national electronics and computer technology...

National Electronics and Computer Technology Center

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(NECTEC)


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INTRODUCTION

The World is already experiencing the effects of global climate change. Thailand and the Royal Thai government, having already begun to experience devastating natural disasters compounded by the effects of global warming, has taken measures to increase attention to energy management issues that must be understood throughout the world. Dedicated to electronics and computer development, the Center is an organization that is acutely aware of the problems that exist on a macro scale and solutions that can be effected on the micro and nano scales. To demonstrate the possibility for reducing global warming and its effects, the Center launched the NECTEC Go Green campaign. As a result, the Center operates under unified energy and environmental conservation policies and practices. Upper management understands the importance and economic value of this campaign. As a result of their strong support, management provided the budgetary and human resources necessary to create, implement, maintain and continually improve NECTEC Go Green.

Due to its fields of endeavor, NECTEC has both high power consumption requirements and indigenous experts who cooperated in the development of systems and best practices. Equipment used in research and testing and utility systems consume the greatest amount of power. Due to inability to reduce energy consumption in areas critical to the agency’s operation, the Center sought to effect an overall improvement in energy efficiency in any other manner possible. As a result of the Center’s high average energy consumption, the building was registered in 2003 as a “controlled building” in compliance with the Energy Conservation Promotion Act of B.E. 2535. Also, since 2007 the center has been actively engaged in implementing measures required for Energy Management System Standard: ISO 50001 certification.

In addition to energy conservation policies, NECTEC also supports organizational management activities such as 5S activities, security and environmental initiatives and the“Work@nywhere Project,” designed to improve work productivity by allowing access to the NECTEC’s Intranet system through a virtual private network. Other campaigns that have been implemented to conserve valuable resources, increase productivity and significantly lower costs include: printer and copy paper re-use and reduction, a paperless meeting management system, increased use of video conferencing, installation of water-saving fixtures and agency-wide installation of motion-sensor light controls.

In 2010, NECTEC participated in The Public Green Building Project and was recognized as one of nine pilot green public buildings for their accomplishments in a large building category that contains twelve thousand buildings nationally. The center continually seeks to develop and implement additional activities and projects that reinforce its role as a pioneering green organization, under the motto: “NECTEC -- Go Green, for us, for the world!” To sustainably and effectively maintain a high level of energy and environmental conservation, the Center focuses on the following:

Personnel: The Center is aware that each member of its personnel is an important factor in effecting the sustainability of energy management, and their combined effects will determine overall conservation and efficiency.

Knowledge management and transfer: The creation and maintenance of a knowledge management system supports knowledge sharing and assists personnel agency-wide in transforming their consumption practices on a daily basis.


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Cost-saving equipment: Long-term economic benefits and global environmental protection begin by initiating projects that easily implement relatively cost-effective, highly maintainable, energy saving equipment such as LED light bulbs, motion-detecting light switches and more efficient air conditioning condensing units.

Equipment: By developing preventive maintenance plans for all types of equipment used in facilities and operations, the Center can extend their useful life and continuously upgrade the quality and energy-efficiency of equipment used agency-wide.

Energy management system: The Center creates opportunities for agency-wide fiscal and energy savings by constantly ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations, and seeking ways to expand the scope and level of staff participation in energy management innovations.

1. IMPACT

1.1 Energy Saving

The Center had been aware of the importance of energy saving since it began to operate in 2002. Since the building was new then, the Center initially focused on managing original systems inside the building. Systems such as chillers and lighting were adapted in a manner that best conformed to actual usage requirements and efficiency targets. Moreover, lighting circuits were adjusted according to the type of usage in particular areas. A preventive maintenance plan was also developed.

After the building was registered as a controlled building, building efficiency had to be measured periodically to confirm compliance with the Energy Conservation Promotion Act. When it appeared that the heat transfer value in the glass building envelope was higher than the acceptable range, for example, a budget was allocated for installation of tinted film on windows throughout the building in 2004. With this cost-effective remedy, the heat transfer value fell within the required range without undue disruption to agency functions. When the chiller appeared to consume a greater amount of energy than the range allowed under the law, the Center improved the performance of the chiller by installing a cooling pad in 2005. Moreover, in 2006 the Center was able to reevaluate the energy consumption and install a new set of chillers with higher efficiency ratings.

