Press Advertising
Client: Toshiba Air Conditioning
Objective: Reinforce Toshiba's credentials as experts in the field, and demonstrate Toshiba's stance on environmental issues.
Target audience: air conditioning specifiers and installers, facilities managers and building services managers.
The campaign consisted of an advertisement in the trade press, and a document which was mailed to respondents. The content of the document was also used in editorial in later trade press.
Advertisement:
(Image - minefield at sea. Mines bear legends 'EC Regulations', 'Montreal Protocol', 'Climate Change Levy', 'Building Regulations')
We'll guide you safely through the environmental legislation affecting air conditioning.
If you have air conditioning, or are planning to invest in it, you must ensure that you are aware of the threats from impending legislation.
International concern about global warming and ozone depletion is generating stringent new laws and regulations, including the prohibition of certain refrigerants and the imposition of stricter controls on energy usage.
Toshiba's commitments to environmental responsibility, and our reputation for product quality and reliability, mean that we are perfectly placed to keep you up to date - and ensure that your system complies with the new legislation.
To find out more, complete the coupon and post it to FREEPOST Toshiba Air Conditioning, or fax it to 01844 266301. Alternatively call the Cool Line 01844 217514.
Coupon:
Please tick all the appropriate boxes:
I would like to know more about the environmental legislation affecting air conditioning
I am interested in attending a Toshiba seminar on the subjest
Please contact me to discuss my air conditioning needs
I am a buyer of air conditioning
I am an air conditioning consultant/specifier
Follow-up document
Toshiba Air Conditioning's Survival Guide To Environmental Legislation
Introduction:
The international community has identified two major issues affecting the environment: ozone depletion and global warming. It is believed that modern industrial processes and materials are the principal causes of both of these problems and, as a result, a number of legislative measures are being introduced. This document is intended to give an overview of the regulations currently in force, or in planning stages, which will affect facilities managers and building services consultants.
The legislation stems from policies created at international meetings (principally the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol) which are then implemented by individual countries in the form of directives, regulations and laws. Much is still under consideration and discussion, but it is clear which way the rules are going to go.
The UK is implementing a Climate Change Levy – a form of energy taxation to encourage business users to reduce energy consumption.
If you are not prepared, these measures could have a significant financial impact on your business. The cost of compliance will be affected by a number of factors: some manufacturing companies may need to rethink production processes, and certainly every business will need to ensure that its plant and facilities comply with the rules and retain a useful and versatile working life.Additionally, energy efficiency will become increasingly important.
By specifying and installing Toshiba Air Conditioning you can be confident that your air conditioning system will comply with all the relevant legislation. You can also rest assured that your system is designed to operate efficiently and reliably for its full lifespan without unpredicted early obsolescence.
Ozone Depletion
What does it mean?
Everyone has now heard of the ozone layer, and will know that it is becoming thinner: indeed when dramatic loss of ozone in the lower stratosphere above Antarctica was first observed in the 1970s, it became known as the 'hole' in the ozone layer.
Ozone in the stratosphere is essential for life on Earth. It plays a key role in the temperature structure of the Earth's atmosphere, and absorbs some of the potentially harmful ultra-violet radiation from the Sun, which can cause skin cancer and damage to vegetation and the marine world.
What is thought to cause depletion?
Most of the blame for ozone depletion is being put on halocarbons and chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs): substances containing various compounds of the chemical elements chlorine, fluorine, bromine, carbon and hydrogen. These substances are among the most commonly used in industry, including agriculture, plastics and foams, pharmaceuticals, electronics, solvents and refrigeration.
Once used, they are often unrecoverable (indeed, until recently they were thought to be harmless and so there was no attempt to recover them) and they escape into the atmosphere.
What is being done about it?
The Vienna convention of 1985, followed by the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, established a strategy (revised and amended at four subsequent meetings) with the ultimate objective of eliminating ozone-depleting substances.
The target set in 1987 was to reduce production and use of CFCs by 50% by the year 2000, and total eradication by 2030. Subsequent measures by governments and federations, formulating legislation within the framework of the Montreal Protocol, mean that some countries or groups of countries (including the European Community) will phase CFCs out before the internationally-agreed deadline.
As a result some manufacturers of equipment using CFCs are introducing plant designed to work with 'friendlier' substances. For example, air conditioning equipment is being redesigned to use HFCs (such as R407C) instead of CFCs (such as R22), ahead of the legislated deadlines. This is important for the specifier and user, who should be alert to the fact that CFCs will cease to be available before the life of the equipment has expired: additionally, spares may be difficult to obtain, and it will not be possible to extend or modify systems using old technology.
