is a prospect. Iswaran sees the sub-regional links of power supply (for instance Laos supplying fuel to Thailand and Cambodia, and fuel supply between Malaysia and Singapore) to be stitched up into a bigger ASEAN power grid.

But to get there, leadership is important, stresses Idris. ASEAN leaders have to agree on forging an

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Philippines energy consumption figures are rather telling of the energy mix: a reduction was seen in the use of coal (-7.56%) and oil (-8.4%) from 2010 to 2011. An increase in the uptake of natural gas (+10.14%), geothermal (+18.45%), hydro (+16.52%), wind (+20.79%) and biomass (+340.74%) was seen instead.

Another huge component in the Philippines is energy efficiency, and a number of initiatives are in place to drive efficient use of energy resources.

The panel of ministers taking questions from the floor at the Singapore Energy Summit

ASEAN energy community, going beyond national issues. He says: “We have to look at today as well as the future, look at connectivity and infrastructure, so that we can look at the electrons and not just the molecules.”

Iswaran adds that while governments can conceive regional connectivity, the private sector has to execute it. Therefore, it is important for private companies to be given clear parameters for long-term investment and scale opportunities.

Within the broad picture of an ASEAN-wide network, sub-groups have to create the building blocks of economic logic. “It could be daunting to think of ASEAN (grid) as a whole, but when we think of it as connection between geographically contiguous ASEAN member states, to meet each others’ needs, then the logic becomes more apparent and then we can develop from there,” he says.

Government’s role The Malaysian government takes the role of an arbiter when it comes to driving the uptake of renewable energy. With the depletion of indigenous energy sources, the government is looking at a sustainable energy mix. The right conditions for alternative sources depend on cost, supply reliability, environmental and safety issues. In view of that, the premium paid for renewable energy

via the FiT, coupled with built-in degression, will allow alternative energy to reach grid parity. Leaving it to market forces will not enable the uptake of renewable energy, says Idris.

The Philippines has both FiT and Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) mechanisms which are unique, due to its varied energy mix. FiT is used particularly to encourage the development of hydro in small islands with creeks, and biomass with foodstock and residual products is used in agricultural areas.

Singapore, instead of subsidising the cost of alternative energies, gets users to pay market prices for its current energy supply. It has also chosen the path of going upstream in R&D, looking at enhancing the efficiency of solar cells. “These give us a certain momentum in the effort of bringing some of these alternative energy sources into the realm of economic realities so that they can be serious contenders in the energy mix,” he says.

Nuclear ahead Iswaran and Idris have not ruled out nuclear power in the decades ahead, but both ministers stress that safety is a major consideration. “One area where ASEAN can cooperate on nuclear is safety standards,” says Iswaran.

Singapore has started a pre-feasibility study on nuclear to understand the limits, trends and implications for capability development.    •   

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Clearing the air over carbon bottomlines Carbon impact reporting often linked with transparency and good risk management Energy-intensive industries are low-hanging fruits for carbon mitigation gains

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By Tan Su-Yin

Carbon emissions: “Much of the data required is often being captured or available in the corporate’s costing system either as part of the overall breakdown of process cost or product cost”

“You cannot manage what you don’t measure” goes the old management adage. In an era where sustainability is becoming mainstream, businesses are going beyond quantifying success through financial metrics and increasingly compelled to measure their impact on the environment.

One of the ways to do this is to measure a company’s carbon emissions or greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. An organisation’s “carbon footprint” or GHG refers to the amount of carbon and other GHG emissions it generates directly and indirectly in its activities, including use of electricity, fuels, materials and services. Working out the footprint involves defining the methodology, specifying the scope, obtaining data and then calculating the footprint.

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“Carbon emissions are also a measure of energy usage, and since energy usage is a critical cost for any business, improving (ie, reducing) the level of energy used implies that the particular business process is more cost-effective, which in turn would translate to improved competitiveness for that product or service,” says K Sadashiv, ASEAN leader of climate change and sustainability services at Ernst & Young Advisory Services.

“Carbon emissions are a measure of the pollution created by the business. Regulators and, increasingly, customers, do not support industries that cause higher pollution. Measuring the level of carbon emissions therefore provides a business with the knowledge to simultaneously achieve cost reduction as well as reduced pollution.”

This, in turn, contributes to a

more positive public image in terms of corporate social responsibility and also to more active management of risks as far as climate change is concerned.

Investors are increasingly demanding both of management.

“Investors and financial institutions may consider a company’s environment performance when making investment decisions or when authorising debt facilities. They increasingly link transparent reporting to an engaged and responsible management team and reduced risks,” says Chi Mun Woo, director of Climate Change & Sustainability Services at KPMG. The 2011 edition of the annual Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Global 500 found a strong correlation between higher financial returns and good carbon disclosure and good carbon management.

“Many international investors have signed on to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, which requires them to take environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues into account when making investment decisions,” adds Woo.

Worth the cost?

Despite the advantages, many companies are reluctant to take on the extra costs that inevitably come with carbon measurement.

“What is important to note is that much of the data required is often already being captured or available in the corporate’s costing system either as part of the overall breakdown of process cost or product cost,” says Sadashiv. “It is just not being mined for the specific purpose of footprint calculations.”

“In the initial phase, there would indeed be an incremental cost, and a small additional cost every year,” he says. “The initial cost needs to be viewed as a cost to be amortised while the annual running costs would be marginal. In fact, after the footprint is determined, the next step is to identify carbon mitigation opportunities. Often, the long-term savings more than offset the costs of the measurement effort and the short paybacks can be quite surprising.”

The case of carbon emissions measurement is more compelling for

some companies than for others. As with any business undertaking, a costbenefit analysis pays off.

“The more energy-intensive industries are the natural initial targets for improvement and typically this includes energy utilities, oil and gas, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, foundries, cement, and pulp and paper,” says Sadashiv. “The main impetus within Asia lies amongst the larger companies who would sooner rather than later be expected by the respective governments to set the trend in pollution control, emissions measurement and, subsequently, reporting.”

