Faced with rising costs, smaller firms find innovative ways to cut their bills

Faced with minimum wage obligations and rising raw material costs, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have had to find new ways to keep their financial heads above water - and saving energy to preserve the bottom line appears to be one of the favored solutions.

Tung Fong Hung Medicine Company Limited, a Hong Kong-based Chinese medicine store which sells bird's nest and dried seafood, is a case in point. The company saved HK$40,000 on its yearly electricity bill after adopting a tailor-made energy program for its spot lighting.

According to Trevor Lee, the area manager at Tung Fong Hung, retail shops have special requirements for their lighting, which is of crucial importance to preserve the quality of their medicine and the presentation of their products. After replacing 160 pieces of original 50 watt halogen lamps with 7 watt LED lights, the shop's electricity costs for the year were reduced a whopping 50 percent.

"The payback period is expected to be one-year and we are planning to extend the replacement (of the lights) to all of our 20 retail shops in phases," said Lee.

Tung Fong Hung is one of the more than 200 members that signed up with CLP Power's Green Plus Programme, an initiative launched in August last year, which was aimed at providing Hong Kong SMEs and NGOs with energy-saving ideas.

"Everybody in the city is faced with the pressure of rising costs," said Richard Lancaster, managing director at CLP Power Hong Kong. "We hope to work with SMEs and NGOs to save energy by innovating the way they operate. This is sound investment for them. On average, they can save 10 to 20 percent of the energy they use."

Meanwhile, Eric P C Cheung, who is stationed at the program's Shamshuipo Centre with around 40 colleagues, meets and talks to SMEs who are interested in fighting rising electricity bills.

According to Cheung, registered members include a broad range of organizations including offices, retail outlets, schools and academic institutions, as well as NGOs. The membership fee is a "symbolic" HK$1,000, although sometimes even that can be waived on a case-by-case basis, according to Cheung.

CLP assumes an advisory role in the program, including taking on tasks such as energy efficient building design, conducing site inspections, analyzing energy consumption, and suggesting options for energy-saving equipment.

"It is up to the SMEs to decide if they want to pursue the strategy. Sometimes they are inspired by our suggestions and come up with their own ideas," said Cheung.

One such example is Cool Kitchen Restaurant, which reinvented its business operations to embrace the concept of low carbon.

Like most local-style restaurants, it also has a steamer cabinet to prepare Dim Sum. But to make use of the wasted or excess steam, CLP suggested that Cool Kitchen should install a heat exchanger on top of the cabinet, heating up water for washing dishes or cooking.

According to the restaurant owner, who only identified herself as Iris, the entire system will help the eatery reduce its energy costs by more than 30 percent per year. The heat recovery steam system costs HK$20,000 and is expected to payback within a year.

China Daily

(HK Edition 05/26/2011 page3)