The Banknote Management Group Facility, Bank of Thailand was officially started to operate on Monday, October 15,2007 Its main function is to produce and release of new notes also to collect old to be recycled from the circulation. The organization structure is divided into five main departments; Banknote Issues Department, Note Printing Work Department, Banknote Strategic Planning Department, Accounting and Supply Department, and Human Resource Management and Development Department. The Banknotes Management Group Facility has moved from the Bank of Thailand Headquarter in Bnag-Khumprom District, Bangkok with the constrained of the location. The location was simply too limited for any expansion of the facility and the upgrade to accommodate the increased volume of the banknotes production. Therefor the Bnak of Thailand had approved of the new Banknotes production facility site at Tambon Khun Kaeo Nakhon Chai Si district. Nakhon Pathom with the area of 60 acres, the new location is also plentiful for the future expansion.
The design of the facility was based on Green Design concept with the energy efficiency in mind. The concept focused on two different aspects :
1) Passive Conceptual Design.
The layout of the whole area emphasizes the use of natural elements to help with the ambient environment, such as canals, landscape with plenty of green area. The smart selection of materials also helps to effectively protect the buildings from nature and environment; it has served as well-insulated shell to the building.
2) The Active Conceptual Design.
In this aspect, the engineering design of all the equipment and systems aim to maximize the production and performance while minimizing the power consumption. New technologies are also integrated into the systems and equipment, while the Building Automate system assists in controlling and monitoring all activities at real time.
The Banknote Management Group is consisted of 14 buildings. A group of six main building are Banknote Production buildings, Banknote Operation Office building, Ink Production building, Data Center 2 building and Clubhouse building. As shown on Figure 3 for the different energy consumption in each building. The Banknote Management Group has been managing the overall energy consumption very effectively since the start. However the vary of the energy consumption depends mostly on the volume of banknote that needs to be produced, which depends on the amount of banknotes exchanges with all the commercial banks in Thailand.
Management Practices and Measures
Through the successful activities of energy conservation campaign at the Banknote Management Group which can be categorized into two parts; internally, the knowledge has been promoted to all the staff and visitors. While externally, the knowledge and technology transferred can be shared to the other 6 sub-branches throughout the country, as well as sharing and promoting to all visitors and nearby communities of the Banknote Management Group.
Internal Network
The Banknote Management Group has been providing full trainings in energy conservation to all the staff regularly and continuously. As a result, employees are well trained with the up to date knowledge and proper skills. Particularly as proven at the Power Supply Section, who is directly responsible for the energy conservation campaign, since this is an engineering sector who oversees the power quality supplies to all facilities. The supporting staff in this sector can provide information and proper advices on how to conserve the energy in various fields. They are contributing with the small group activities in each sector to set measure plan to achieve the tangible result. They also help monitoring the activities and the energy consumption while providing reports monthly. Overall, with the satisfied result from the energy conservation campaign within the Banknote Management Group, the energy committee also organized the measure plans in energy conservation to share with its six other Regional Banknote operation centers throughout the country to be implemented; Phisanulok Banknote Operation Center, Nakhonratchasima Banknote Operation Center, Ubonratchathani Banknote Operation Center, Rayong Banknote Operation Center, Suratthani Banknote Operation Center and Phangnga Banknote Operation Center.
External Network
The Banknote Management Group is open to the public weekly for those who may be interested in learning about the history, the production of the banknote. During the visitation, the guide also includes the knowledge about the energy conservation practice as to raise the awareness in energy campaign to the public. There is an average of 10,000 visitors per a year.
The Banknote Management Group also participates in various activities. At the elementary schools in the nearby communities, BMG staff would spend a visit and teach the proper handling of banknotes in helping to extend the lifetime usage of banknotes. The new banknote is now produced with the cotton fiber instead of paper to promote the Green Concept as the slogan on the National Children’s Day, “Conserve energy, conserve banknote, handle with hands hold it with your heart, make Thai note last longer.”
Environmental Effects
· Evaluation of the reduction of carbon dioxide emission from the result of the energy conservation
The amount of CO2 emission at the Banknote Management Group after the replacement of the more efficient production machinery and the activities through the energy conservation campaign in the past 4 years (2009-2012) has been reducing consistently. The improvement of the energy consumption has been reduced by 4,884,026 kWh, which is equivalent to the reduction of the CO2 emission by 3,548.32 Ton CO2.
- The management of wastes and pollutants towards recycle project
The Banknote Management Group has been certified with ISO 14001 for its outstanding environmental management system, which is focused on managing the waste materials, waste water pollution and air pollution continuously and effectively. The waste materials from the production lines of different facilities are separated before delivering to the professional waste management. For the waste water and the air pollution from the production is treated and controlled to meet the standard criteria set by the environment law, where it has been tested and measured by the outsource specialist frequently.
Banknote Management Group gives great concerns over the waste materials; the organization has set the standard to reuse the waste material as much as possible in aiming to reduce the amount of waste that can greatly affect the surrounding community and the environment. In addition to that, the recycle also helps cut down on the cost of the replacement. Commonly, the waste materials arise from the production line and working process can be reused and recycled by the staff. However, some of the hazardous waste or the non-recycle material will be sold to the third party to be destroyed properly. Even the waste water from the production line is treated in the water treatment facility and then discharge into the canals surrounding the landscape, and use the treated water for the plants in the garden, instead of releasing it into the city drains. Some of the scraps like paper from the banknote production are used to make souvenir and accessories such as pens, key chains, etc. Broken wooden pallets and plastic can be rebuilt into a new pallet. Moreover, the used cell battery from large truck is commonly rebuild into a smaller size cell battery for a smaller car, the ink-lining cloth and ink carriage from the printer are also reused as a spare part.