Rashyid Anwarudin, associate director of PwC Advisory Services Sdn Bhd, notes that in recent years, Asian countries have announced voluntary carbon emissions reduction targets. “In the case of Malaysia, the Prime Minister announced, at COP15

in Copenhagen 2009, a conditional voluntary target to reduce emissions intensity by up to 40% by 2020 compared to 2005 levels. Locally, we’re seeing the more progressive companies measuring their carbon emissions to (among other reasons) support the country’s and industries’ carbon reduction goals.”

Pressure from multinationals on their suppliers is another driver.

According to a survey released in 2010 by the Carbon Disclosure Project, the number of corporations pushing greenhouse gas emissions reporting and reduction strategies onto their suppliers is quickly growing and will likely triple in the next five years.

Among project members, 89% say they have plans to require suppliers to calculate their carbon footprints while 56% say they are even prepared to go so far as dropping non-compliant companies from their list of suppliers

in the future. Companies such as Dell, Walmart and Johnson Controls are already including carbon criteria in general supplier evaluation reports or score cards.

“Asian suppliers of products and services to multinational corporations (MNCs) are increasingly being expected to comply with the requirements that are being set by their MNC customers, and this trend can only be expected to strengthen in the near future,” says Sadashiv.

Rashyid adds that as more multinationals incorporate carbon performance in their supplier selection criteria, more companies in Malaysia will be seeking assistance to measure their carbon emissions and gain relevant certifications.

In the next issue: How accurate a measurement of its footprint can a business expect?

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Biomassive potential in China High density of biomass power plants in straw-rich regions Conflicting resource use leads to inconsistent policies and fierce competition

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Global development trend Since the 1990s, many developed and developing countries, with the US, EU countries and Brazil leading the way, have developed and implemented bio-fuel programmes supported by a mix of direct subsidies and tax credits, to promote the agricultural economy, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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China aims to boost its installed biomass power capacity to 13 GW by 2015, representing a rise of 160% compared to the installed capacity as of 2010, according to the to-bereleased Renewable Energy Plan for 2011–2015. This means that the country will need to add 500 to 700 biomass power plants by 2015.

Biomass power generation has gained significant traction in the last five years as major Chinese power groups such as State Grid and Guangdong Yudean Group aggressively sought opportunities to develop biomass projects throughout the country.

The biomass power plant developed by China Everbright International Ltd in Dangshan, Anhui province recently started operation, demonstrating the potential of strawbased biomass in power generation.

The plant can process 300,000 tonnes of biomass, providing some 200 million kWh of electricity and generating an extra 70 million yuan (about US$11 million) of revenue for local farmers each year.

The sector is set to grow rapidly as more companies jump onto the biomass bandwagon, driven by the roll-out of supporting policies and technical breakthroughs, according to an industry insider.

China has a biomass energy reserve equivalent to 500 million tonnes of standard coal, statistics show. Sources of biomass include mainly straw, algae, methane and fallen timber, as well as guano and domestic animal manure. These widely-distributed resources can be used sustainably due to their huge potential for development and their minimal impact on the environment, says Zhou Fengqi, a senior researcher at the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission.

However, limited access to resources for development has created

recycling and gasification in addition to biomass power generation, making it difficult for local governments to maintain a consistent and unified straw utilisation policy.

Easy approvals of biomass projects have led to an overcrowding of biomass power plants in strawrich regions

a bottleneck for the development of biomass power generation, in spite of its many advantages such as low installation costs and stable output.

Biomass power plants are mostly located in rural areas where road and transport conditions are poor, translating to higher material transport costs. Investment in the sector remains spotty.

In order to lure investment and create new jobs, China’s provincial governments, who are responsible for the review of biomass power plants, have given the green light to almost every project submission leading to a high density of biomass power plants in straw-rich regions and fierce competition for resources.

China is also promoting other approaches to straw utilisation such as

Biofuel production Given the growing population in China, the potential for developing biofuel based on edible agricultural products is limited. As a result, China started research on biofuel production using sweet sorghum and the deciduous Jatropha curcas as raw materials as early as the 1990s, experimenting with and developing larger scale projects using such crops to produce ethanol fuel and biodiesel oil.

Accelerating industrial transformation is essential for the mass production of biomass fuels in China. The country plans to focus on a defined set of strategic tasks: • Shift from edible agricultural products to non-food crops to increase the availability of raw materials and avoid competing with the consumers of the country’s food supply • Optimise product mix and improve economic benefits by developing related technologies and expanding the industry chain • Adjust the industry’s structure for higher efficiency by shifting the focus to growing plants specifically for energy use and to the production of raw materials, while encouraging collaboration among industry players • Ensure sustainable development by integrating agricultural, industrial and environmental systems • Put in place comprehensive regulatory and incentive policies, and establish a flexible and effective market mechanism in order to promote the healthy development of the sector. – Nanjing Shanglong Communications

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Reaching worldwide via cleantech alliances Singapore Business Federation signs three agreements with international players Cleantech clusters to meet in 2012 at first International Cleantech Network conference

By Bhavani Prakash

hagen, which is recognised globally as Europe’s most energy-efficient city, has made significant strides in decoupling its GDP from gross energy consumption and carbon emissions over the last 40 years.

Copenhagen Capacity works closely with the mayor’s office, and

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Singapore’s apex business chamber Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has inked three agreements with three international business players to pave the way for Singapore businesses to access clean technology, financing expertise, markets and global networks for green growth in both Europe and the Asia Pacific.

The separate agreements with Copenhagen Capacity, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) were signed at the Asia Pacific Sustainability Forum on October 17th. The forum was part of Global Entrepolis @ Singapore (GES) Business Leaders Summit 2011.

Singapore’s Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office, S Iswaran, who witnessed the signing of the three agreements, said sustainability is both a megatrend and an emerging market driver for value creation and profit.

Iswaran, who is also second minister for Home Affairs and Trade & Industry, lauded SBF’s efforts to forge strategic alliances with knowledge and technology partners to make Singapore businesses more aware about local and global green issues and their challenges, as well as growth opportunities.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between SBF and Copenhagen Capacity, the Danish capital’s official investment agency whose mission is to attract and maintain foreign companies. This will assist Singaporean businesses and students in setting up networking and study trips, which would initially focus on integrating of renewable energy into smart grids, water efficiency and transport.

