Turn green, save more

Across the world, consumers are having a change of heart when shopping for electrical appliances. Where once features, design and pricing took precedence, more and more customers are now asking how much electricity the machine they are contemplating to buy consumes.

And the UAE is no exception. According to Anamika Priyadarshi, the retail and marketing manager for the Better Life chain of home appliance stores, there has been increased awareness in customers who are now asking sales staff how much damage their home appliance could cause their pockets.

"We are seeing this growing trend amongst our customers across all stores," she says. "They are enquiring about each of the products they wish to buy and making sure they know how much electricity it consumes."

The motive for more people going green in the UAE, Priyadarshi reckons, is quite different from worldwide trends where rising oil prices is leading to surging electricity costs – and where customers are demanding manufacturers to comply with their energy requirements.

"In this country, it is not so much rising costs, not at the moment, but increased awareness," she says.

"More people are realising just how much they can save if they used energy-efficient products."

And for manufacturers and retailers, going green, it seems, is making good business sense now more than ever.

Despite the lack of standards in the UAE, manufacturers are beginning to address the issue and are making their products more environmentally friendly due to more stringent policies in other developed markets, says Ashish Panjabi, COO of Jacky's Electronics.

"Many manufacturers have also been working hard to constantly reduce the electricity requirements of LCD televisions for example, and a brand like Sharp has been successful in nearly halving the power requirements of their televisions in the last six years," he says.

From washing machines that use steam instead of hot water to refrigerators that use low energy compressors to low power computer screens, electronics companies are furiously developing energy-efficient products and promoting them to get an edge over their competitors.

Better Life is all set to launch their range of Siemens dishwashers which consumes only 10 litres of water, while most models use up to 18 litres.

"You are cutting your usage of water by half and saving electricity," says Priyadarshi. "If you are washing by hand, you use an average of 40 litres per wash."

Samsung Electronics this month revealed two new phones, the W510 and F268 at the World IT Show in Seoul.

Made from environmentally friendly products, some of these products feature alarms that encourage users to unplug their chargers when devices are fully charged – a result of the company's effort to develop more renewable and eco-friendly materials, says Sandeep Saighal, the general manager of hand held phones at Samsung.

The official adds that customers are increasingly assessing products based on their environmental friendliness.

"We are trying not only to launch more environmentally-conscious products with more renewable material that are less energy consuming, but also to expand proactively by setting up a phone recycling system," he says.

BenQ recently launched their new line of "green" monitors. "The new LCD monitor models have a unique 2-lamp design feature that has several benefits over conventional 4-lamp displays by saving substantial energy and drastically reducing carbon dioxide and mercury emissions by 25 to and 50 per cent," says a spokesman.

Better Life's Priyadarshi says customers can stake their green claims by insisting on products with energy efficiency ratings (see graphic). "Most of our appliances are standardised European products, which come energy rated so customers can make their own judgements," she says.

"But when we say energy efficient, we do not compromise on products or performance. These products are not only highly efficient; they are very good when it comes to performance. And they help to contribute something to society."

Jacky's Electronics' Ashish Panjabi agrees. According to him, the absence of stringent energy laws in the UAE should not deter customers asking for energy-efficient products.

"Although it is not mandatory in the UAE, the Energy Star certification is something you can look out for when purchasing as many products here carry the certification," he says. "Energy Star is a standard implemented in the United States and in order for a product to obtain an Energy Star status, it must meet certain requirements with regards to power consumption, emissions, etc. A lot of the IT vendors are already adopting Energy Stars on their products such as Samsung for their LCD monitors and Sony for their Vaio range of laptops."

"In the refrigerator category, most products today are now CFC-Free which means they are more Ozone friendly. You can expect to find CFC-Free refrigerators from brands such as Sharp, Toshiba, LG, Panasonic, Hitachi, Venus, Indesit, Bosch, Siemens and Ariston."

"For washing machines and dishwashers, it is wise to ask if a product has a "AAA" rating as this means it consumes less power and water. Brands which have "AAA" products include Hoover, LG, Bosch, Siemens, Indesit and Smeg."

Better Life's Priyadarshi says her chain is constantly in talks with suppliers about changing consumer demand trends in energy-efficient products. "Our manufacturers are quite aware. We are partnering with them and making sure that the product that we bring in are highly efficient and that it is our responsibility to create awareness."

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