There is also a need for users and installers to instigate best practice in such areas as installation, service, maintenance, leak prevention and chemical recovery.
What legislation is resulting?
The legislation that will affect the UK will be a combination of laws enacted by the UK Government as a result of directives from the European Community, and regulations issued direct by the EC.
As outlined above, the Montreal Protocol proposed the total elimination of CFCs by 2030: the current EU regulation requires that they become unavailable by 2015 and, at the time of writing, there is a likelihood of this date changing to 2010.
Additionally there is a proposal for legislation to prohibit the sale of equipment designed for use with CFCs for refrigeration purposes as early as 2003.
Global Warming
(also known as Climate Forcing and the Greenhouse Effect)
What does it mean?
There has been a noticeable increase in climate temperature during this century, which is attributed to human activity. Agriculture (in particular animal husbandry) and deforestation contribute to global warming, but the principal cause is believed to be a build-up of carbon dioxide (among other gases, including CFCs) in the atmosphere, trapping heat and reflecting it back to Earth.
The principal source of CO2 is the burning of fossil fuels for power generation. As a result there is increasing pressure to reduce the worldÕs power consumption.
What is being done about it?
In 1992 leaders of the worldÕs nations met at the Earth Summit in Rio to discuss the need for sustainable development. This was followed by the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (1997), at which policies were established to reduce the effects of global warming.
Mechanisms being considered as a result of the Kyoto Protocol include measures to improve the energy efficiency of machinery, the possibility of implementation of energy efficiency targets, and the likelihood that current building regulations will be rewritten to improve the thermal efficiency of existing and new building stock.
Manufacturers need to react by designing equipment to run as efficiently as possible, which may mean totally re-engineering products, especially where chemical components are incorporated (for example the change from CFCs to HFCs). This may become even more important if the EC introduces energy efficiency labelling, as it has on refrigerators, freezers and washing machines.
What legislation is resulting?
Under the Kyoto Protocol, Britain is legally committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% by 2008 to 2012, compared with 1990 levels. However the UK Government has set itself the target of a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2010.
The immediate impact on your business will be felt through the Climate Change Levy, and changes to building regulations, both of which are discussed in the following sections.
Climate Change Levy
What is it – and does it affect me?
In the 1999 budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a measure designed to reduce carbon pollution by 1.5 million tonnes, by introducing a levy on business use of energy from April 2001.
Commonly referred to as the Energy Tax, this levy will affect everybody in the commercial sector and will be applied to every unit of energy consumed.
The scope for energy conservation, and the drive for energy efficiency, will be wide-ranging. You can be assured, however, that Toshiba will continue to develop its air conditioning equipment to be as energy-efficient as possible.
Building Regulations
What is likely to change?
As mentioned earlier, the Kyoto Protocol identified that the fabric and function of buildings can be investigated to assess their impact on the environment. The much talked-about Part L of the building regulations (affecting energy retention and usage) is currently in consultation, in an effort to tighten up on the performance of buildings.
Will it affect old and new buildings?
It is evident that any change to building regulations will have an immediate impact on new buildings. However the proposals currently under consideration would affect existing stock as well.
While new buildings will have energy efficiency standards applied at the design stage, it has been suggested that all non-domestic buildings should undergo regular performance testing and maintenance Ð effectively an MoT for buildings. Initially this is likely to be for systems where checking and measurement is relatively straightforward (boiler efficiency, pipework insulation, lighting etc) but the remit could be extended with time, as knowledge and experience of the system grow.
It has also been suggested that a requirement for keeping basic information about the energy efficiency of a building be introduced, in the form of a log book. This would record base data known at the time of construction (e.g. treated floor area, equipment capacities) as well as recording on-going operating performance and maintenance data.
When will Part L take effect?
Changes to building regulations are currently at consultation stage, but it is anticipated that firm proposals will be announced towards the end of 2000 or early in 2001.
Conclusion
We can't claim to have a crystal ball, but we can give an informed view on what is a very fluid situation regarding future legislation. What's more, you can be assured that Toshiba will maintain a close watch on developments and continue to deliver air conditioning products which meet or exceed the standards laid down by law, both in terms of re-engineering to accommodate new refrigerants, and in optimum energy efficiency.
More information can be obtained from the following web sites:
Montreal Protocol: www.
ICI Chemicals: www.
Kyoto Protocol: www.
Climate Control Levy: www.
Building Regulations: www.
For more information about how Toshiba is dealing with these issues, or for information about Toshiba Air Conditioning, please contact...