Mariana Lubanski, the business development director of Copenhagen Capacity shared the city’s vision to become carbon neutral by 2025. Copen-

the Singapore Sustainability Alliance (SSA) was formed as a broad network of government agencies, business communities and research institutions that is plugged into the International Cleantech Network (ICN) and Global Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA), providing opportunities for venture capital investing.

An MoU was also signed between SBF and SMBC, one of Japan’s leading banking groups, providing opportunities for engagement between Singaporean and Japanese companies.

As Ho Meng Kit, SBF’s chief executive officer, pointed out: “Through SMBC’s financial network, we will be working to promote the growth of this sector by forging alliances, fast-tracking

MoU between Copenhagen Capacity on behalf of Copenhagen Cleantech Cluster and Singapore Business Federation on behalf of Singapore Sustainability Alliance

plays a guiding role in the development of sustainable technologies as cofounder of the International Cleantech Network, of which Singapore Sustainability Alliance is a member.

To put things in context, SBF established the Sustainable Development Business Group (SDBG) in 2009 to connect like-minded businesses to share best business practices, project financing and access to grants and incentives, and to bid for global business opportunities such as eco-city projects.

Following the success of SDBG,

commercialisation of sustainability solutions, and facilitating knowledge and technology sharing.”

Japanese companies will in turn gain through partnership with Singapore companies who can assist with knowledge of and access to local markets.

The third agreement was the Letter of Intent between SBF and WBCSD to establish a CEO-led Sustainable Development Platform in Singapore. WBCSD is a global coalition of 200 companies advocating    •   

for sustainable development and accounting for annual revenues of US$7 trillion. It covers 35 countries and a network of 60 national and regional business councils and partner organisations.

According to Constant van Aerschot, WBCSD’s advisor to Singapore, the Sustainable Development Platform (SDP) would be part of WBCSD’s regional network. SDP is expected to be launched mid next year. The SDP, comprising leading local companies and foreign subsidiaries, will provide Singapore businesses with

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access to international best practices, benchmark studies and regional and international project collaboration opportunities. Regional chapters will also allow member companies to opt for solutions that are relevant to their circumstances.

Cleantech clusters are expected to converge in Singapore next year with SBF hosting the inaugural ICN Conference and Expo at the GES Business Leaders Summit in 2012, providing another platform for Singapore businesses to access knowledge, technology and finance avenues.

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Road to Rio+20 littered with controversy Government leaders lag behind NGOs and businesses on sustainability agenda

The omens for Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development scheduled for next June, are not auspicious. Named after the historic 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the follow-up event has been dubbed “the largest environmental conference in a generation”. Instead of spelling hope, however, the gathering that ought to chart a new path towards healing a ravaged Earth is already dogged by controversy.

Although the organisers hope “to secure renewed political commitment to sustainable development” from governments at the conference, that spirit has proven to be frustratingly elusive at global environmental summits in recent years. In 2009, at the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen, the world watched in dismay as some 115 government leaders pussyfooted around their obligations to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are urgently needed to avoid catastrophic climate change.

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Summit must “un-environmentalise” sustainability to reach more than the converted

Secretary-general Sha Zukang: “Failure is not an option… we must use Rio+20 to guide us towards a sustainable world – it is the future we want.”

euphemistically as a “meaningful agreement”, was adopted. Reactions to the accord were as varied as they were colourful. US President Barack Obama, reflecting the tone of the biggest polluters, said: “We have come a long way but we have much further to go”. At the other corner, Bolivian president Evo Morales, expressing the mood of the less-developed countries, declared: “The meeting has failed. It’s unfortunate for the planet. The fault is with the lack of political will by a small group of countries led by the US.” By the time the current issue of

Asked about the challenges of spreading best practices in Asia, Victor Tay, chief operating officer of SBF replied at a press conference that the momentum towards sustainability is fast building up. The new platforms will help local companies plug into a larger global network of best practices, themes, know-how and research. The varied sizes of the companies means that there is a need for pragmatic solutions, especially for price-sensitive small- and medium-sized enterprises to adapt effectively to this new paradigm.

Green Purchasing Asia is published, the latest round of talks in Durban, South Africa would have just been concluded.

Given the distrust between the industrialised and developing countries over their commitment to cut carbon emissions, even the most steadfast supporters of the climate talks see little hope of anything concrete from the current round. Worse, there are real fears that the failure of the parties to the UN’s climate change treaty to make meaningful progress may torpedo confidence in the negotiations and cause these countries to abandon their commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

RSVP laggards One sign of the political undertow that could weaken the summit’s significance is that, at the time of this writing, no developed country head has committed to attend Rio+20.

Already, the original dates for the event have reportedly been shifted by two weeks to avoid clashing with Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee, which marks the 60th year of her reign.

The Brazilian government, which is hosting the summit, has rescheduled the event apparently to avoid putting some 54 Commonwealth leaders in a dilemma over which event to attend.

Nevertheless, the shift has made no difference to British prime minister David Cameron, who appears to have no plans to attend the summit despite his commitment to lead “the greenest government ever”.

Rio+20 secretary-general Sha

Zukang is pinning the international community’s hopes on the conference to deliver a healthy crop of outcomes.

These include a sorely anticipated fillip for the global economy, social protection and inclusion, job creation especially for youth, and protection of the natural resource base for the sake of future generations.

Observers tend to think of this as a tall order, given the many divisions among UN member states about how to deliver these goods equitably.

Acknowledging these challenges, Sha told the Asia-Pacific preparatory meeting for Rio+20 at end-October in Seoul: “Failure at Rio+20 is not an option. Humanity is at a crossroads and we must use Rio+20 to guide us towards a sustainable world – it is the future we want.”

Two themes The first of two major themes of Rio+20 will be to enable the transition of the global economy to a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.

Percentage of respondents who gave “Excellent” (4+5) rating

49 50

NGO leaders

53 24

Corporate leaders

20 21 23

Leaders of multilateral organisations

Nationally elected government leaders

22 24 2011

6

2010

8 13

2009

Sources: GlobeScan, SustainAbility, The Guardian

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Going post-environmentalism A key challenge is to get the main actors – in government, business and society – to switch from their “business as usual” mode towards the path of sustainability. As André Correa do Lago, the chief negotiator for Brazil recently said, the Rio+20 summit must “un-environmentalise” the world’s approach to sustainability so that it can reach out beyond the converted, namely the environmental ministries of UN member states and environmental groups.

