Synergy Lighting Ltd

But this can’t go on. “If China can’t improve its energy efficiency in buildings, by 2020 its buildings’ energy consumption will account for one-fifth of the world’s total coal consumption. That is far beyond the country’s energy supply ability,” said Jin Ruidong, green building project director at the Natural Resources Defence Council.

Finding solutions

Environmental and Sustainability Specialist for Synergy Group Viann Liang, said we are heading for an ecological credit crunch.

“We are now requiring the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyle, nearly a third more than the Earth can sustain,” she explains. “We only have this generation to get sustainability and the environment right.”

Technology is often touted as the saviour of our environmental gluttony, but as we reported in The Bulletin last month, more companies are waking up to the fact that they need to go green or go bust.

Three Hong Kong entrepreneurs have been thinking ahead of that curve for almost a decade, and feel that demand for environmental services is one industry that is set to explode out of sheer necessity.

Alastair Lam, Chairman of Synergy Group, says many businesses are interested in reducing their energy usage – to save money as much as for the environment. But capital outlays usually put their green plans on the backburner because ROI ties up too much of their capital.

In 2002, the partners set up the company to take advantage of a new technology developed by Dr KK Chan and Dr Kevin Ng. The pair had developed a technology that can help companies reduce their lighting bills overnight      by 60%.

“We developed a win-win saving sharing partnership solution to cut energy consumption without our partners – we don’t like to say clients, because the people we work with are our partners – paying any upfront investment,” he explained.

The technology looks amazingly simple. Lam and his two partners, CEO Mansfield Wong, and Executive Director Arthur Lam, bought the technology from the two Hong Kong researchers, who have now developed the third generation of energy reduction tubes called “Tube-in-Tube®” technology.

Simple switch

The traditional way of replacing lighting ballasts with more energy efficient versions can reduce energy consumption of traditional T8 or T5 fluorescent tubes by around 20%. But this requires considerable investment and the work can disrupt office operations. Synergy uses existing fixtures to reduce electricity consumption by around 60% and its tubes actually burn brighter.

“We go in an office at night, take out the existing light tubes, and replace them with our Tube-in-Tube® technology,” Lam said. “Staff don’t even notice anything has changed because the only thing we change is the bulbs. Even the light colour and intensity is the same.”

Companies using its light tubes then pay Synergy a percentage of the money that it saves on its lighting bills.

“The cost for the light tubes and service to companies is basically zero. They only pay us a percentage of the money that they save, so if they save nothing – which has never been the case – they don’t have to pay us a penny,” CEO Mansfield Wong said.

Big property developers have happily taken the company up on its offer, as have heavy lighting users. Henderson Land, Chinachem Group, Citybase Property, Urban Group, Parknshop, Whampoa Property Management, Goodwell Property Management, are among its many partners.

So far, the company is focusing on the big corporations who are heavy energy users. Wong estimates there are around 1 billion light tubes in Hong Kong, so that is an extremely large market to aim at. The company is also looking at the Mainland, Asia as well as Europe and America.

But why don’t companies simply buy the tubes and pocket the 60% savings?

Lam explained that some companies have done that, but on the whole they are content to let Synergy Lighting install and replace light tubes as it relieves them of one maintenance job. 

Huge potential

Commercial buildings consume around 66.5% of all electricity usage in Hong Kong, according to Hong Kong Energy Statistics 2010 Annual Report. Last year it peaked at 100,280 terajoule, a figure which has been growing at around 2,000 terajoules annually. As most offices are fitted with light tubes, the potential to reduce energy consumption is staggering.

But as Lam pointed out, lighting is not the biggest energy guzzler in buildings. Air conditioners consume up to 70% of electricity used in commercial and residential buildings.

“Obviously if we could offer our partners a way to reduce their air conditioning bill on top of reducing their lighting bill, then the savings would be very significant,” Wong explained.

And the company has done just that. It introduced a more efficient coolant in air conditioning units which can reduce energy consumption by as much as 35%. The coolant consists of natural hydrocarbons and is far more efficient that the R410a coolant commonly used in most units today.

Every little helps

Number crunchers like to point out that energy efficient appliances and renewable energy will never satisfy our demand for power. But Wong said this is the wrong mentality.

“Look at me. I am over weight, so to lose weight I must reduce the amount of food that I eat. That will partly help. But as we all know the best way to lose weight is to consume less and eat more healthily, as well as exercise more,” he said. “To reduce our impact on the environment, we need to use all of the options available to use – try to use less, and use more energy efficient appliances. Everyone’s contribution will have a huge impact.”