Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Energy Conservation in Governmant Building

ENERGY CONSERVATION IN BUILDING: STUDY ON
AWARENESS AND PRACTICES AMONG MALAYSIAN
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES


Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Zin Kandar1, Prof. Dr. Hamdan Ahmad, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Syed Ahmad
Iskandar bin Syed Ariffin
Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknnologi Malaysia Skudai Johor, Malaysia.
1 mzin@utm.my; drzin2000@yahoo.com

Presented in ICCE Indonesia 2009

ABSTRACT

Buildings are responsible for at least 40% of energy used in most Countries. The absolute figure
is rising fast, as construction booms, especially in developing countries including Malaysia. Since
energy consumption is identified as one of the major cause in climate change issues, effort to
reduce energy consumption in building is considered an important strategy. Energy conservation
in building can be achieved through three strategies; i.e; the physical design of the building; the
electrical equipment used in the building; and the behavior of the building users. This paper
discusses the study done on building user behavior and practices in Energy Conservation. It is
essential to investigate the status of awareness, knowledge and practices among building users
because building users determine the pattern of energy consumption. Government of Malaysia
has been actively developing policies, initiatives and programs in energy conservation not only to
improve Energy Efficiency practices in the country but also in combating global warming
through the reduction of fossil fuel consumption in building sector. Government also set 10%
reduction target of energy consumption in all government building in 2006. However the
response by the public is still slow. This paper presents the investigation carried out on the level
of awareness and practices among government employees. The survey has been carried out on
employee to examine the level of understanding and the initiatives organised in government
offices. The results show that, up to 70% of government employees understand about energy and
85% understand EE, however practices on energy conservation individually and collectively are
still low (about 50%). This can be the reason why the program initiated by the government
cannot be implemented successfully. Other reason for the low EE practice is due to the lack of
initiative and program within the organisation/department. The paper also suggests that
strategies to organise training and campaign should be done to increase Energy Conservation
Practices among government employees to achieve EE target set by the government.

Keywords: Energy Conservation, Energy Efficiency, Awareness & user behavior, Education,
Government Building.

STUDY ON EE AWARENESS & PRACTICES

According to a study on Malaysian public awareness and practices on RE & EE done by the
Centre for Education and Training in Renewable energy and Energy Efficiency (CETREE) to
Malaysian General Public in 2001 and Malaysian Teachers in 2002, (Mohd Zin, 2003) revealed
that the average of 42.6% of the general public did not know how to explain energy and
approximately 84.8% of the general public had no understanding of energy efficiency.

The study was not done to the government office employees in the government administrative
building. Thus this particular study is based on several EE government objectives and policies as
discussed earlier. The prime question is whether the government has achieved its target or
whether government employees are aware of their responsibilities to achieve EE target?
The study addressed questions such as: what is the level of awareness & knowledge on energy
among government employee? Is the level of awareness & knowledge on EE among government
employee sufficient? Is there any organised effort or initiative to improve EE awareness and
knowledge among government employees? Is there any policy or mechanism related to EE
program and how are the information delivered to the general staff in their organisation? What is
the level of practices on EE in their own home and in the office? Is there any relationship? Does
knowledge & awareness on energy & environment lead towards their EE practices in their office?
What are their opinions on EE program in their office and what should be the possible steps to
improve EE practices? What are their limitation, support required and options to implement EE
practices?
Generally the questionnaires are divided into several stages: Stage 1 is to examine respondent‟s
general knowledge on energy & EE; Stage 2 is to examine respondent‟s specific knowledge on
energy & EE; Stage 3 is to examine respondent‟s commitment based on his/her knowledge &
practices on energy & EE at his own individual level as well as his/her surrounding.
The target population is Malaysian government employees at federal and state level. After
analyzing target population in Malaysia, sampling population is focused in government
employees in the Johore state. Sampling is made by random after listing government departments
available in Johore.
The survey was distributed to government employees based on the sampling population identified.
185 questionnaires were answered by employees from several government departments and
agencies including local authority, federal government office, state government office and other
government agencies.

Knowledge on Energy, RE & EE
The study reveals that 70% of respondents among government employees understand what
energy is. 15% doesn‟t understand energy and 15% didn‟t know or didn‟t answer. Comparing
with the survey done by CETREE among teachers in Malaysia in year 2000, government
employees in 2008 have 10% higher knowledge on energy.
Regarding to the understanding on RE, 59% of respondents understand what renewable energy is.
15% doesn‟t understand energy and 15% didn‟t know or didn‟t answer. It can be concluded that
41% did not understand RE.
On the question to examine their understanding on environmental aspect related to energy, only
33% of respondent among government employees understand energy generation causes
environmental impact. However 70% of respondent among government employees understand
fossil fuel burning causes global warming and 78% respondents agree, excessive energy
consumption causes country‟s burden.

Awareness on Energy & EE
76% respondents monitor energy consumption in their home which indicates their concern and
awareness of what they consumed. 91 % are aware of their electricity at their home and 86%
practice EE at home. 59% are aware of EE in their office, 44% agree that in their office,
electricity equipment is always „ON‟ without user. Unfortunately only 29% know there is a
National EE month organised by central government.

Practices on Energy Efficiency
86% says they practice EE at home, but only 51% practice EE in the office. Asked about any
effort on EE implemented in their office, only 33% says yes.


Energy Efficiency Initiatives in government offices

The study also examine initiatives or effort at organisation or department level. The question
investigate regarding „memo‟ or „instruction‟ circulated, program, project or any effort that can
be implied as EE program or EE initiatives in their office. Analysis of the questionnaires reveals,
only 27% says that there is „memo‟ or „instruction‟ to implement EE in the office were circulated.
Asked when was the memo circulated, 26% says that the memo was circulated in the year 2006,
14% says in 2007 and 12% says in 2008. From 27% answered above, only 28% says the
instruction was implemented (about 7% of the total respondent). On other question related to the
EE activity, 24% says there is an EE campaign in their office and only 5% of them declare there
is a project on EE implemented in their office.


Energy Saving Potentials

The study also investigate another level of government employees analytical views related to EE
and energy saving potentials. Views and suggestion from respondents are received. The analysis
reveals that 48% of government employees believe that there is a potential of electricity saving in
their office and only 5% says no saving potential. However about 47% are not very sure about the
potential savings.
Asked about choices to implement EE in their office, majority (41%) suggest through EE
campaign (awareness and education), 17% suggest through regulation imposed in their office and
14% suggest through training.

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