Evidence that political leaders are not walking the green talk may undermine the public’s acceptance of the summit’s agenda. A survey by GlobeScan and SustainAbility of more than 500 sustainability experts from over 60 countries on the sustainability performance of key actors that will play crucial roles in the Rio+20 summit showed that government leaders have fallen well behind leaders of NGOs, corporations and multilateral organisations in advancing the sustainability agenda. It remains to be seen whether the events leading up to Rio+20 can ramp up the involvement of the laggards.

Expert views on the performance of leaders in advancing the sustainability agenda

Rio+20 will take on the daunting challenge of bringing together diverse representatives from nine sectors – including indigenous peoples, farmers, trade unions, local authorities, industry, the scientific community and NGOs – in search of consensus on a sustainable development agenda

Two UN reports – “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity” (TEEB) and a “Green Economy Report” (GER) – lay out the game plan. They argue that “services” provided by nature – such as water purification, carbon sequestration and nitrogen cycling, should be measured and assigned economic value. Such services can then be paid for, offset, or securitised in the form of “credits” that can be traded to raise conservation money. Meanwhile, new “eco-efficient” technologies can be developed and deployed, increasing the value of these ecosystem services and generating revenue.

The second major theme is to strengthen the international institutional framework for sustainable development. This could mean restructuring all environment-

related UN agencies, beginning with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the UN Development Programme to some 500 multilateral environmental treaties and agreements currently in place. These cover toxic chemicals, ocean conservation, biodiversity, desertification, climate change, ozone depletion, forest protection, and more.

Beyond central government A stakeholder forum to generate consensus for the sustainable development agenda is on the cards too. Drawing on the work of the Agenda 21 roadmap that emerged from the first Earth Summit, the upcoming event will bring together representatives from nine sectors: indigenous peoples, farmers, workers    •   

and trade unions, local authorities, business and industry, the science and technology community, women, children and youth and nongovernmental organisations. Clearly, it will be an achievement in itself to bring such a diversity of viewpoints together, let alone find common ground among them.

From the civil society corner, the view of the state of environmental management is pointedly critical.

information

Canada-based development activist Pat Mooney, a Right Livelihood Award winner, deals a reality check in a recent blog posting: “The Rio Earth Summit of 1992 adopted ‘Agenda 21’, including a series of treaties and agreements intended to conserve and restore biodiversity, halt desertification, stop deforestation and safeguard us from climate change. When leaders meet in Rio in 2012 they will be told that the

deserts have expanded, biodiversity is collapsing, only a scientifically baseless redefinition of ‘forest’ by some governments allows them to pretend that deforestation is slowing and the climate change biz is booming on offsets and credits.”

Indeed, critics who think that the 2012 summit will be just one more carnival in a series of global gatherings are now calling the conference “Rio-20” instead.

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Geothermal bubbling up China’s energy chain Sector, growing at more than 20% a year, expected to hit 100 bil yuan in five years High profits and low barriers to entry threaten to disrupt smooth growth

The Chinese market for the development and use of geothermal energy will reach 100 billion yuan (about US$15 billion) in the next five years, says Yuan Funing, an executive from Yatir Group, a Shandong province-based firm involved in the geothermal heat pump sector. The country’s geothermal heat pump market delivers annual sales exceeding 1 billion yuan, and is growing at more than 20% per year. Installation costs of these systems have dropped significantly, from 400 to 450 yuan/m2 to 220 to 320 yuan/m2.

The Shandong province has experienced higher growth in the use of geothermal systems compared to other regions. As at end-2010, the province was using geothermal to both heat and cool 8 million sq m of space, including schools, hospitals, offices, and residences, says Xu Chongqing, vice president at the Energy Research Institute of Shandong Academy of Sciences.

Both regional governments and leading energy producers are increasingly seeing the value of geothermal.

An executive from CNPC, China’s largest oil and gas producer and supplier, revealed that the company plans to invest 10 billion yuan in the development     •  

Unlike wind and solar, geothermal is not at the mercy of unpredictable weather conditions. Its greatest advantages are high stability, continuity and utilisation rates. of six types of new energy, including geothermal, by 2020.

Despite the bright prospects, the sector is expected to face difficulties due to unhealthy market competition resulting from high profits and low barriers to entry at its early development stage, notes Chang Jiuchun, vice director at Shandong Research and Promotion Centre of Shallow Geothermal Energy. Chang also says the steady development of geothermal heat pump systems as an emerging product needs government support at the national level in the form of well-defined support policies and standardisation across the sector, and rectification of the current market situation.

Wang Jiyang, senior researcher at the Institute of Geology and Geophys-

ics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, says that unlike wind and solar, geothermal is not at the mercy of unpredictable weather conditions. The greatest advantages of geothermal lie in its high stability, continuity and utilisation rate. In addition, geothermal, which is clean, low-carbon and renewable, is one of the most practical and competitive among the new energies.

Geothermal energy has great potential for alleviating the ever increasing resource issues associated with power generation and is on track towards accounting for 8.3% of total power supply worldwide by 2050, said Wang.

Its development and utilisation is, however, well behind other new energy sectors. Wang points out some major issues associated with China’s geothermal energy development: • Little exploration and evaluation have been done, thereby slowing down the country’s development and adoption of the energy • China is leading worldwide in terms of low- and middle-temperature utilisation technologies, but lagging behind when it comes to high-temperature utilisation • China has yet to master several key utilisation technologies and lacks expertise in utilisation.

It therefore behooves the country to build a national-level geothermal energy technology research and development (R&D) platform to encourage R&D efforts and carry out demonstration projects, and to put in place preferential policies to drive development. – Nanjing Shanglong Communications

information

US$300 house challenge draws global response Idea received massive number of responses, inspired others to help the poor Big players like Mahindra, Tata, Worldhaus are now pilot-testing low-cost housing

By Jennifer Neoh Tan

Why US$300?

The US$300 house project was inspired by a video by US-based non-profit Partners in Health about a family of 11 in Haiti, all living in a tiny one-room hut. Govindarajan and Sarkar then co-authored their first blog post on the US$300-house idea in the Harvard Business Review website. In an article in The Economist, Govindarajan admitted that while the US$300 figure was partly an attention-grabbing device, there was logic behind it.

