Out of necessity, we had to explore alternative means of promoting energy efficiency as a business as we have not been successful in promoting energy efficiency through standard approaches. We do not have the incentives available in other countries although our electricity is among the highest in the region.

The standard approach is to offer to walkthrough a prospective client’s facilities without any obligation on their part (they will readily accept this service), to identify possible energy efficiency measures and present a proposal. The constraints we have experienced in this approach are:

1. If the proposed measures are of no-cost/low-cost, their management might ask the facilities people why in the first place they never thought of it. Afraid of losing face, they would present lots of reasons and excuses why the proposed scheme would not work and that they have considered this scheme before.
2. If the required investment were substantial, funding to retrofit would compete for capital against facilities expansion. In such cases in Asia, energy efficiency projects would be of low priority. The owners are usually contented with their money in the bank rather than putting it in an unknown entity as the energy efficiency.

An innovative approach is to take the facilities people on our side. What we do is to offer a review of fundamentals in the efficient operation of their equipment. (There is a government requirement for engineers to undergo such seminars as their continuing education.) We go after HVAC installations consuming at least US$100,000 a month. As a part of this training seminar, the participants are organized into teams (if energy committees are not yet established in-house). They are assisted in studying energy efficiency proposals and presenting these proposals to management. It is no longer an outsider making the proposals but their own people. Meritorious proposals are easier to be approved.

During these seminars, an appreciation of the importance of a building management system (BMS) is stressed and therefore developed among the participants. It is our observation that most of the BMS installations (in our country) are not giving sufficient data for accurate analysis of HVAC performance, as well as properly controlling its operations. BMS in existing installations or in new buildings is, therefore, an important entry point in promoting energy efficient operations. At this point, promoting energy efficiency is now a matter of enhancing the capability of an existing BMS or a projected BMS.

Another approach we have succeeded in is the promotion of energy efficient cleanrooms for semicon industrial establishments. The feature of energy efficiency in our cleanrooms sets us a step above competition. Basic engineering practice is applied in the design and psychrometry of the cleanrooms. Discussion on this feature is beyond the time allocated in this session so that anybody interested may meet me afterwards. --- Jose A. Hilario

When promoting energy efficiency as a service meets resistance, new approaches must be explored capitalizing on the expressed need of prospective clients. These needs come in the form of building management systems and cleanrooms where energy efficiency can then be build in these systems.