KUALA LUMPUR, 2 June 2009 - Sime Darby Bhd today launched “Switch!”, an energy efficiency initiative targeted at over 10,000 households in townships developed by the Group in Shah Alam, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya and Klang.

Under this initiative, each household is encouraged to exchange old incandescent bulbs (ordinary bulbs) for new energy-saving (ES) bulbs. Compared to an ordinary incandescent light bulb, an ES light bulb of equivalent brightness uses up to 80% less energy and lasts almost 10 times longer.

In this first phase, Sime Darby is offering 100,000 ES bulbs for exchange at a heavily discounted price to any Sime Darby home in Subang Jaya, UEP Subang Jaya/USJ Heights, Bandar Bukit Raja, Ara Damansara, Denai Alam, Bukit Jelutong and Putra Heights.

Each household in these townships can purchase a box of eight (8) ES light bulbs at RM50, discounted from the usual retail price of about RM160. The bulbs will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Those who wish to participate in the programme must register in advance at www.simedarby.com/switch. The website is open for registration from today, and Sime Darby residents wishing to participate have one month to register, or until the 100,000 bulbs run out.

When they register to participate, Sime Darby residents from these townships can choose online where they would prefer to collect their bulbs. The four collection points are the Sime Darby sales galleries at Ara Damansara, Bandar Bukit Raja, Wisma UEP Subang Jaya or Sime Darby Pavilion in Bukit Jelutong. For convenience, participants will have two weeks from 25th July 2009, the date of the launch event, to make the switch at these galleries.

As an added incentive to switch to a more energy efficient lifestyle, Sime Darby is collaborating with the Energy Council of Malaysia (ECOM) to design a special competition for households that show significant reduction in their average electricity usage in the 12-months after the launch of the event.

Besides ECOM, this Sime Darby project is done in partnership with lamp-producer OSRAM, which is manufacturing a special batch of ES bulbs for the event, and Kualiti Khidmat Alam, which will handle any old bulbs that homeowners may wish to dispose of when they collect their new ES bulbs.

Sime Darby Property Managing Director YTM Dato’ Tunku Putra Badlishah says the event will have a significant and wide-ranging impact. “Switching bulbs will help people realise that being energy efficient does not mean radically altering their existing lifestyles. Further, we have designed the programme to run over a year, to highlight that we need to switch attitudes as well as practices if we are going to make a difference,” he noted.

The results of this and other ‘Switch!’ programme activities will form the basis for designs of  future energy-efficient and sustainable townships, as well as help existing Sime Darby township residents contribute to efforts to address the global challenge of climate change.

“We want to help Malaysians become conscious of the energy choices they make,” said Dato’ Tunku Putra Badlishah. “If we can switch people onto the many small differences they can make at home everyday, the cumulative savings will be dramatic – both to their own energy bills and the planet as a whole,” he added.

Switch! is part of Sime Darby’s greater commitment to promote and practise energy efficiency throughout its own business operations and also by empowering consumers and the communities that use its products and services.

Sime Darby believes it is important to encourage efficient use of energy in households, reduce wastage of electricity and reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. The release of 100,000 bulbs into the community in the first phase of this ‘Switch!’ initiative reduces CO2 emissions by 65,000 tonnes.

The ES Bulb Programme is the first activity under Sime Darby ‘Switch!’ initiative and is supported by Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA), Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ), Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya (MPSJ) and Majlis Perbandaran Kelang (MPK). Sime Darby will progressively conduct awareness-building and other energy efficiency campaigns in the future.

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