The US$300 goal meant the emphasis was on producing a lean house design within a specific budget.

Following the rule of thumb that anything that costs US$100 in the US can be re-engineered for US$10 in India, they then decided that if a shed costs US$3,000 in the US, it can be built for US$300 in India. Furthermore, in a book by Muhammad Yunus (founder of the Grameen Bank), they found that US$370 was the average value of houses of people who escaped poverty,

and rounding that number downwards resulted in US$300 yet again.

The challenge Spurred by the buzz, Govindarajan and Sarkar’s US$300 house project took a life of its own and become a full-fledged movement with a website (www.300house.com), with a growing list of advisors, vendors and corporate sponsors. In April 2011, they launched a global online design competition (sponsored by Ingersoll Rand and hosted by jovoto.com) inviting people to submit prototype designs of the house. Two months later, six winners were picked from 300 submissions by individuals, teams and even corporations like India’s automotive and industrial powerhouse Mahindra group.

Winners were selected based on

Problems vs solutions Some of the concerns that consistently arise in the quest to provide housing for the poor are land availability and land ownership; access to amenities such as running water, electricity, sanitation, basic healthcare, education and employment; availability of microloans

Patti Stouter of Simple Earth Structures’ winning $300 house design Recycled glass bottles for interior light

Thatch or reused metal roof

Photovoltaic panel for night lighting

Light upper wall material: mesh reinforced straw wattle, bamboo and woven grass, or conventional compressed earth blocks (CEB)

Rebar security grid at window

Rainwater collection system

Solid base walls of inexpensive reinforced earthbag with earthen or lime paster Benches and base walls of water-resistant gravel bags with lime plaster

Biosand or solar UV water filtration Solar cooker

Mosquito netting over beds for health

..

Holding on to the belief that building low-cost housing for the world’s poorest can improve their livelihood, and be economically viable and even profitable for the builder, Professor Vijay Govindarajan and veteran marketer Christian Sarkar came up with the idea of a US$300 house. What began as a what-if blog post in August 2010 soon triggered discussions, debates and ideas from various individuals, businesses, institutions, governments and even, schoolchildren.

The duo posed a challenge to professionals, companies, non-governmental organisations and governments to design an affordable, functional and sustainable house for the poor that include clean water and solar electricity. And it should not cost more than US$300. This was not going to be easy.

a combination of votes from the online community and a panel of judges comprising designers, architects, and thought leaders. They shared US$25,000 in total prize money, which included US$10,000 in cash awards to the top 16 placements as voted by the community itself, and US$15,000 in prototyping scholarships.

The winning entry came from Patti Stouter of Simple Earth Structures (www.simpleearthstructures.com) in which the total cost of the basic house was $293.80 with another $54.10 for additional accessories such as a downspout pipe to rainwater barrels, rebar window grilles, mosquito nets and a solar electric system.

The winners and Mahindra (winner of the corporate entries category) will now participate in prototyping workshops – one to be hosted by Mahindra in India and the other by Dartmouth College next summer.

   •   

and subsidies to buy building materials for the house, and availability of resources in the surrounding areas. In addition, different regions have different housing needs.

Govindarajan and Sarkar took it upon themselves to turn these problems around. They deployed teams to Haiti and India to get a better understanding of slums on the ground. They also conducted an attitudinal and information gathering survey in 15 villages in three states in India, with the help of Three Headed Lion (THL), to further understand the housing needs of rural India. The surveys show that people are willing to borrow money to buy a US$300 house provided it has tap water, electricity, and privacy, and if other concerns raised are also addressed.

Govindarajan and Sarkar acknowledge that slums present complex challenges that cannot be fixed by building shacks alone. They expanded the idea further to treat the house as an ecosystem that provides shared infrastructure. For a start, they roped in

Turning slums around takes more than goodwill • Land tenure: Governments must provide secure land tenure for new housing. Slum-dwellers will not want to buy the house if they cannot own the land it sits on • Microloans and subsidies: US$300 is a big sum for squatters who survive on a few dollars a day • Business communities: They must want to invest in low-cost houses as they have financial and technological means • Slum-dwellers: The consumers must change their mindset and not sell off the house for quick profits.

the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF).

SELF has demonstrated that a simple solution can tackle multiple issues. For instance, affordable solar panels for the world’s poorest regions provide the people with free solar energy to power pumps that provide water for household and irrigation. The panels also supply electricity to schools

and clinics, indirectly improving health and education, which in turn increases productivity and ability to do work, contributing to family income.

Most importing, Govindarajan and Sarkar’s project has inspired others into action to serve the poor. For example, the Tata Group has launched an ultra low-cost, flat pack house for US$700, which will be pilot tested in 30 locations across India. Mahindra is now working on a pilot of their design submission. Bill Gross, founder and CEO of Idealab, said his team at Worldhaus is also working on a modular US$1,500 house for the poor that includes amenities like clean-burning stoves, toilets, and solar power.

Despite these positive responses, however, the journey is far from over.

The idea of reinventing the slums is one filled with political, cultural and social challenges that can only be overcome through co-operation among people who are often at loggerheads: companies and NGOs, and slumdwellers and governments.

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   •   

information

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HP, Apple, Intel and Motorola top for clean supply chains HP, Apple, Intel and Motorola have been top ranked in a report that studied how 26 IT companies managed their supply chains. The companies submitted information of their supply chains to Det Norsk Veritas (DNV) for the Clear Links Report 2011. (Source: www. greenbiz.com

Asian firms pave way for supplier accountability

Companies like Toyota, Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) and Samsung are promoting responsible supply chain development through supportive mutual growth initiatives with suppliers.

