The Greening of Your Office
Enhancing the environmental protection efforts of your office and operations can significantly cut costs, improve your public image, and synchronize your operations with goals of the Chinese government to reduce energy usage and pollution. Bekaert Asia President and Group Vice President Herman Vandaele explains how.
By Charmaine N. Clarke
COMPANY PROFILE
Activity/Industry: Bekaert is a technology-driven business which produces and markets a wide range of products based on advanced metal transformation and advanced materials and coatings.
Main Business Units: Advanced wire products, advanced materials, advanced coatings.
Global Performance: In 2007, Bekaert reached a combined sales level of euro3.4 billion in 120 countries and employed more than 20,400 people. The company operates 96 plants across the globe.
China Operations: More than 15 percent of Bekaert’s worldwide sales revenue are now realised in Asia. The company has 14 joint ventures or wholly owned companies in China, including an R&D centre, a trading company, and the regional HQ for Asia. The company has roughly 6,000 employees in China.
Herman Vandaele
What a difference 0.05 mm makes. That’s how thick the film is which now covers all outward-facing windows and doors on the CEIBS Shanghai campus thanks to a donation of Solar Gard materials supplied by Bekaert. Representatives of the company expect the window filming to cut energy used for heating and cooling the school by 10 percent annually - a savings of up to ¥400,000 per year.
More than 3,000 square meters of filming were installed throughout the CEIBS main campus last December. The project was part of the school’s Green Campus Initiative launched by MBA students in 2007 and now being continued by the 2008 class. The initiative seeks to incorporate environmentally friendly practices into campus life at CEIBS.
The window filming project, in which Bekaert donated ¥600,000-worth of film, plus labour, was part of the Belgium-based company’s CSR efforts. As Bekaert Asia President and Group Vice President Herman Vandaele explains, the move dovetails well with the goals of the Chinese government to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent before 2010.
With its 128-year history in Europe but just 16 years in China, Bekaert is now solidifying in Asia the excellent reputation it has built up in other parts of the globe. For example, the Solar Gard window film used at CEIBS has been globally recognized for its effectiveness. Company representatives are happy to point out that the Clinton Climate Initiative named the product as a “key energy-saving resource” and teamed up with Bekaert to use the film to reduce energy consumption in public and commercial buildings in the United States. Bekaert’s window film is also the product of choice for the Stena Line ferry company.
In addition to helping other organizations become more energy efficient through the use of its breakthrough products and initiatives, Bekaert has also focused on reducing energy consumption during production at its 96 plants around the globe. The company recently signed a ‘benchmarking covenant’ with the Flemish government which commits Bekaert to a series of energy reducing investments in its plants. The terms of the agreement will also be used, where applicable, in other plants worldwide, including here in China.
SOLAR GARD FACT FILE
Main Uses: Glass windows and doors in residential and commercial buildings, automobiles, boats.
Product Lifetime: More than 25 years
Note: Keep an eye on upcoming issues of The LINK and the school website as CEIBS tracks our energy usage this summer and records the improvement.
Mainly operating as a B2B firm, Bekaert is not yet a household name for many consumers in China - but this may change as the company aggressively promotes the benefits of its products in terms of conserving energy. As more companies reduce and conserve energy, the savings can be passed on to end-users. The China market, in which energy conservation and environmental protection are rapidly gaining recognition, has become increasingly important in recent years. Today, China’s emerging domestic market offers Bekaert an enticing opportunity to assist the country in meeting its environmental protection goals while also boosting its own profit margin.
In this issue, Bekaert Asia President and Group Vice President Herman Vandaele tells The LINK about the role his organization is playing in China’s current and future efforts to become more energy efficient. His interview also offers many practical guidelines for managers in China who are seeking to cut costs and boost public awareness through improving energy efficiency in their operations.
TheLINK: Can you explain some of the ways in which Bekaert has helped its clients improve energy efficiency and cut costs, methods that may be used by other energy-conscious companies in China that are trying to reduce their carbon footprint without sacrificing profits?
HV: Here in China, Bekaert invests in products and new technology with a very positive impact on the environment. For example, Bekaert’s window film, consisting of a thin, infrared-reflecting but optically-transparent coating on a polyester film - the one that was installed at CEIBS - is used for solar control of buildings and cars by reducing the heat load and thereby reducing the energy needed for cooling.
