In this climate, air conditioning is 40–60% of a commercial building's electricity — and most plants run nowhere near what they are capable of. Susten redesigns and rebuilds them: chillers engineered to your load, control logic we write ourselves, and our own cloud EMS measuring every kilowatt-hour. Typically 40% or more off cooling energy, with no capital outlay from you.
Savings accrue for as long as a plant runs, so these count every project from its own day one through June 2026 — including the two we have since divested. We built the efficiency; the kilowatt-hours keep being saved. Individual sites stay unnamed — that is our clients' business, not our marketing.
The government pays for the audit. The law requires the work. The tariff punishes not doing it.
Susten applies on your behalf for the Energy Audit Conditional Grant, which funds the audit itself. Eligibility requires appointing an ESCO registered with the Energy Commission — which is what we are. First-come, first-served.
Since January 2025, regulated buildings must appoint a Registered Energy Manager, implement an energy management system, and complete an audit through a Registered Energy Auditor. We already hold all three capabilities in-house.
The restructured tariff added a capacity charge billed on recorded peak demand, plus a monthly fuel adjustment that moves. Chillers usually drive your peak — so efficiency now cuts consumption, demand and volatility at once.
A chiller plant is a chain, and the waste hides in the links between equipment. We meter the whole chain and feed it to our own platform — which is how a five-year-old retrofit still performs like a new one.
Thousands of sensors per site across chillers, pumps, cooling towers, air handling units and fan coil units. Every reading lands in our platform, where equipment drifting outside normal parameters is flagged for inspection before it becomes a fault.
Efficiency is kilowatts drawn per ton of cooling delivered — kW/RT. Lower is better. Each plant shows its best verified month, with the sustained band it has actually held printed underneath, because a peak figure without a range is worth nothing. These are our own commissioned plants, presented by building type. We do not publish client identities or their consumption data, and we would extend you the same courtesy.
A fully occupied headquarters tower in Kuala Lumpur. Central chiller plant plus 25 air handling units, all retrofitted around a working building that could never go dark. Five years on, the plant still holds its commissioning efficiency — the number most retrofits quietly lose by year three.
Whole air-conditioning system efficiency, against a fixed pre-retrofit baseline. Best verified month; the plant has held a 0.69–0.74 kW/RT band continuously since commissioning, with no measured drift.
A four-star hotel and the mall beside it, on the east coast, integrated into one 1,000-ton centralised plant serving both. Two buildings with completely different load patterns — a hotel that never sleeps and a mall that empties at nine — balanced on a single system.
Chiller-plant efficiency. Best verified month; the plant ran 0.535–0.653 kW/RT across eight consecutive monthly verification reports in its first full operating year.
A hypermarket in Melaka where cooling runs every hour the doors are open. Susten designed and built the comfort-cooling plant — a single 500 RT chiller serving around 54 fan coil units across the shop floor. Delivered as Cooling-as-a-Service: an investor funded and owns the plant, the operator pays only for cooling delivered, and Susten runs the energy management against a contractual efficiency guarantee. Live since 2023 and still improving.
Chiller-plant efficiency against the 1.1–1.2 kW/RT benchmark typical of comparable retail premises. Best verified month; the plant ran 0.519–0.543 kW/RT through the first half of 2026, improving year on year since 2023.
Two adjacent buildings in George Town, Penang running two separate plants, combined into a single centralised and optimised system with six custom-built chillers. Technically the hardest thing we do. The completed asset was subsequently acquired by an institutional energy infrastructure owner, with Susten retained as energy manager.
Whole air-conditioning system efficiency. Best verified month; the plant ran 0.76–0.79 kW/RT across the most recent reporting period, saving 44–50% against baseline.
A typical energy services firm buys equipment off the shelf, installs a vendor's control package, and hands you a report. We own the whole stack — which is why the numbers still hold years later.
We design the machine around your building's real consumption profile and this climate, rather than fitting your building to a catalogue unit.
Typical ESCO: resells an OEM unit as specified.
We buy controller hardware off the shelf but write the entire PLC logic ourselves. The strategy is ours, tuned to the plant we designed — not a vendor default nobody revisits.
Typical ESCO: off-the-shelf vendor control packages.
Thousands of sensors feed our platform, where AI flags equipment drifting outside normal parameters before it becomes a breakdown. Monthly reporting is non-negotiable.
Recognised with the Steward Leader Award 2025.
It is a fair question to ask a specialist firm, and the honest answer is not our word for it. Two independent institutions have examined our engineering, put money into it, and taken ownership of completed Susten plants. We keep their names off this page for the same reason we keep our clients' names off it — but we will share them with you directly.
Singapore-headquartered and institutionally funded, this group owns and operates energy assets across South-East Asia and India. It conducted its own technical due diligence on a completed Susten plant, bought the asset outright, and retained Susten as the energy manager. It has since signed a memorandum of understanding indicating intent to fund further Susten projects that meet its investment criteria.