HMC’s win-win programme increases suppliers’ stability through financial programmes such as its cash payment policy and credit loans for operation funds. It has also set up the MutuallyBeneficial Cooperation Fund and the Bridge Loan for Green Production Facilities, as well as a joint-purchasing programme to assist suppliers with cost-cutting. Samsung’s Partner Collaboration Centre, established directly under its CEO, introduced seven programmes for mutual growth, including a Win-Win fund for partner companies, timely reflection of raw material price changes in parts purchasing prices, and expanding support to indirect suppliers. (Source: Guardian Professional)

Facebook, Google build cool data centres in Scandinavia Facebook is building its data centre in chilly Lulea, northern Sweden, where clean energy prices are low (local hydropower is still the cheapest clean power available) and the cold climate allows Facebook to use the environment to cool the data centre,     •  

Malaysia’s FiT gamma test: 90% for solar PV The three-day gamma testing

by Malaysia’s newly formed Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Malaysia for its feed-in tariff (FiT) attracted 192 users, with 147 applications. While these applications do not count as real ones, they indicate the interest shown by the industry. SEDA Malaysia chairman Fong Chan Onn says 90% of the applications were for solar photovoltaic (PV) and the remaining were spread among biomass, biogas and small hydro.

The e-FiT online system goes live on December 1st.

The Malaysian FiT is quotaconstrained to ensure the 1% levy

eliminating the need for power-hungry chillers. Cooling accounts for about half of a traditional data centre’s power needs. Google, too, built a mega green data centre in Finland this year, using outside air and cold seawater to cool the facility. Google bought the former paper mill in 2009 and uses the building’s quarter-mile-long seawater tunnels to push water up into the building to cool the servers. Google advocates using outside air for cooling data centres whenever possible. (Source: Gigaom.com)

Energy-saving bulbs for low-income homes In the next three years, 4,000 low-income households in Central Singapore will have their light bulbs changed to energy-efficient ones at their rental flats. The aim is to help these households save a collective S$160,000 (US$122,000) in utilities bills. If successful, the National Environment Agency (NEA) says the project will be rolled out nationwide. The aim is to promote energy-saving habits and help people cut down electricity use. A total of 224

to be collected from electricity consumers from Dec 1st is enough to pay renewable energy (RE) generators. Only 190 MW of renewable energy will be available for application in 2012, another 190 MW in 2013, and 250 MW in 2014.

The quotas for future years have yet to be confirmed although the RE target is 4,000 MW by 2030. Solar PV FiT application is now capped at 5 MWp to allow more players. flats underwent the switch last month as part of a community environment pilot project by the Central Singapore Community Development Council, Maybank Singapore and the NEA. Two bulbs will be fixed in each household, starting with those living in Tanjong Pagar GRC. The districtwide programme, called SWITCH (for “Simple Ways I Take to Change My Habits”), was launched at the recent Central Singapore Clean and Green carnival. (Source: www. channelnewsasia.com)

LDK producing polysilicon in Inner Mongolia LDK Solar and the Chinese city government of Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, held a groundbreaking ceremony for a 30,000 tonnes per annum polysilicon manufacturing facility at its Jinsan Development Zone.

The facility is part of a plan to establish a renewable energy manufacturing hub in the autonomous region. The facility will be built by LDK Silicon & Chemical Technology Co Ltd, a subsidiary of LDK Solar. LDK Silicon today has annual combined production capacity of 17,000 tonnes from its Mahong and Xiacun polysilicon plants

at Xinyu, Jiangxi Province of China.

With ongoing upgrades at both plants, as well as the “Line B” project in the Xiacun plant, the company expects to reach annual production capacity of 25,000 tonnes by mid-2012. With the new facility, LDK Silicon expects to have a total polysilicon annual production capacity of 55,000 tonnes by end-2013, which would make it one of the largest and most competitive polysilicon manufacturers in the global market. (Source: LDK Solar)

Proton Exora REEV bags plug-in hybrid, EE awards

First Solar postpones Vietnam project

Thailand solar park to use Astronergy thin film Astronergy, a subsidiary of the Chint Group, won its bid to provide thin-film amorphous microcrystalline silicon technology (a-Si/uc-Si) PV panels for a 1.65 MWp solar park in Thailand. The company says it has seen an increase in demand for its thin-film panels due to its low-voltage, high-efficiency (approaching 10%) and competitive pricing. “The ability to offer MunichRe power performance insurance and being backed by Black & Veatch through its third Party IE Report are



Thin-film photovoltaic giant First Solar is postponing its factory in Vietnam “until global supply and demand dynamics support the additional capacity”. The Arizona company, which removed its chief executive and lowered its sales and earnings expectations for 2011, remains on track to add 280 MW of production in its home state to supply some 2.7 GW of utility-scale US solar projects. Its second Frankfurt, Germany manufacturing plant was inaugurated in November, with an annual capacity of 250 MW, doubling its German production capacity. First Solar is also touting module efficiency increase “from its best-performing lines during the quarter” to 12.4%, although across lines, conversion efficiency was 11.8%, up from 11.7% in the second quarter. (Source: First Solar, Rechargenews.com)

The Proton Exora Range Extender Electric Vehicle (REEV) bagged the “Best Overall Extender Range/ Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle” and the “Most Energy Efficient MultiPurpose Car-Prototype” awards at the second Royal Automobile Club (RAC) 2011 Future Car Challenge

just a couple of key differentiators over the competition and has led to further validation of the company’s bankability for large scale projects,” the press release said. Commissioning of the solar park took place on October 28th. Components from other Chint subsidiaries, including inverters and BOS system components, will also be used in the project, adding to system reliability and lower system implementation costs. (Source: Astronergy)

APP defends itself as seven companies decides to stop purchase Asia Pulp & Paper Co (APP), accused

by Greenpeace of destroying Indonesia’s rainforests, questioned why it was singled out by the latter when it merely complied with Indonesian laws. “Timber from natural forests can be sustainable. The question is: Why are we as an Indonesian company being singled

Brighton to London last month. The motoring contest, organised by the United Kingdom RAC, is the world’s largest live demonstration of electric, hybrid and low-emission internal combustion engine passenger cars. Seventy cars took part in 17 categories this year. Proton participated in the Electric Vehicle category for the Saga Electric, REEV for the Exora REEV and Persona Elegance REEV this year. Despite minor technical glitches, Exora REEV made it to the finish line. Last year, the Proton Exora REEV won in the “Best E-REEV Vehicle” category.

(Source: Bernama) out?” asks APP managing director Aida Greenbury.

