Johnson Controls, the global leader in delivering products, services and solutions that increase energy efficiency in buildings has appointed Karl van Eck as Regional General Manager for Africa for its new Global Energy Solutions division. This division will offer services to assist organisations to better manage their energy usage, reducing green house gas emissions and operating costs while creating a more comfortable and safe environment for building occupants.
Van Eck has a background in financial and general management but has always had a passion for conservation. His experience in this arena ranges from developing game lodges to assisting the City of Johannesburg with its City Parks department – positions in which he has gained an appreciation for the planet and the importance of preserving scarce natural resources.
“The world has an energy and green house gas problem and there are a number of ways to solve it,” suggests Van Eck. One way is to make an effort to save resources through energy and water efficiencies in buildings and industry.
Another is to make use of renewable energy solutions. We make buildings work by integrating energy and water efficiency with renewable energy technologies while providing cost savings that offset the improvement costs.
This is what Johnson Controls’ new Global Energy Solutions division is all about.”
Van Eck is also Director of Shared Energy Management, a joint venture company created between Johnson Controls and Spoormaker & Partners, a designer of Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems for buildings. Shared Energy Management provides innovative ways to save energy and utility consumption without deployment of major capital. Its efforts have resulted in electricity and water savings approaching R100 million per year for its customers.
Forty percent of all energy consumed is used by Public and Private sector buildings, making the need to lower energy consumption a vital one given the global drive to lower emissions. In South Africa, the rising cost of electricity is creating additional demand among businesses to increase energy efficiencies. Says Van Eck: “With the environmental and economic forces combining, the market is looking for practical solutions to reducing energy needs and it is in order to meet these needs that Johnson Controls is investing to form its Energy Solutions business in Africa. This business when combined with the established presence of Shared Energy Management, will provide companies with the broad based support and implementation of energy saving and renewable energy solutions that they increasingly need.”
The solutions that the Energy Solutions division delivers start with an assessment of the energy, water consumption and operations of a building or portfolio of buildings. Coming out of this assessment, the Energy Solutions team works with the client to develop an integrated energy savings or renewable energy solution that Johnson Controls will not only engineer but deploy with a guaranteed fixed price. It’s not just the price that is guaranteed, as in conjunction with providing system maintenance; Johnson
Controls will guarantee the savings until the cost of deploying the solution has been paid back, eliminating any risk of expected savings not being achieved.