A Malaysian public listed group whose companies have funded and taken ownership of Susten-built cooling assets across more than one project — including the Cooling-as-a-Service installation Susten continues to operate today. Being listed, it answers to its own shareholders for where it puts capital.
Along with the projects, the transaction structures and the technical due diligence they ran on us. We share it under NDA — the same discretion we apply to your building.
Or email the request straight to hello@susten.my.
Every client we have worked with has wanted zero capital outlay. Both models are built for that.
We fund and deliver the project, then take a share of the energy savings generated over a long-term contract. You keep the remainder from the first month.
An investor funds and owns the cooling system we design and build. You avoid the capital cost entirely and pay for the cooling you use, metered and billed like a utility.
Awards are easy to collect and easy to overstate. The one below matters because it was assessed on a delivered project with metered savings, in the exact category of the work we sell.
Malaysia's national energy efficiency award, assessed on a completed commercial retrofit and its verified performance against a fixed baseline. The same project took Winner in Category 1 — Energy Management & Energy Efficiency, for an Energy-Efficient Building in the Retrofitted Building class, and separately a Special Award under the 2023 special recognition categories.
Not categories for intent or strategy — categories for buildings that were rebuilt and then measured.
For the Susten cloud energy management system — the platform that meters our plants and produces the monthly verification our contracts are settled on.
Recognises the software, not the servicesConferred by MDEC, the government agency for the digital economy, recognising Susten as a qualifying digital technology operation — the national framework for companies building real software, not services with a dashboard attached.
A technology status, not an awardAwarded by the Malaysian Association of Energy Service Companies, the industry body for accredited ESCOs.
Peer-assessed within the industryA second gold in the same year, for the engineering and technology approach behind the plants we design.
Peer-assessed within the industryThese are not badges. Under EECA 2024 your audit must be performed by a Registered Energy Auditor and you must appoint a Registered Energy Manager — we hold both. And our ESCO registration with the Energy Commission is the specific thing that makes your building eligible for a government-funded audit.
These apply to the equipment and systems we install, not to the company. We list them separately because the distinction matters when your consultant asks.
Most of what building owners need to know is regulatory, not technical. Here is the current position, with the dates and thresholds that actually apply.
| In force since | 1 January 2025, replacing the Efficient Management of Electrical Energy Regulations 2008 |
|---|---|
| Applies to | Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan. Sabah and Sarawak are developing their own regulations |
| Regulator | Energy Commission of Malaysia (Suruhanjaya Tenaga) |
| Appoint an energy manager | A Registered Energy Manager within 3 months of being notified |
| First energy audit | Through a Registered Energy Auditor within 12 months of notification |
| Energy management system | An EnMS within 12 months of appointing the energy manager |
| Implement measures | Recommended efficiency measures within a 5-year compliance cycle, reported annually |
| Buildings in scope | Approximately 1,200 were initially scoped. The Energy Commission's list is not public |
Yes, for regulated buildings. Since the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2024 came into force on 1 January 2025, buildings notified by the Energy Commission must complete an energy audit through a Registered Energy Auditor within 12 months of notification. Energy efficiency in Malaysia moved from voluntary to a legal obligation, with penalties attached.
The Act replaced the Efficient Management of Electrical Energy Regulations 2008 and applies to Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan. Sabah and Sarawak are developing their own energy efficiency regulations.
You will be formally notified by the Energy Commission — and the list of regulated buildings is not public. That means you cannot look it up, and many building owners are unaware they are in scope until the notification arrives and the clocks start running.
Roughly 1,200 buildings were initially scoped, generally the largest electricity consumers. If you are unsure, ask us — it is one of the first questions we raise with any prospective client.
Any building notified as a regulated entity, within 3 months of notification. The Registered Energy Manager (REM) is a specific credential issued by the Energy Commission — it is not a job title you can assign to an existing facilities employee unless they hold the registration.
Once appointed, an Energy Management System must be implemented within a further 12 months. Susten holds REM registration and operates its own energy management system, so both obligations can be met through one appointment.
A structured system for monitoring, recording and acting on your building's energy performance — not simply a meter or a spreadsheet. Regulated buildings must implement one within 12 months of appointing their Registered Energy Manager, and report annually to the Energy Commission.
Susten's cloud platform meters the full cooling chain continuously and produces the monthly verification record that reporting requires.
Often, yes — through SEDA's Energy Audit Conditional Grant (EACG), which funds the audit itself. The grant is available to commercial and industrial building owners who appoint an ESCO registered with the Energy Commission. Susten holds that registration and applies to SEDA on your behalf.
Eligibility generally requires substantial consumption, on the order of 100,000 kWh per month. Grants are disbursed on a first-come, first-served basis from a finite allocation, so timing matters.
It is conditional. Recipients commit to implementing energy-saving measures worth at least the value of the grant, within three years of the audit being completed. That obligation forms part of the grant agreement with SEDA — it is not a condition the ESCO imposes.
