The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has launched a "number 5" power-saving label to be given to garment and textile producers who match the power-saving criteria.
It is the first country in the world to grant the number 5 label to producers of fashion-related items. However, the move was a crucial step to acknowledge Thais who implement several plans to save power and consume power efficiently, according to Egat governor Kornsit Pakchotanon.
He said the number 5 label will be given to shirts or dresses produced by companies that consume power efficiently and clothing that rarely need to be ironed.
This is part of the demand-side management (DSM) project that was initiated in Thailand in 1993 in order to save energy and make consumption more efficient.
Garments that would get the DSM number 5 label would include shirts or dresses that need no ironing or dry quickly easily after washing.
"This will be the world's first number 5 label for garment producers -- most of the products that are given the number 5 standard are energy related and it is given to those who are in the upstream and middle-stream garment sector, not designers or costume producers," he said.
To promote the number 5 label in this fashion sector, Egat has signed a memorandum of understanding with 22 local garment manufacturers and suppliers to volunteer to spearhead the project by producing number 5 garments.
Leading companies joining the project include Goodstart, Textile Gallery, United Textile Mills and Wacoal Thailand. These companies will soon produce shirts and dress that match the power-saving criterion of Egat.
Before granting the number 5 label, Egat will check whether the garments produced match its number 5 criterion.
The standard will also apply to the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization's (TGO) standard of cool mode, which focuses on general industrial standards and the prevention of harmful chemical contamination.
The first lot of T-shirts meeting the number 5 label criteria are expected in December and will be available nationwide by early next year. Initially, Egat expects around 1.7 million energy-efficient T-shirts to be produced, said Mr Kornsit.
He said the project is expected to help cut power demand substantially since irons are a power-consuming electrical appliance, using around one kilowatt an hour.
Mr Kornsit said Egat hopes the project will receive a warm welcome from consumers, which would encourage the electricity generating authority to grant the number 5 label to other products in the future to help save energy.
The first lot of number 5 T-shirts will be long-sleeve and short sleeve polo shirts before production is expanded to other styles of clothing in the future, said Mr Kornsit.
Since the implementation of the number 5 label about 24 years ago, Thailand has reduced power consumption to total 26 billion units, worth around 104 billion baht, he said.
"This is the equivalent of 4-7 large power plants over 24 years," he said.
