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systems . All risks associated with the project are fully assumed by the ESCO as depicted below . The building owner is only responsible to pay the ESCO monthly over a contractual period based on the agreed principle of profit sharing ( less debt service ) derived solely from the energy saved through retrofitting .
At the end of the contractual duration , the assets will be transferred to the building owner . Essentially , this mechanism is the answer to many building owners ’ hesitation to capital expenditure . EPC is also being encouraged by our Government . In view of the increase in ICPT surcharge to RM0.20 / kWh from January 2023 , building owners should seize the potential of EPC to lower their energy bills and join the journey of decarbonisation .
While each of these task-based activities and project-specific programmes will reduce energy consumption and lower carbon emission , they are not holistic enough to integrate people , processes , technology and the ecosystem of FM sustainably when we consider it from the aspects of EE and decarbonisation . The need to continually review energy performance and take remedial actions to steer EE towards the set targets and to have undivided commitment from most , if not all , stakeholders within an organisation continuously can only be fulfilled by the adoption of an energy management system ( EnMS ) which is ISO 50001 or ASEAN Energy Management Scheme ( AEMAS ). The essence of an energy management system lies in the six key concepts of Management Responsibility , Policy , Planning , Implementation & Operation , Checking , and Management Review . The path to an energy-sustainable FM begins with an Energy Policy that represents a declaration of commitments for a regime of EE and decarbonisation from all stakeholders .
One important pillar of FM is people . Under EnMS , staff from cross-functional departments and specialisations , who have common and shared goals , are selected to participate in the energy management team headed by an energy manager . Each member of the team has to understand his role , responsibility , and authority in discharging his duties . In the context of Energy Planning and Implementation , there are other groups of people , known as the significant people , who either work individually or as a group and they are tasked to operate , maintain , engineer and manage the high energy-consuming equipment and machinery which are termed under significant energy uses ( SEUs ).
The other pillar of FM is processes , which are consequential for repeatability , performance , quality assurance , and legal and SOP compliance . Under EnMS , procedures , SOPs , checklists , forms , change requests , etc ., must be documented and continually updated . Critical parameters and proven workflows generated from the process of energy planning , establishment of energy drivers , energy performance indicators ( EnPI ), baselines , metrics , opportunities identified and targets developed are the core information of an organisation , some of which are proprietary . Often , such core information cannot be retrieved , lost , or untraceable for whatever reasons . This underscores the importance of EnMS , among other concepts and deliverables . It is worth mentioning here that a new energy act , the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Act ( EECA ), has a provision for designated consumers to implement energy management systems .
It is to be emphasised again that FM plays a crucial role in energy efficiency as energy savings can be achieved through the entire life cycle of facilities and buildings . When the EECA bill is read and passed in Parliament 5 with enablers being implemented by the Government , an EEcentric FM will contribute considerably to the projected reduction of electricity and fossil fuel consumption , with CO 2 emission amounting to 60,961 GWh , 20,060ktoe and 58,221 ktCO 2eq respectively in commercial and industrial sectors from 2026-2030 6 .
NOTES
1 : Year 2019 data is the latest published data of Suruhanjaya Tenaga
2 : ktoe is kilo tonne of oil equivalent . 1 ktoe is equivalent to 11.63GWh 3 : Sourced from 4 th BUR Report of NRECC 4 : National Energy Policy 2022-2040 5 : The EECA bill may be read in Parliament in
July-August 2023 6 : Demand Side Management Preliminary Study report , published by MESTECC & UNDP , 2018
14 VOL 94 APRIL-JUNE 2023