We raise this before an application rather than after. If a building is not prepared to act on what an audit finds, the grant is the wrong instrument and it is better to establish that at the start.
No. You must appoint an ESCO registered with the Energy Commission, and there are several. Susten is one of them. You are also under no obligation to appoint us for any implementation work that follows the audit — the three-year commitment is to SEDA, and you may fulfil it with whoever you choose.
The amount depends on building type and the current programme cycle, so we quote it against the live guidelines rather than from memory. The programme runs under the 13th Malaysia Plan, and limits have changed between plan cycles. Ask us and we will confirm the figure applicable to your building at the time you apply.
Under our commercial models, nothing upfront. Susten works on an Energy Performance Contract, where we fund and deliver the project and are repaid from a share of the energy savings, or Cooling as a Service, where a third-party investor funds and owns the plant and you pay for the cooling you use.
Every client we have worked with has wanted zero capital outlay, so both models are structured for it. The building carries no capital expenditure and, under an EPC, is cash-positive from the first month of operation.
An arrangement where the energy services company funds the works and is paid out of the savings it generates, rather than charging a fee for the equipment. Susten designs, funds, builds and operates the plant, then takes a share of the measured energy savings over a long-term contract. The client keeps the remainder.
The significant point is where the risk sits: if the savings do not materialise, neither does our payment. We carry the performance risk, not the building owner.
A model where you buy cooling as a metered utility instead of buying a chiller plant. A third-party investor funds and owns the system Susten designs and builds. You avoid the capital cost entirely, keep the asset off your balance sheet, and pay per unit of cooling delivered.
Susten operates the plant against a contractual efficiency guarantee, so the operator is accountable for how efficiently the cooling is produced.
Under a performance contract, we are not paid for savings that do not occur. Payment is calculated from metered performance against a baseline agreed and fixed before any equipment is specified — and the baseline is not re-based over the contract term, so the target does not quietly get easier.
Savings are verified monthly and reported to the client. That report is the basis on which invoices are raised, which means the client checks the same number we bill from.
In Malaysia's climate, typically 40% to 60% of total electricity use in a commercial building. Cooling is normally the single largest line item on the bill, and the one containing the most recoverable waste. It is also the largest driver of a building's peak demand, which matters under the current tariff structure.
kW/RT measures the electricity a plant draws to produce one ton of refrigeration — lower is better. It is the standard efficiency measure for chilled water systems and the number our contracts are settled on.
As a rough guide: an unimproved commercial plant commonly sits between 1.1 and 1.4 kW/RT. Susten's commissioned plants run between approximately 0.52 and 0.79 kW/RT depending on building type and load, measured against fixed baselines.
Under RP4, the former Maximum Demand charge was replaced by separate Capacity and Network charges, with capacity billed against your recorded peak demand in kilowatts. The base tariff also rose 14.2% to 45.62 sen/kWh, and the six-monthly ICPT was replaced by a monthly Automatic Fuel Adjustment that moves considerably more often.
Because chillers are usually the largest contributor to a building's peak, improving cooling efficiency reduces three things at once: total consumption, the peak demand your capacity charge is calculated on, and your exposure to a fuel adjustment that changes monthly.
Roughly two months for the audit, then nine to twelve months from contract signing to commissioning. The work is staged around an occupied, operating building.
Our projects have been delivered in working office towers, hotels and malls that could not go dark. Existing plant is typically held available through commissioning so cooling is never dependent on a single changeover.
Susten Sdn Bhd is a Malaysian Energy Service Company (ESCO) based in Kuala Lumpur, specialising in commercial cooling. We audit, redesign and rebuild chiller plants — designing the chiller to the building's actual load and climate, writing the control logic in-house, and running the result on our own cloud energy management system.
We are registered as an ESCO with the Energy Commission, hold Registered Energy Auditor and Registered Energy Manager registrations and ISO 9001:2015 certification, and won twice at the National Energy Award 2023 — Category 1 for an energy-efficient retrofitted building, plus a Special Award.
Across Malaysia, from our office in Kuala Lumpur. We have delivered and currently manage plants in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Melaka and Kelantan, across office towers, retail malls, hotels and grocery retail.
Because they are metered, verified monthly, and they are what we invoice against. Savings are measured as actual metered consumption compared with a baseline fixed before the work begins, in the manner of IPMVP Option C, with plant-level sub-metering underneath as the contractual tie-breaker.
Every figure published on this site comes from those monthly verification reports. We do not publish client names or their consumption data, but the underlying records are available to a serious prospective client under NDA.
Susten applies to SEDA on your behalf under the Energy Audit Conditional Grant. One thing we would rather say now than later: the grant is conditional. Recipients commit to implementing efficiency measures worth at least the grant value, within three years. It exists to make sure the audit actually leads somewhere.
Would rather just ask a person? Email hello@susten.my.
Grants are first-come, first-served. Not sure whether you have been notified under EECA? Ask us — the Energy Commission's list is not public.