During the past three years (2008 – 2010), the Center has focused upon building employee awareness and cooperation in energy saving. The Center uses many measures to ensure that employees incorporate energy-saving practices in their normal routines and on a continual basis. Every month building energy consumption is analyzed so that the results can be used to identify the most effective measures. Any measures deemed worthy of investment are presented for approval by upper management. As a result of this diligence on the part of the management, Working Group on Energy Consumption and employees; power consumption has been steadily decreasing every year even though the numbers of employees, amount of research equipment and volume of research projects are increasing every year.


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SBR Wastewater Treatment System Ventilation System

Air Pollution Management System

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Energy Consumption & Energy Efficiency Table 1.2 Environmental Effects

1.2.1 Reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission after the improvement. In compliance with the Energy Conservation Promotion Act, during 2008-2010 the Center achieved a total power consumption reduction of 498,217.62 kWh, which is equivalent to a total carbon dioxide emission reduction of 361,963.07 kg CO2/year.

1.2.2 Waste and Pollution Management. Due to awareness of environmental impact management, the Center has applied

the ISO 14000 Environmental Management Standard and Thailand Industrial Standard (TIS) 18001. The working environment in the Center has also been investigated regularly in accordance with Occupational Health and Safety Management System Standards. By implementing practices that promote reduction, reuse and recycling; the Center encourages several types of waste reduction that complement energy conservation and reduce CO2 production. Wastewater, air pollution, trash and toxic waste from laboratories, lavatories and pantries are included in the management plan. The Center's primary waste management systems are as follows:

Wastewater management system: The central wastewater management system for Thailand Science Park is a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) system. The system consists of a buffer tank, SBR reactor, settling tank, settled water pump and a tank used to add chlorine to treated water. The SBR system uses bacteria to decompose organic compounds in the wastewater. The sludge settles to the floor of the SBR tank, leaving water which meets the government's standard for treated water in the upper part of the tank. This treated water is reused for watering trees in the area of Thailand Science Park. A drying bed is used to treat the sludge discharged by the system.

Air pollution management system: Ventilation systems are designed separately for each area. Fresh air is drawn into the air-conditioning system, and exhaust fans vent air outside. Emissions are captured in laboratories using fume hoods, treated with scrubbers and released via rooftop vents.


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Garbage management system: Employees are encouraged to presort garbage into separate plastic, glass, paper, regular waste and toxic waste receptacles before it is picked up by the garbage truck.

1.2.3 Reuse materials or resell the used applicants.

The Center supports a campaign to use paper more effectively, by reusing pages that have been printed on a single-side. As a result of this campaign, the amount of paper used at the Center was reduced from 6,005 reams in 2009 to 5,286 reams in 2010. This leads to not only cost savings, but also the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

Additionally, paper that has been used on both sides is donated to “The Third Page Project,” which prints Braille documents and books for the blind. On Children’s’ Day, visiting children devote themselves to projects using waste materials; such as making greeting cards for their parents from used CDs and experimenting with the various creative uses for a broken computer mouse. Such initiatives not only stimulate the children’s creativity and self-confidence, but also make them aware of the usefulness and reusability of various materials. 1.3 Economic Effects

Investment and Payback Period The Center prioritizes improvements based on their potential for increasing energy efficiency. The Center conducted research and development projects regarding energy conservation in air-conditioning and lighting systems, such as a split-type air-conditioning system and a motion-sensor lighting system. For measures that require substantial investment, the Center focuses on two factors: return on investment and the payback period. In addition, the Center prioritized improvements to systems that required higher power consumption; such as installation of a high efficiency chiller, insulation at the glass wall in the server room and tinted film for the glass envelop throughout the building. For measures that require yearly investment, the Center considers projects based on the proposed budget. Measures that do not require significant investment are implemented on a continual basis. The results of overall energy conservation measures are shown in Table.


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1.4 Energy Efficiency Index (EEI)

Since the Center's core research and development projects in electronics and computer technology have been continually increasing, the amount of equipment and numbers of personnel are also increasing, accordingly. The research equipments mainly consists of computer network equipment which must be stored in a dedicated, air-conditioned room 24 hours a day. Hence, when looked at in isolation, total energy consumption for the whole building may not appear to be greatly reduced. However, when compared to increases in the amount of utility space, numbers of personnel and volume of research projects; the energy consumption index per person per area shows a steadily decreasing trend every year.

