Building Investment (November-December 2020)

SUCCESS STORY: Politeknik Merlimau Melaka
ESCO: Taiace Engineering Sdn Bhd
Politeknik Merlimau Melaka (PMM) started its operation in 2002
as the 14 th polytechnic established by the Ministry of Education.
Built on a 100-acre of land, PMM has a gross floor area (GFA) of
approximately 95,480m 2 with a total of 43 blocks of buildings
comprising management offices, academic classes, workshops
and laboratories, hostels and staff residential buildings, and etc.
Over the years, PMM has also increased its building size
to accommodate the growing student population and opening
of new facilities. Consequently, this resulted in high electricity
consumption of 201,654kWh recorded from year 2008 – 2011,
and accumulated a total of 5,845,857kWh over a decade of
establishment. Through an energy audit conducted in 2011,
it is determined that the air conditioning systems and lighting
installed at the campus were the major source of electricity
consumption some of which have not been upgraded for more
than 10 years.
In 2012, PMM became the first government agency to
implement energy efficiency improvements through EPC when
it signed a 80-month contract with Taiace Engineering Sdn Bhd,
an ESCO selected by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE),
to improve energy efficiency in its building and reduce its utility
costs without requiring initial investment by the government.
Among the energy savings measures carried out by the ESCO
throughout the contract period include retrofitting the buildings
with energy efficient features such as:
• Replacement of fluorescent light bulbs, HPSV street lighting,
CFL globe light bulbs
• Installation of high efficiency split air conditioner
• Replacement of water cooled package units hydrocarbon
• Cooling tower pump management during working days and
holiday mode
Apart from the retrofitting exercise, the ESCO also performed
preventive maintenance services on the energy efficient features
installed at regular intervals without interfering with the daily
operation of the polytechnic.
The EPC contract between is signed with guaranteed
energy savings of 10% by referring to one-year baseline before
implementation, with payment for services rendered will be
derived from the energy savings achieved according to the agreed
ratio of Taiace 80%: 20% Politeknik Merlimau Melaka.
Since the implement of EPC, PMM has achieved an
outstanding 29.84% savings as shown in the graph below:
Since the successful implementation of EPC at Politeknik
Merlimau Melaka, the built environment, comfort and safety at
the campus has immensely improved. Moving forward, PMM
aims to implement renewable energy features such as a solar
system in its buildings and hydroelectricity as an alternative
energy source at campus.
Nov-Dec 2020 | www.b-i.biz 21