Attaching solar control window film to an architectural window significantly increases the thermal comfort, resulting from the blocking of a large amount of solar heat. Window film also blocks UV light, preventing fabrics - for example furniture coverings - from fading. The installation of solar control window film has a large effect on the energy consumption of air conditioning systems. Simulations have shown, and this is scientifically proven by external parties, that the installation of our most recent type of window film on the windows of a typical Shanghai office would result in yearly average saving in air conditioning costs of up to 39 percent. Those particular window films also have a safety component. If the glass breaks, the window film prevents it from scattering.
TheLINK: Can you give some specific examples of the effective use of the product here in Shanghai?
HV: After we installed window film for the Shanghai Municipal Mansion, facility administration tested the energy-saving effect. The result was that the temperature of the room installed with Solar Gard window film is 2.63 degrees lower than that of the room without film. There was also a 40 percent savings in energy consumption.
Another example is the Shanghai Construction Industry Management Office Building. The whole curtain wall of this building was equipped with Bekaert architectural film. As a result, the building cut the number of air conditioner sets from four to five, for the same cooling effect. In addition, indoor temperature has been lowered by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius. So, there was lower investment and also lower recurring costs.
TheLINK: What other products or services, apart from window filming, can significantly cut a company’s energy use?
HV: One example is Bekaert’s highest volume product - steel cord - which is used for the mechanical reinforcement of radial tires for trucks and passenger cars. Any reduction in the weight of steel that is needed for tire reinforcement will reduce fuel consumption, which in turn reduces the environmental impact. Under the same conditions, a radial tire can save 7 to 10 percent more fuel than a tire without steel reinforcement.
Another example: In northern and central China, there is an increasing [residential and commercial] demand for space and water heating via gas boilers. The capability to burn different gasses efficiently makes Bekaert’s burners very attractive for use in condensing boilers. In comparison with a conventional boiler, a condensing boiler is up to 20 percent more efficient and the carbon dioxide generation is up to 20 percent lower.
TheLINK: How does Bekaert itself practice energy efficiency?
HV: The basic production process at Bekaert is the transformation of steel wire rod - which is purchased on the steel market - into thin, high-strength and coated steel wires. The cost of the energy needed in this transformation process is a significant part of the total conversion cash cost, amounting to more than 30 percent of the conversion cash cost in emerging countries.
Therefore, any reduction in the amount of energy needed in our production process not only adds to the company’s performance in terms of environmental sustainability, but is also needed for sustained profitability, especially in countries like China. Bekaert recognizes that, while development efforts in Western countries focus primarily on improving production processes through cutting labor costs, in emerging countries, more attention must be paid to the development efforts related to energy reduction.
Bekaert pursues total stakeholder value as an essential part of its core business, taking into account the impact of its operations on customers, investors, employees, schools and universities, business partners, local communities, governments and nongovernmental organizations. That’s why Bekaert integrates an Environment, Health and Safety policy into its strategy of ‘sustainable profitable growth.’
Bekaert’s environmental policy is made up of the following key building blocks: full legal compliance with a proactive approach, minimal impact on the environment, rational use of resources and energy, firm commitment towards stakeholders, and development of new technology and products for reduced environmental impact.
TheLINK: What changes have you seen recently in the China market, in terms of energy efficiency? How is Bekaert responding to these changes?
HV: In the last few years, we’ve seen a tremendous change in the environmental protection attitudes, objectives and targets of the Chinese government. Environmental care - especially energy saving - is becoming very, very important. This is true not only for the national government but also for local governments.
We know that environmental care - including safety and the reduction of raw materials and energy use - is one of the biggest challenges now faced by the Chinese government. The problem is that a change in environmental care, and a reduction in energy consumption or in pollution, is not achieved overnight. It takes time and effort.
Still, we see the will to do this. The Chinese government is providing a lot of support and financial help in order to get there. That’s where Bekaert is also contributing, through its presence in China. We can offer a number of products that match precisely with the government’s objectives. We have 11 [manufacturing] sites [in China] that are operating at international standards. Besides that, we supply products that contribute directly to the environmental protection needs of the government.
It is indeed profitable growth for Bekaert, being able to take part in that evolution of the needs in China, and at the same time it helps make China a better place in which to live.