The above table shows the comparison between the Specific Energy Consumption

index before and after implementation of energy conservation measures. In 2008, Specific Energy Consumption was 185 units/square meter. After energy conservation measures were implemented in 2009 and 2010, the Specific Energy Consumption was reduced to 169.7 and 167.54 units/square meter, respectively. As a result, the Center was able to reduce total energy use per person by 16.02% in the two year period from 2008 until 2010. The Center will use the value of Specific Energy Consumption in 2010 as a benchmark to set targeted decreases for the year 2011.

2. SUSTAINABILITY

2.1 Level of Participation and Involvement

A Working Group on Energy Management was formed, and the server room operator became a member. Therefore, the “Green Data Center” project was established to apply proper conservation measures in the server room. The researcher team in the working group is interested in developing energy-saving technology. The current working group consists of personnel from various divisions; ranging from a member of upper management acting as a chairperson to engineers, researchers and representatives from human resources and organizational development, public relations and facilities management. This combined effort leads to the most effective energy management possible for the organization.

During the initial phase of a new energy conservation campaign, the facilities management section is responsible for setting goals and measures which focus mainly on the engineering perspective. However, in order to achieve overall energy conservation goals, everyone in the Center needs to be involved. As a result, the human resources and organizational development section has helped build cooperation among employees in the Center by encouraging both researchers and support staff to join Community of Practices (CoPs).

CoP are activities that encourage members to share their knowledge in an informal way. Every member is given an opportunity to share ideas that could become actual practices in


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the Center. Some activities are organized to promote cooperation among employees, such as: Monthly Energy Saving Champion, planting trees on NECTEC's 24th anniversary, 60 Earth Hour (2009 – 2011), 1-hour lights out everyday between noon-1PM, Big cleaning and saving activities and energy conservation awareness education for newly hired employees during NECTEC orientation. In addition to the activities within the organization, the Center also conducts activities to build awareness of energy conservation in society, and especially for children. Such activities include science camp, children's day and sharing knowledge with children in remote areas.

Knowledge Sharing (Community of Practices) Current CoPs consist of Go Green, Energy Saving Champion, Technical Energy Saving, 5S Activities, Paperless Smart Meeting and Internal Quality Auditor. CoPs are the part of the knowledge management process which encourage employees to share their ideas, knowledge and experience with other members. The members also develop campaigns to disseminate knowledge to

other employees in the organization. Each CoP is formed with 10-15 members and organizes related activities once a month. Some examples of recent and effective CoPs included: Energy Saving Champion

This is an active energy conservation campaign, where every employee commits to help reduce energy for the floor on which their office is located. This activity is organized once a month and the staff from the winning floor are treated to an afternoon snack. The winning floor is also recognized with a poster displayed in the building.

Planting trees on NECTEC's 24th anniversary

Under “NECTEC Go Green” campaign, management and employee representatives from each floor helped plant trees on NECTEC's 24th anniversary. Due to the success and popularity of this campaign, the Center plans to repeat this activity as availability of green space and budgetary considerations allow. One

proposed idea includes creation of a rooftop garden. 60 Earth Hour/1-hour Lights Out

The 1-hour Lights Out at lunchtime is a program that helps instill energy-saving habits often intuitive in the home, in workplaces where more wasteful practices have been prevalent. Switches for overhead lights have been installed at individual workstations, employees can turn them on manually as needed and everyone is encouraged to turn them off at lunch time or when they are not needed. From these activities, energy can be saved in the amount of 338 kWh/day. The total energy saved is 81,120 kWh/year.


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Big Cleaning and Saving Week

Employees can bring empty bottles and cans and use them to win prizes playing a “saving bingo” game. This activity helps build awareness of the importance of presorting garbage.

Survey of Employee Attitudes Toward Energy Management of the NECTEC Building

The survey is conducted annually to obtain employees’ opinions and raise awareness about energy management programs.

2.2 Top Level Management Commitment

The “NECTEC Go Green” campaign, which promotes energy and environmental conservation, could not be successful without the cooperation of everyone in the organization; especially the great support of upper management and the executive board. Dr. Pansak Siriruchatapong, Executive Director of NECTEC has taken the lead in prioritizing conservation policies and includes “NECTEC Go Green” in the 2011 Balanced Scorecard.

