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Topic: Architecture & sustainable design

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nikzafri
Senior Member

Joined: 15 June 2005
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Posts: 1339

Posted: 26 August 2008 at 3:31pm \| IP Logged

mbsbstaff-by-email wrote:

Encik Nik Zafri, are you the same person who sent an invitation card for the officiation ceremony of the Fibreglass Water Tank in Puchong recently? Can I have more info?

Hi back, are you from Malaysian Building Society Berhad (I notice the mbsbstaff)? Yes it's the very same Nik Zafri, I assure you.

But I'm very curious of where did you see that invitation? For whom it was meant to originally - if I may know? As a matter of fact, I don't recall sending the invitation to MBSB...(unless this MBSB means something else)

Can I make a small correction? It's not Fibreglass Water Tank, it's Fibreglass Reinforced Plastic (or Polymer) Hot Pressed Moulded Water Storage Tank.

I'm actually one of the consulting panel and not in any way have shares/interest in the company. The company's market is mainly UAE with one of the subsidiaries of the reputable Bin-Zayed Group.

My job over there is to help out the company's long term business plans focussing (for the time being) the possibility of exploring local market - specifically on the issues of :

a) Vendor Development Program

b) Capital Financing possibilities via avenues of grants and perhaps SME

c) Business Diversification (as composite materials can be applied to construction industry (e.g. Fibreglass Reinforced Concrete), Aerospace and even military applications)

That's all for now..I don't want readers to think that I'm a salesman or something. :-)

Anyway, if you have any business interest, you can call 03-8060-4040 and talk to Encik Azman or Encik Zahari. I rarely go there except when required - so I won't be there all the time - so don't put your hopes to speak to me - I'm just a 'small guy' over there.

Edited by nikzafri on 26 August 2008 at 3:37pm

__________________
NIK ZAFRI
dibm,cwep,itsc,
mmim,miqm,ircauk(qms/audit),
ohsas18K-sirim/sts,ems14K-tij
conquas cidb-sing,sga/qcc/tot iol.
Consultant/Trainer KM,QOSHE,ICT

gleearch
Senior Member

Joined: 25 July 2005
Location: Outside
Posts: 234

Posted: 02 August 2008 at 12:14am \| IP Logged

On another note:
See what China is up to.
China is not a democracy but because it has a totalitarian government it can do things others cannot. So this is a model we can't expect to see in other countries. In most countries there are competing interests that work hard to ensure nothing gets done.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7535839.stm

China has leap frogged almost everyone but Germany in renewable energy. They obviously have a problem with pollution now but at the rate they are going, they may become fairly self sufficient from foreign oil and be able to reduce their dependency on coal.
Probably means they will sell coal to other countries. Clean up their environment and let others pollute.
Make money at the same time.
Not handing over your capital to foreign countries for oil is the same as earning that money. Savings.

At the same time notice that some of the oil producing countries in the middle east are also investing in renewable energy. Why? Smart money. Sell your rapidly diminishing natural resource at current high prices before it's completely gone. By using renewable energy they use less oil for domestic consumption and have more to sell at these high prices.

__________________
Seeking a better future through sustainability
http://www.gleearchitects.com
------------------------------

gleearch
Senior Member

Joined: 25 July 2005
Location: Outside
Posts: 234

Posted: 02 August 2008 at 12:08am \| IP Logged

Thermal solar as opposed to photovoltaic solar tends to be very efficient. Thermal because it heats water directly for use within the building/ house. As opposed to conversion to electric power via photovoltaics. This is a really simplified explanation.

Most commercially available systems perform very well and they heat the water indirectly. From personal experience talking to a home owner who had installed "water crickets", he had to disable one and cover up half of the other because they were working too well.

I don't have any info on that new system.
My personal tendency is to let new systems debug themselves first. See how it performs over time in real world applications as opposed to controlled laboratory testing. Problem with that is that if nobody tries it, it never gets a chance to be field applied.

You probably will want to gain an understanding of your hot water consumption first. Then look at comparable systems, their output, reliability and installation costs. Maintenance costs comes in if you pay somebody to periodically clean the panels for you and service the system (usually low).

