'Do More With Less'

”How Comfort Management is increasing energy efficiency in Singapore one building at a time.

- Sharon Masige

For Fatt Seng Lim, Managing Director of Comfort Management, it’s the little changes we make that can do wonders for environmental sustainability. “To me, that’s something very simple,” Fatt Seng tells The CEO Magazine. “In everything you do, try to do it with less. When you do more with less, it means you don’t use a lot of resources or energy.

“About 10 years ago we changed all the lights in our office, even though the price was exorbitant. When we decided to add more space and more people, we tried not to renovate too much. Instead, we tried to make do with what we had. We also encourage everybody to switch off the lights when they leave the office. All these practises must come from the individual. Then we can promote this to our clients.”

With heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) systems accounting for nearly 60 per cent of a building’s energy costs, Fatt Seng saw an opportunity to help building owners lower energy costs and increase efficiency.

After spending 15 years working for Carrier, a major US air-conditioning company, Fatt Seng crossed over to airconditioning manufacturer Trane. At the time, he realised that customers were looking for something extra when it came to their HVAC systems. “There were more demands for services that did not fall within the business charter of multinational corporations back then,” Fatt Seng explains. “Those years, what the customer wanted was basically energy efficiency and true comfort; the idea that when you walk into a building, you should already feel comfortable. Unlike before when air-conditioning systems just blasted either very cold or very warm air.”