The key performance indicators (KPIs) include reduction of power consumption, reduction of paper usage, Green IT and knowledge sharing within the organization. In order to maximize the efficacy of these KPIs, a Center policy encourages researchers to perform research on potential energy conservation projects. For instance, the motion-sensor project was initiated and served to improve the energy conservation KPI from 2007 until the present. Policies are communicated to all employees via various channels.

However, in addition to the education and planning efforts, the cooperation of every employee must be secured in order to achieve energy conservation goals. Therefore, the Working Group on Energy Management and Evaluating Group on Energy Management were formed to ensure that measures are implemented in a manner that promotes their fullest potentials and according to planning for the entire organization.


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2.3 Short Term and Long Term Plan

Management System: The conservation policy and KPIs are set in the Balanced Scorecard. Every year the policies and KPIs are reviewed to ensure compliance with current laws and regulations.

Equipment: A preventive maintenance plan has been developed. Energy consumption from equipment is monitored daily, so that suitable maintenance and replacement plans can be determined in accordance with the useful life of each piece of equipment.

Personnel: Knowledge sharing and training are provided to employees and general public on a regular basis.

Current measures will be continued. The future plan for years 2011-2013 is shown in Table.

2.4 Organization

2.4.1 Established or Improved Organization for Energy Management

The Center formed two working groups. The Working Group on Energy Management, mainly focuses on short-term planning and implementation. The Evaluating Group on Energy Management provides input, oversight and longer-range planning.

Community of Practices (CoPs)

5S Activity

Safety Health and Environment

Awareness Technical R & D

Energy Evaluating Group

Executive Director

Energy Management Group


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2.5 Capacity Building

2.5.1 Activities : Projects/activities applied for internal and external organization.

The “NECTEC Go Green” project is aimed at promoting and encouraging energy and environmental conservation. The project focuses on building upon the collaboration of every employee in the organization, and also with general public. In the beginning, messages related to energy and environmental conservation were sent out to relevant parties. This one-way communication was later improved to help promote multi-directional input, employee participation and multi-disciplinary activities, such as:

Internal activities:

posters in lavatories, common areas and work stations.

5S activities for creation and innovation include :

installation of LED light bulbs, motion-sensor light controls and mini cooling pads.

NECTEC personnel cooperated in various energy-saving projects. Examples are automatic light controls in fire escape area, temperature control of the building's air-conditioning system, automatic power management system, automatic light controls in lavatories, automatic light controls in hallways and the overall energy management program.

NECTEC personnel voted to choose a logo for Go Green.

Monthly Energy Saving Champion.

Planting trees on NECTEC's 24th anniversary to increase green areas in the organization.

60 Earth Hour (2009-2011).

1-Hour Lights Out (between noon-1PM daily).

NECTEC Walk Rally to provide knowledge on energy-saving.


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House cleaning and cost-saving activities engage employee cooperation to help save energy, presort garbage and save costs in the organization through playing games like “savings bingo.”

External activities

The Center incorporates social and educational activities that help children build awareness of energy conservation into science camp, children's day and knowledge sharing with children in remote areas.

2.5.2 Educational Training

In addition to focusing on energy conservation measures, the Center also realizes the importance of employee education. Internal and external educational trainings are conducted on a regular basis. Off-site visits are organized so that employees at every level of the organization may gain greater understanding of energy conservation. They are encouraged to apply the knowledge they gain, not only in their work but also in their personal lives.

The types of educational training the Center utilizes can be divided into 4 general categories:

1. Individuals who have primary responsibility for energy management take a “Person Responsible for Energy” (PRE) training course, at regular and advanced levels.

2. The Working Group on Energy Management takes training courses to learn about the energy management process.

3. Employees take a training course to learn about basic energy saving, conservation concepts and techniques and to build their knowledge and awareness.

4. Temporary staff members such as technicians, security guards and cleaning staff get


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3. REPLICABILITY

3.1 Management Practices and Measures

Despite the current global warming crisis, energy consumption problems are increasing and effect every entity. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of every organization to be aware of the problems and implement solutions in any way possible. Of course, organizations should support energy-saving policies and follow future energy consumption plans that are issued by their governments. However, in order to make these policies most effective, every organization should make the greatest effort possible to improve their members’ knowledge, awareness and implementation of energy conservation practices.

As a result, NECTEC has conducted various activities to educate society, especially the children who have the greatest potential for the guiding the country's development in the future. Moreover, NECTEC also encourages other public and private organizations to visit and learn from the experience gained by the Center. These activities include:

Printing calendars under the topics “global warming” and “energy” to promote knowledge and interest in science and technology. These calendars were distributed to over 4,000 schools and universities.

