Green Building Classification In Malaysia To Start Soon?

             Green building: The Zeo Building in Cyberjaya

Good news for enrivonmental conscious people... we hope to see more green buildings in the country soon.  Taken from the Star on 25 March 2009...

IF Kuala Lumpur residents can resolve problems related to the environment now, then there will be changes soon to their quality of life.

This was the message outlined by the speakers at the International Conference on World Class Sustainable Cities 2009 (WCSC 2009) taking place in the city.

In a move to address at least one aspect of the problem in the city, the Kuala Lumpur City Halll (DBKL) and the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) are working together to ensure that buildings in the city are environment- friendly.

PAM president Lee Chor Wah said: “One way of doing that is by introducing Malaysia’s Green Building Index (GBI). This is our first certification tool that will provide guidelines for environment-friendly construction.

“We will be launching GBI with the co-operation of the DBKL next month in a move to lead the Malaysian property industry towards becoming more environment-friendly,’’ said Lee.

GBI is intended to promote sustainability in the built environment and raise awareness among developers, architects, engineers, planners, designers, contractors and the public about environmental issues.

Lee said Kuala Lumpur needed to catch up with the world or else it would lose out to countries like Singapore which had its own GBI rating.

“We realised that many properties in Asia cannot be re-sold or leased out to foreign and multi-national companies because these are not green. It’s part of their social responsibility to preserve the environment,’’ Lee said.

He said even international brands wanted the shopping malls to be green before they decided to take up lots there.

Lee said the number of buildings in Kuala Lumpur with green rating were scarce while some buildings had their own rating system. He said each country had its own GBI rating standard and that it was time that Malaysia had its own.

He said the response had been encouraging as developers wanted to be socially responsible as well as economically sound.

A building with GBI ratings is built using eco-friendly elements and strictly no plastic and paint with toxic elements.

“The air is fresher here, energy- saving lights are used, buildings materials are eco-friendly,” Lee said.

The DBKL, the Petaling Jaya City Council, PWD Building, the Federal Territories Ministries and the Housing and Local Government Ministry are now interested in going green.

A good example of green buildings in the Federal Territory are the Zeo Building in Cyberjaya and the Securities Commission in KL.