Greenpeace said early November that seven companies, including toymaker Hasbro Inc, New Zealand’s largest group of department stores The Warehouse Group Ltd and luxury pen maker Montblanc International GmbH had decided to stop buying from APP. APP, one of the world’s largest pulp and paper companies, is owned by Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas Group, which also controls palm oil plantations. The company produces 7 million tonnes of pulp, paper and packaging a year, and exports to 65 countries. It insists that 95% of its packaging is recycled and the remaining 5% comes from certified forests. (Source: Deutsche Presse Agentur)

Better Place to start EV charging and battery swap Better Place, the Silicon Valley electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure startup, has raised a US$200 million round of financing from investors that include General Electric, UBS, Morgan Stanley, HSBC and VantagePoint Capital Partners. The company has now banked more than US$750 million, giving it a valuation of US$2.25 billion.

Next year, Better Place begins limited operations in Denmark and Israel.    •   

 

Chinese PV group ET Solar says it has secured a credit line of at least 8 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) to support its European growth ambitions. ET Solar signed a deal for the five-year credit facility with China CITIC Bank. The Nanjing-based vertically-integrated PV group says the loan will be used for capital expenditure and general corporate purposes.

Dennis She (left), chief executive, says: “ET Solar has established a strong tie with CITIC, a leading financial powerhouse in China and one of our house banks.” He says the strategic agreement will allow it to capture overall market growth and build momentum in European system business development.

Chinese banks are supplying US$10 billion of credit facilities to a local consortium to build and invest in solar plants in Europe. (Source: Recharge)

Japanese beer giants share logistics, cut CO emissions Rival Japanese brewers Asahi Breweries Ltd and Kirin Brewery Co announced mid-year their decision to jointly distribute their beer to cut costs and reduce the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of their distribution arms.

This initiative began in August involving small-lot delivery in parts of Tokyo and the collection of used containers in     •  

    

ET Solar given US$1.3 bil credit war chest

More efficient wind lens being tested From autumn 2011 to end-2012, Japan’s Fukuoka City and Kyushu University are jointly conducting offshore testing of a new “wind lens” turbine developed by the university. The project is sponsored by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment.

The new turbine has windmill blades shrouded with a brimmed diffuser, which increases the wind’s velocity blowing toward the blades, allowing for double or triple the power output compared to conventional wind turbines.

The city and the university have been joint-testing wind lens turbines since 2009. One trial of such a 3 kW turbine – with rotors measuring 2.5 m in diameter and a wind speed of 10 m per second – showed it can generate 2.5 times more electricity than conventional ones and is quieter and more compact. A hexagon-shaped float 18 m in diameter will be set about 600 m off the coast of Marine World UminoNakamichi. Two 3 kW wind lens turbines will be installed on the float.

(Source: Japan for Sustainability)

South Korea to invest 10.2 trillion won in wind The South Korean government announced it will invest 10.2 trillion won (US$9 billion) in building a 2.5 GW offshore wind farm, the largest in the world.

Located off its southwestern

coast, the farm will be built in three phases by South Korean companies led by Korea Electric Power. The first is a 100 MW demonstration phase to be completed by 2014. Wind turbines with capacities ranging from 3 MW to 7 MW will be erected off the coast of Jeollabukdo and Jeollanamdo provinces in three stages at a cost of 400 billion won. A second 400 MW phase is scheduled for completion in 2016 at a cost of 1.6 trillion won, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report.

The consortium of companies building the offshore wind farm include Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. (Source: Clean Technica)

Solar LED lights named Airport Technology for 2011  

surrounding prefectures.

Despite being competitors, the breweries recognise that this cooperation will reduce annual CO2 emissions by about 196 tonnes. It will also reduce costs by several hundred million yen, or several million dollars, Asahi Breweries executive vice president Kazuo Motoyama said. Asahi and Kirin may explore further collaboration, including joint procurement of cans. (Source: Japan for Sustainability, Brikner’s Beverage World)

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Service in Canberra, Australia will start in the second quarter. It has also struck deals to build charging networks in the San Francisco Bay Area, Toronto and Hawaii.

Better Place owns the electric car batteries, and drivers pay a monthly fee to use charging spots. Drivers can also trade depleted battery packs for fresh ones at battery swapping stations. (Source: Forbes)

An aviation first, the Solar LED Runway Guard Light, the result of a joint development project between USbased Carmanah Technologies Corp and ADB Airfield Solutions, has been named Airport Technology of the Year by Future Airport magazine.

Traditional incandescent lamp systems for runways typically light for 1,000 hours. The LED Solar Runway Guard Light System has an average LED life of 56,000 hours under high-intensity conditions and nearly double this under actual operating conditions.

The new system will therefore reduce an airport’s carbon footprint significantly not only by saving on the cost of powering the lighting, but also on the cost of replacing lights. It is also perfect for airfields in remote locations as the system needs no connection to the power grid, making installation more straightforward than conventional airfield lighting systems.

(Source: Clean Technica & Future Airport)

China to phase out incandescent light bulbs China announced early November that it will phase out incandescent light

bulbs within five years – a move that could boost shares of LED product makers significantly. The government will ban import and sales of 100 W and higher incandescent bulbs from October 1st 2012, of 60 W and higher bulbs from October 2014, and of 15 W and higher bulbs from October 2016, although the last may be subject to an evaluation in September 2016, says the National Development and Reform Commission.

State-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Xie Ji, deputy director of the commission’s environmental protection department, as saying China is the world’s largest producer of both energy-saving and incandescent bulbs.

Last year, China produced 3.85 billion incandescent light bulbs and 1.07 billion were sold domestically. Lighting accounts for about 12% of China’s electricity use, the agency says. When fully implemented, the phase-out is expected to save China 48 billion kWh of electricity per year and cut CO2 emissions by 48 million tonnes annually.

(Source: Associated Press, Reuters)

Knowledge & networking

JAN 2012

CSR Asia Forum on Asian Sustainability 2012 18th January 2012 Akihabara UDX Conference, Tokyo www.csr-asia.com/course_detail.php?id=121

FEB

Green Buildings Asia 2012 21st-24th February 2012 Sheraton Towers Hotel, Singapore www.greenbuildingsapac.com/

8th Annual Australasian Cleantech Forum 2012 27th-29th February 2012 Park Hyatt, Melbourne, Australia www.terrapinn.com/2012/clean-tech-forum/

MAR

15% discount for GPA subscribers

Procurement & Vendor Management Excellence 1st-2nd March 2012 Singapore http://bit.ly/snR0v6 4th China Solar Energy Technology and Investment Congress 8th-9th March 2012 Changzhou, China www.noppen.com.cn/upcoming/L1205/index.asp World Biofuels Markets Congress & Exhibition 13th-15th March 2012 Rotterdam, Netherlands www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com

ABB buys automation specialist Powercorp ABB is buying Australian powerautomation specialist Powercorp, whose core technology enables isolated grids to have high levels of renewables without suffering blackouts. The deal is expected to be finalised by end-2011.