Co-organizing an exhibition with Friends in Need (of “PA”) Volunteers Foundation to teach children how to creatively use broken computer devices. For example, children learned how to make a clock out of a used CD.

Organizing “Search for Global Warming and Thai Knowledge” at the St. Louis School to teach students about global warming.

Organizing a “Self-made Science Book

Project” exhibition at Talad Bangbo School, Chachoengsao province. Also organizing “Children's Day on the Science Road” activities for educational institutes throughout the country. These activities aim to encourage children to become interested in science and scientific topics such as global warming and energy.


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Public relations activities promote energy

conservation within the organization by providing knowledge, techniques and reminders on how to reduce energy consumption in our daily lives.

Hosting a visit from the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency.

Participating in a panel discussion on “Promotion and Control of the Public Controlled Building Project” to share conservation with other organizations.

In 2010, the Center was selected from 12,000 public buildings to be 1 of 9 pilot green public buildings in the large building category.


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3.2 Technologies

3.2.1 Non-investment Projects

Using a Chiller System Control program to improve the efficiency of the Chiller.

Using a Building Automation System (BAS) to control power switches for air-conditioning and the ventilation system inside the building.

Using a Two Wire Remote system to control power switches for the lighting system in the central area inside the building.

Installing rooftop Sky Lights to help save electricity cost by utilizing natural light inside the building during the daytime.

3.2.2 Investment Projects

Installing tinted film on the glass envelop around the building.

Installing a high-efficiency Chiller.

Installing a Cooling Pad to improve the performance of the Chiller.

Installing a Variable Speed Drive (VSD) in the air-conditioning system.

Installing pull switches for overhead office lights, and encouraging employees to use power in the most efficient manner possible.

High-efficiency Chiller

Cooling Pad Tinted film Variable Speed Drive

Pull Switches

Building Automation System

Rooftop Sky Lights and Garden

Chiller System Control program

Two Wire Remote system


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From the technology-based measures stated above and measures designed to raise the

consciousness of employees, the Center calculated that power consumption was reduced by 828,950.29 kWh for an investment of 4,553,725 Baht with a repayment period of only 1.57 years.

4. ORIGINALITY

Creativity/Innovation

The Center aims to encourage its personnel to research and develop their own, novel ideas for effective energy and environmental conservation technology and practices. The Center has provided both budgetary and human resources support for the following research projects. 4.1 Paperless Meeting Management System

This information technology system is designed to be a tool to increase personnel productivity. By using this system, employees’ awareness of energy and environment conservation have been fostered and both time and financial costs have been reduced. The benefits obtained from this system include reduction in the amount of paper used to organize meetings, reduction of storage space, reduction in the costs of materials and labor used in collecting and filing documents. In 2009, the Center consumed 6,005 reams of paper; while in 2010 the number was reduced to 5,286 reams. This reduction of 719 reams is equivalent to 1,725.6 kg of paper. This figure can be translated into:

Reducing numbers of trees cut to make paper by 29 trees.

Reduction of power consumption used in production processes by 7,075 kWh/year.

Financial savings in the amount 24,762 Baht/year.

Reduction of carbon dioxide emission by 5,140.07 kg.

Reduction of water used in production processes by 54,356.4 liters.

Reduction of chlorine released into the environment by 12.08 kg. 4.2 Motion Sensor Light Control System

This system is used to control lighting system in various areas; such as lavatories, fire escapes and the central hallway. This system was developed by a NECTEC research team, hence there was no need to buy an expensive system from outside

Motion Sensor

Motion Sensor LED Lamp


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vendors. The system is designed for ease of use and installation, thus financial and time costs were both reduced in its implementation and operation. In addition, the developed prototype is affordable and can be commercialized. After installing this system, the Center's power consumption decreased by 11,515.59 kWh/year. 4.3 Turbo ICE system for Condensing Unit

This system helps reduce the temperature around the compressor. After installing this system, power consumption decreased by 12.34%, which is equivalent to 23,739.6 kWh/year.

5. OUR GOALS AND ACHIEVEMENT

Turbo ICE

“Not only to achieve the goal of energy sustainability and environmental conservation within the organization,

but also to promote knowledge and research supporting Green initiatives, attitudes and practices throughout

Thai society.”


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