Shwini Kool Konnect

Bringing Sustainability with Design

Authors

Abhishek Lilha

Abhishek Lilha

Kunal Jain

Kunal Jain

Ajitesh Chaudhary

Ajitesh Chaudhary

Komal .

Komal .

Lopita Sen

Lopita Sen

School

Goa Institute of Management

Goa Institute of Management

Professor

Divya Singhal

Divya Singhal

Global Goals

3. Good Health and Well-Being 5. Gender Equality 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 13. Climate Action

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Summary

Chlorofluorocarbon brings harm to the environment. It adds directly to the climate change and global warming. So, to bring down these harmful effects and provide comfort of air conditioning to the customers, Shwini Kool Konnect uses R401 gas instead of R22, in air conditioners. Moreover, it uses a direct distribution model to minimize the distance traveled by the goods till it reaches final consumers. The company Shwini Kool Konnect also encourages equal salary for all genders.

Innovation

The company has a strict policy of compensation based on talent. It does not disregard gender. With this it is following SDG 5. Since the company is into designing and installation of air conditioning requirements for buildings. Installation involves a lot of risk for the laborers. The company takes care of the safety and health of its employees by providing proper gear.

The company started using R401 gas in AC’s six years back. R401 is a green gas. R22 is no longer used due to it being a HCFC, thus contributing to ozone depletion. While R401 is HFC, which does not hurt the ozone layer. With this innovation the company is following SDG 9. The company also advises its clients to use the discharge water from AC’s for watering green belts. This action is totally based on client requirements.

The company follows a direct distribution model in which the company asks its suppliers to directly deliver the goods at the site of the company’s client. This helps in minimizing the distance traveled by the goods, thereby saving fuel and thus directly impacting the environment by minimizing the carbon footprint.

Bringing Sustainability with Design

Inspiration

An Environment Protection Agency study of heat-related deaths found that more than 9,000 Americans died from the heat between 1979 and 2013, a figure which does not even fully capture the magnitude of the problem. Many more deaths have heat as a contributing factor but not the main cause. These days it is very difficult to live without air conditioners in hot and humid places. Air conditioners have become a necessity rather than luxury. Now a days even lower class people also have Air conditioners in their houses.

The leader wanted to provide comfort to the customer and at the same time wanted to take care of the environment. The industry in which Shwini Kool Konnect works is not environment friendly but the company keeps in mind that there is least harm to the environment. It uses R401 gases in their products which are less harmful than the gases such as R22, R12 which were previously used. Air conditioners circulate and filter air, removing pollutants and mold from the air. This is especially important for people who suffer from allergies and asthma because it minimizes the irritants that trigger an attack.

Also, the leader wanted to create a work environment where everybody is treated equal, everybody is provided with equal opportunities, everybody wants to come to work because they are happy with their job. When workspaces are air conditioned, people are able to work better and make better decisions.

Overall impact

Shwini Kool Konnect focus on the service they provide to the customer. It works on the hospitality industry of Goa. Their primary work starts from the basic designing the air conditioning system for the customer, to arranging the supply of the goods and materials received to the installation of the air coolers for further utilization.

In this process, the design team takes care of aligning and installing the AC so that the gas emission happens through a specific channel keeping in mind the needs of the client. The water emitted during the process many a times goes to the gardening area of the space. To provide the utmost comfort to the customers and making it cost effective for the clients, Shwini Kool Konnect takes care of the limit of energy consumption in regulating the heating and cooling process of the space taking minute design details into consideration. The scrap materials (the metals like aluminum, nickel and copper) goes directly to the recyclable section of the unit, while other inventories are kept in store for future use in installation.

Shwini Kool Konect’s main aim is to provide comfort at your home in a cost and energy efficient way. Its goal is to take its project pan India and bring prosperous clients under their serving. They drive innovation in this field by tying up with big brands in air conditioning industry like Toshiba and Carrier which hold the light for bring up innovative products in the market.

Business benefit

Shwini Kool Konnect has a well-established business model with its revenue increasing over the years. Since it is in an industry where it involves technical, laborious and field work, sadly the gender ratio in the company is not equal. The workers are predominantly male in the workforce. However, the CEO of the company said himself that equal scale pay is maintained for both the gender for the same type or amount of work. The company has been hiring professionally trained and skilled worker for its design work where the scope of innovation is maximum.

The company has been successful in retaining the employees and has been acquiring talents proactively for its growing number of projects pan India. It takes care of employee well-being, needs and demands. The new projects in hand of the company are from Goa, Indore, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The reputation of the company spreads through word of mouth. Its main touch points are the architect firms and the interior designers who directly contact Shwini Kool Konnect to design, supply and install the air management system of the space.

Shwini Kool Konnect has a close team of innovative engineers who lay the foundation of the design plan. Then the field workers or staffs takes the work forward from there. To quote Rohan Desai, the MD of Shwini Kool Konnect, "The safety of our labour force if of prime importance. Enough care and measures are taken while installation from a height or using certain materials or chemicals in the process."

Social and environmental benefit

Shwini Kool Konnect as an organisation takes some handful of steps towards keeping the environment green and eco-friendly while setting up or installing the Air conditioners in the dedicated hotels, homes etc. Being aware of the challenges imposed by the emission of harmful greenhouse gases like the chlorofluorocarbons from the condensers, Shwini Kool Konnect makes sure that the companies which supply the AC’s eg The Carrier system takes the environmental impacts to the society into consideration. For this the Carrier systems has come up with green gases like R401 instead of the gases R22 and R32 which were earlier responsible for global warming as found by the team of researchers. Lot of research and development goes into the making of air conditioners due to the increasing outcry of global warming across the globe on account of which they have built two-stage compressors which automatically compress less on cool days and more when it’s hot thereby saving energy.

Even the cool water released by the condensers are used for gardening depending upon the magnitude of the client project, else the water is released into the drainage system. The metal scrap remains often left while installing the Air conditioners is recycled for further usage. The company gives utmost priority to safety of its technicians and workers who are involved in the installation providing them with the required tool kits and safety gears while working from a height. In the past there have been cases round the corner where the condensers have exploded, so the safety of their employees are paramount which is ensured by surprise visits from the management team.

Interviews

Rohan Dessai, MD

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Business information

Shwini Kool Konnect

Shwini Kool Konnect

Panaji, Goa, IN
Business Website: https://[email protected]
Year Founded: 1995
Number of Employees: 11 to 50

SHWINI KOOL KONNECT is an Air Conditioning and Refrigeration company, which currently has 30 employees, including commissioning and service technicians, and has the experience and expertise to successfully complete all types of commercial and industrial projects. Rohan dessai along with Vivek Gaonkar a known name in air conditioning fraternity in Goa is responsible for the overall performance of the Service Company and, with his past experience, maintains the company's reputation for quality maintenance and service programs. Currently, the Service Company operates a team of experienced service technicians to service and maintain not only the company’s installations but many others as well. Shwini Kool Konnect will provide a first class job on all projects and can assure their clients the highest level of service and commitment.