That has an attractive side benefit. Once you know how much you have been using. You can calculated how much savings you have each year. Subtract that out from the total installation costs and you will see when your system actually pays for itself. From then on it's all savings.

Edited by gleearch on 02 August 2008 at 12:18am

__________________
Seeking a better future through sustainability
http://www.gleearchitects.com
------------------------------

lilianGM
Senior Member

Joined: 08 April 2006
Location: Outside
Posts: 1723

Posted: 01 August 2008 at 7:19pm \| IP Logged

Hi all,

I am very interested in the solar hot water system called Microsolar which was designed by a Msian architecture student and am seriously contemplating installing one at our home. Reason for my interest is it claims to be the most efficient design on the market and uses evacuated tube technology to improve efficiency. The solar hot water system here in Au that use similar technology cannot be run at mains pressure and has to heat the water by an indirect heat exchange system. This will obviously result in loss of efficiency and a more complicated installation.

My question is does anybody on this forum have any first hand experience with this product? If u have, can u pls share your experiences? Thank you.

http://www.microsolarsystem.com

cheers
Lilian

gleearch
Senior Member

Joined: 25 July 2005
Location: Outside
Posts: 234

Posted: 29 July 2008 at 6:17am \| IP Logged

Check this out:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/07/28/wind.energy/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
China as usual intends to leap frog when it comes to technology instead of just evolving it's present energy technology.
Right now they have the resources and the capability to just do whatever they want and in this case to become the dominant wind generation energy producer.
They know they can't afford to pay high oil prices too. Nobody is that rich.

Edited by gleearch on 29 July 2008 at 6:18am

__________________
Seeking a better future through sustainability
http://www.gleearchitects.com
------------------------------

gleearch
Senior Member

Joined: 25 July 2005
Location: Outside
Posts: 234

Posted: 28 July 2008 at 7:49am \| IP Logged

They are positioning themselves.
Waiting for the time when the market changes in Asia and they start to play catch up with Europe as far as renewable energy is concerned.
I didn't mention the US because while it has installed sizable renewable energy infrastructure it's lagging behind Europe. Plus this President likes fossil fuels.

Let's wait till whoever becomes the next president comes around to dealing with energy.

You should check up on the Pickens Plan. Just Google it.
It's a huge start into a new market. Trading renewable energy credits. It's energy and energy is worth money. Since sustainability is very "in" now in the US, there is a big push for all things green.
It's a growing market and when you have high gasoline prices pinching consumers pockets, it becomes market changing.
2 years ago everyone had to have their big gas guzzling SUVs. Never mind that most of them never went off road, ever. Now it's small cars and hybrids.
The price of oil is going to screw with everybody's pocket book, regardless of which country they reside in.
No country can afford to subsidize the price of gasoline for it's citizens for long. Not at these prices. It would bankrupt the country or result in them using up whatever oil supplies they have in the ground.
You think at this prices that the Saudis would pump more if they could?
The funny thing is that the US actually has huge reserves but mainly in areas they can't drill in. The irony is that China will start drilling just a few miles off US shores soon. Yup, they have an agreement with Cuba. Since oil reservoirs don't recognize borders, they technically would probably be pumping oil belonging to the US.
However any additional pumping for oil is only short term. Like I said before it's a limited resource and will run out eventually. It's non renewable.

So whoever catches the wave with renewable energy and dominates stands to win big time. You only pay up front cots and some maintenance costs. You don't need to buy any raw material to refine or process. Your overhead is kept low and over time you get to increase price. Huh!! Better than oil.
Especially if you can legislate to prevent every tom, dick and harry from doing the same thing. Require regulation of the industry and licenses to operate. Make it so expensive that only large energy firms can do so.
Watch what happens.

__________________
Seeking a better future through sustainability
http://www.gleearchitects.com
------------------------------

nikzafri
Senior Member

Joined: 15 June 2005
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Posts: 1339

Posted: 24 July 2008 at 12:51am \| IP Logged

Well..well..whaddoyouknow Gerard...our once favourite subject is back..so..any comments...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Star Business - Wednesday July 23, 2008

First Solar opens RM2bil plant in Kulim Hi-Tech Park

By V. CHANDRASEKARAN

KULIM: Kulim Hi-Tech Park is a step closer to becoming a manufacturing hub for solar panels with the official opening of US-based First Solar Inc's inaugural RM2.2bil plant yesterday.

