Jeffrey Tang and Keith
Tang, scions of Tang Choon Keng, founder of the Tangs store, have
found new business pursuits in indoor
environment quality.
The two brothers must have forgotten what a
cough and clearing a blocked nose sound like.
After all, the only sickness they have heard
around them in recent times is diarrhoea.
The advantage of not having anyone sick in the
office or at home, muses Jeffrey, is that they
don't go scooting off in a car or taxi.
This reduces energy consumption and, or
possibly, pollution. The financial burden
of the medical bill is also relieved, not to
mention that an organisation with generally
healthy staff must have higher efficiency.
He credits it to the indoor environment quality
or IEQ, which both their offices and home
maintain. This is the thrust of IEQ's
Global business.
A NEW HERITAGE BEGINS - To date,
these two self-professed crusaders for a healthy
environment have converted more than 50 per cent
of the hotels in New Zealand under their
Heritage Group to adhere to and achieve the
internationally recognised the Green Globe
certification.
The Group started in 1993, when their father
Tang Wee Cheng relinquished control of the then
Dynasty Hotel to their uncles. According
to The Straits Times, as part of a divestment
strategy, they took the cash proceeds of $50
million to New Zealand to start the Heritage
Hotel chain, which includes both hotels and
serviced apartments and is part of the Dynasty
Hotel Group.
The brothers have been inseparable partners ever
since - Keith is naturally left-handed and
Jeffrey is right handed. They even have
complementary traits. Keith is more macro
and creative in his views and outlook, whereas
Jeffrey is the "backroom engine" that takes care
of details and execution. Keith formulates
his thoughts over time and Jeffrey seems faster
off the block, which is probably why he is
taking most of the questions at our interviews,
with Keith chipping in occasionally.
THE GREEN CRUSADE - "As a country, New
Zealand has always been known for its strong
belief in the green movement. They would
not allow things that would destroy nature to
even touch New Zealand. There's a very
strong principle there to protect the country
and its resources," says Jeffrey, the Heritage
Hotel group's managing director.
The green culture is so strong in New Zealand
that during the renewal of contracts, partner
companies have asked the Heritage Group what
environmentally friendly practices they follow.
Hence, the group will convert all its Heritage
hotels in New Zealand to eco-friendly standard
by 2009.
Jeffrey is encouraging about companies going
green and reveals that it is not necessary to
put forward "life-changing actions." He
says that simply by turning the air
conditionings in the building one or two degrees
down. It is possible to conserve energy
without any adverse impact on the staff.
He goes on to explain that each of us takes
20,000 to 25,000 breaths every day. But
because we are breathing the air circulating in
and out of the air conditioning system while we
are indoor, and the system may not have been
properly cleaned in years, we should check the
air quality and clear up the air so that we can
breathe better. IEQ Global provides
solutions such as AHU and ventilation ductwork
system maintenance (ACMV) and energy saving
methods for offices and buildings.
The Heritage hotels undertook costly measures
during conversion, reassessing all their
equipment and their energy consumption, to be
more eco-friendly. Along the way,
chemicals had to be changed; new machines to
track specific measurements were bought and
occupancy censors were attached in every room to
work in conjunction with the automatic energy
saving switches, Careful planning enabled
them to incorporate these changes as part and
parcel of the hotel's refurbishment, which takes
place every seven to eight years.
CLOSING IN ON THE ENVIRONMENT
- It is with
their lofty aspiration to improve indoor
environment quality, save energy and be green,
that the Tang brothers launched IEQ Global in
Singapore late last year.
With IEQ Global, the brothers aim to be the
specialists who can help companies ensure a
standard of quality in the indoor air,
ventilation, noise, illumination (lighting) and
temperature.
The star product distributed by IEQ Global is
HealthWay's EMF Air Purification systems.
This is said to be the world's only air
purification with EMF technology, developed with
U.S Defence Department in a research study to
counter germ warfare.
Suffice to say, this is the ultimate weapon
against germs and bacteria in the environment.
Unlike most conventional filtering systems, EMF
filters not only trap airborne particles, but is
tested to kill up to 100 percent of viruses,
bacteria and fungi up to 0.3 microns small.
What IEQ Global can do for a start is to conduct
an indoor air quality (IAQ) audit. In
buildings where air conditioning system has not
been properly serviced for years, the brothers
made shocking discoveries - yes, even in our
clean and green citystate.
Apart from dust and dirt, IEQ Global has found
dead birds and rats decomposing in air
conditioning ducts. This could lead to
health problems, especially for people wit
respiratory problem such as asthma, when they
breath in the air from those ducts.
Jeffrey recalls finding a 1977 copy of a
newspaper in one building's duct, so apparently,
its ducts has not been cleaned for 30 years.
Fortunately, the Tang brothers have also seen a
number of responsible clients who have engaged
them to clean up their systems. The Tuas
Incineration Plant is one such client with
regular 'clean-ups' to avoid debris collection
and prevent health risks to their staff.
Keith elaborates that indoor environmental
problems are found not only in old buildings,
but in new buildings as well.
"Most people don't understand new buildings come
with alot of particles. The smell from
your carpet, for instance, is due to new
chemicals that are very dangerous to your lungs.
But you don't know whether the 'new smell' you
detect are good or bad to your body until the
chemical reactions in your body occur. So
you need certain apparatus to turn these around.
We have been doing this." Jeffrey adds, "we take care of a building's
respiratory system."
READING THE AIR - Indeed, the air indoors
can be two to five times as polluted as the air
outdoors, according to the Environmental
Protection Agency which placed it among the top
five environmental risks to the public health,
The Washington Post reported recently. The
problems primarily lies with homes populated by
mites, molds, bacteria, dander and volatile
organic compounds, which create a hostile
environment for those who are especially
sensitive, such as asthmatic children under
five.
"My daughters and son are all asthmatic,: says
Jeffrey. "Unfortunately, I live within an
area now under massive construction. So
the air around got so bad that I have to close
all windows, which means relying totally on my
air conditioning. But that also means
totally recycled air, since there is no fresh
air from outside. This build up of carbon
dioxide is not good for us either. So what
we've done is that we switch HealthWay's air
purification machine on for the whole day.
On particular day when we are out, we kept
sneezing. But once we got home and closed
the door, we stopped sneezing. It really
makes a difference." Keith adds that his mildew
problem at home was also resolved by using the
machine to circulate fresh air all around.
Jeffrey, who visited various countries with his
air quality counter late last year, says: "In
New Zealand, up on its highest peak, Mount Cook,
I drove as far as I could and got the outdoor
air pollutant particle count of around 90,000.
In Singapore, it is three million on a normal
day that is not hazy, and around seven million
on a hazy day. In Shanghai, it was eight
million and in New York, the readings I got were
around 12 million."
Looking at these figures, Singapore certainly
has a long way to go. This also means that
the act of cleaning up our air, starting from
indoors, is only just the beginning, We
shall wait with bathed breath.
