Savills Asia Pacific, with over 40 offices in the region, will be taking part in what promises to be an amazing an inspiring event in the fight against climate change - Earth Hour, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, by switching off all non-essential lighting for one hour on 28th March, 2009.
Savills Asia Pacific will join corporations, organizations, governments and individuals in more than 2,800 cities and towns in over 80 countries around the world in supporting Earth Hour, which begins at 8:30 pm local time. Tens of millions of people from all corners of the world are expected to participate in this call for global action on climate change.
Robert McKellar, Chief Executive Officer, Savills Asia Pacific, said, "It is a small gesture to make, but one that every company and individual should seriously consider if we are to begin the process of trying to claw back the years of environmental damage inflicted on our planet".
In addition to turning off the lights, all Savills offices across the Asia Pacific region will be shutting down all computer systems during that hour. The IT department will automate the shutdown of all desktops at 8:30pm sharp and at the same time shutting down all server farms in many of our offices. This would be the first time for Savills Asia Pacific to command such a large scale shutdown.
Initiated to join this meaningful campaign, Eddie Overington, IT Director of Savills Asia Pacific, commented that IT services consume a majority of the company’s power usage, “Savills’ growth over the years had led to larger and more powerful IT services. It’s important that we as a company manage our carbon footprint and with the use of modern virtualization and streamlined IT services, we can keep our print to a minimum.”
Savills Asia Pacific has a total of 40 offices throughout the region, covering the major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Macao, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Bangkok, Sydney, Melbourne, and with Hong Kong as the Headquarters.
Earth Hour, initiated by WWF in 2007, had 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses in Sydney, Australia turned off their lights for one hour. It caught the world's attention when its icons like the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House turned their lights off. In 2008, 50 million people in 370 cities across 35 countries participated in Earth Hour. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Coliseum and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square, New York, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.