Kedah Industry, Investment, Science and Innovation committee chairman Amiruddin Hamzah said other investors in the industry were also showing interest in the park.

Ą§If everything goes well, we plan to turn Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) into a hub for solar panels manufacturing,Ą¨ he said yesterday.

Amiruddin said this after officiating at the plant opening on behalf of Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak.

The first solar panel manufacturing operations in Asia, First Solar occupies a 40ha site, making it the biggest investor in the park in terms of land area.

First Solar makes solar panels or thin film photovoltaic panels used for generating solar power for export to Europe.

It started its first plant in Ohio in the US nine years ago, opened its second plant in Germany last year and its third in KHTP.

First Solar president Bruce Sohn said the new plant would create 2,000 jobs.

Ą§When our four plants are up and fully running late in 2009, the 16 lines will be churning out over 700 megawatts (MW) of the companyĄŚs 1 GW of worldwide capacity ĄV 70% of our total output,Ą¨ he said.

On local content, he said it would be about 10% compared with 50% at its German plant.

He also said First Solar was keen to expand in the region but had no immediate plans.

__________________
NIK ZAFRI
dibm,cwep,itsc,
mmim,miqm,ircauk(qms/audit),
ohsas18K-sirim/sts,ems14K-tij
conquas cidb-sing,sga/qcc/tot iol.
Consultant/Trainer KM,QOSHE,ICT

gleearch
Senior Member

Joined: 25 July 2005
Location: Outside
Posts: 234

Posted: 27 May 2008 at 12:31am \| IP Logged

Agreed. Good businessmen understand the value of the services they procure. Those who don't understand it, well...

The other thing is respect. Some assume that because they are paying for your services that you are on their beck and call 24hrs. It's a silly attitude to have.
If you treat your vendors and consultants well they will for the most part return the favor.

__________________
Seeking a better future through sustainability
http://www.gleearchitects.com
------------------------------

nikzafri
Senior Member

Joined: 15 June 2005
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Posts: 1339

Posted: 26 May 2008 at 2:04pm \| IP Logged

Yes Gerard. I know what you mean. I've been having this kind of problem ironically in our very own country. Some people think that they are true businessman/businesswoman and so calculative (stingy would be the right word) and in the end :

"What so expensive aaah? I don't think I can afford it 'lah'..you do first 'lah'..then we see 'lah' effective or not!"

I will include some 'globalmalaysians' who sneaked in here to 'steal some free information' or 'to get some free advice'

But I must express my highest respect for those (esp. the non-'my race') who knows my price and quickly offered a quite a fair offer initially and later some very handsome sum after seeing 'breakevens and profit margins' - in short 'RESULTS'

For a real CEO who knows how to read and appreciate figures, they will quickly detected 'investment now vs profit in the future'.

I told all my clients that I can only guide you with the system but I can't guide 'human's attitude'.

Edited by nikzafri on 26 May 2008 at 2:06pm

__________________
NIK ZAFRI
dibm,cwep,itsc,
mmim,miqm,ircauk(qms/audit),
ohsas18K-sirim/sts,ems14K-tij
conquas cidb-sing,sga/qcc/tot iol.
Consultant/Trainer KM,QOSHE,ICT

gleearch
Senior Member

Joined: 25 July 2005
Location: Outside
Posts: 234

Posted: 26 May 2008 at 8:15am \| IP Logged

Naw,
Just popping in once awhile.
Just too busy. But I popped in and read that PM and his other post. I really wonder about people who think professional services can be had for free. Like asking a doctor to perform surgery for free or a lawyer to try your case for free.

Anyway, besides the point now.

I passed on information to the building product supplier about LEED. Now they have to do their homework if they really want to sell towards the LEED market.

Edited by gleearch on 27 May 2008 at 12:28am

__________________
Seeking a better future through sustainability
http://www.gleearchitects.com
------------------------------

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