Renewables are problematic in isolated areas because their variability causes grid instability, and can lead to a generator response known as “hunting”, resulting in high consumption of backup fossil fuels, engine damage, and blackouts. Powercorp’s proprietary technology – which includes a flywheel-based storage system – alleviates this problem. The company “brings expertise for the integration of renewable-energy generation into conventional micro and remote-island grids”, says Peter Leupp, head of ABB’s Power Systems division. Both Powercorp and ABB are targetting the mining industry, where large electrical equipment like crushers can cause similar power fluctuations to renewables. (Source: Recharge)

10% discount for GPA subscribers

EduBuild Asia 2012 27th-30th March 2011 Singapore www.edubuildasia.com

APR

10% discount for GPA subscribers

6th China Qingdao International Building Energy Saving & Renewable Energy Utilisation Fair 6th-8th April 2012 Qingdao International Convention Centre, Qingdao, China www.qdcese.com/index1.asp

10% exhibitor discount for GPA subscribers

Smart Electricity World Asia 2012 16th-19th April 2012 Marina Bay Sands, Singapore www.terrapinn.com/2012/smart-electricity-world-asia-conference Transmission & Distribution World Asia 2012 16th-19th April 2012 Marina Bay Sands, Singapore http://www.terrapinn.com/2012/transmission-and-distribution Asia Green Shipping Summit 2012 24th-25th April 2012 Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore www.greenshippingasia.com Cloud Computing World Asia 2012 25th April 2012 Suntec Exhibition & Convention Centre, Singapore www.terrapinn.com/conference/cloud-computing-world-asia

Visit www.greenpurchasingasia.com for the latest event listings Green Purchasing Asia is a media partner

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Strategy for Sustainability Adam Werbach Harvard Business Press

This book is an excellent text for Sustainability 101.

Clear and concise, with welldefined terms, it leaves the reader with no doubt about what sustainability is and – more importantly – is not.

In his rather long Introduction, Adam Werbach makes the initial point that “sustainability is a term that needs careful definition” and points out that continued financial success is a contributory factor to sustainability, but not the whole story. Nor is “green”. Nor is corporate social responsibility (CSR).

His definition is this: A sustainable business means thriving in perpetuity.

Werbach proposes that there are four co-equal components to sustainability: • Social – acting as though other people matter • Economic – operating profitably • Environmental – protecting and restoring the ecosystem • Cultural – protecting and valuing cultural diversity The cultural element is an addition to the standard triple bottom line of profit, people and planet.

Most books are written following successful interventions by the author(s) or the consultancy represented.     •  

This book is different. It arose out of two failures.

The first was the author’s self-confessed failure to convince the mayor of New Orleans to back his proposal for doing something about climate change, and particularly the abuse of the wetlands around the city. Then came Katrina! The second failure was that of the big three US car manufacturing companies when they had to go cap-in-hand to seek a government bailout.

The author learned from both of these failures and this book reflects those lessons.

Each of the seven chapters contains a sidebox, in some cases more than a couple of pages long, where the author explores a facet of the main theme of the chapter. For example, in chapter 1, he outlines clearly how sustainability differs from “built to last”.

Like many marketing gurus, the author packages analytical approaches into easy-recall acronyms.

For instance, strategising for sustainability requires constant analysis of how society, technology and resources are evolving so that a company can assess how it will be affected. Werbach dubs his framework for this process “STaR mapping” and illustrates its application on actual case studies, including an extensive one on The Clorox Company.

This is a comparatively short book – a whisker under 200 pages – but it contains much to exercise the minds of CEOs, for whom it should be compulsory reading.

The author has an interesting biography. He has twice been elected to the International Board of Greenpeace, and at only 23, he was the youngest ever

president of the Sierra Club, the largest environmental organisation in the US. He is presently chief sustainability officer of Saatchi & Saatchi S, the sustainability arm of the global brand communications company.

World Energy Outlook 2011 International Energy Agency

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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The latest World Energy Outlook (WEO) is a packed volume (over 500 pages) of data, information on policy developments and analysis concerning global energy markets for the next 25 years. The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) flagship publication contains updated energy demand and supply projections for various future scenarios, broken down by country, fuel and sector, and covers both renewable and non-renewable sources.

Special areas of focus include Russia’s energy prospects and the implications for global markets; the role of coal; implications if oil and gas investment in the Middle East and North Africa are delayed; forecasts of how rapid slowdown in nuclear power use would affect the global energy landscape; and issues of making energy accessible to the poor.

Projection highlights include the following:

• China, the world’s largest energy consumer, will use nearly 70% more energy than the United States in 2035 despite per-capita energy consumption that will still be less than half of US levels.

• Energy consumption growth rates will be even higher in India, Indonesia, Brazil and the Middle East.

• Overall demand for all fuels will rise but the share of fossil fuels will fall from 81% in 2010 to 75% in 2035; only natural gas will increase its share of the mix from now to 2035.

• The share of non-hydro renewables in power generation will rise from 3% in 2009 to 15% in 2035 as annual subsidies approach US$180 billion with nearly half the growth driven by China and the European Union.

WEO 2011 also reports on the current trajectory towards IEA’s “450 Scenario” – a timetable to limit greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to 450 ppm of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent so that long-term global temperature rise is capped at 2°C. At present, four-fifths of the total energy-related CO2 emissions permissible by 2035 are already “locked-in” by existing capital stock such as power plants, buildings, factories, etc, with limited carbon reduction facilities. Prospects for reaching 450 Scenario targets are therefore grim without firm intervention.

Special discounts on WEO 2011 are available for universities and non-profits (30%), clients in low- and lower middle-income countries (50%) and for PDF versions (20%). Details at www.worldenergyoutlook. org