theSun Property November 2017

BRIAN CHUNG

USTAINABILITY

has become

a concern across all sectors –

including technology and

construction. From

renewable energy to a cashless

society, the current climate issues

that have caused turmoil and unrest,

even taken lives, have spurred

innovations and stimulated

initiatives to preserve the planet by

adopting responsible practices.

Whilemany conscientiousminds

havemoved on to greener methods

of working within their work

environments and lifestyles, there

are always those hesitant or slow in

adopting change.

One sector going through this

“shift” andmoving into “green gear”

is the construction industry.

Malaysia Green Building

Confederation (MGBC) board

member CKTang shares his

professional views and industry

insights.

INITIATIVES AND

ISSUES AT POINT

“The construction industry has

been going through a struggle in the

area of green development. When it

comes to buildings and property,

price and location is always the

focus. “Tangmade this statement

during a presentation delivered at

the International Urban

Sustainability andGreen Building

Conference (IUSGBC). He puts the

resistance and reluctance to

consider (for theman on the street)

or take on (for the property

developer) sustainable andmore

greenmethods of construction, to

the lack of awareness and

understanding. He underlines the

little emphasis put on sustainability

in these three common

circumstances:

1)When people talk about choosing

a property, the usual points in

question are on location, price

and aesthetics. The emphasis on

these three factors often relegates

the sustainability of a building (its

impact on the environment).

Matters pertaining to energy

efficiency and green building

features are thought of as just a

bonus feature.

2) Those who are interested in

green development when it

comes to commercial buildings

are usually conglomerates and

multinational firms. This scenario

often gives people the perception

that “going green” is only

affordable tomajor-league

establishments. Small companies

often neglect or may not have the

budget and time to think about

the “DNA of the building”

other than the

aforementioned factors.

3) There are toomany

green tools and

certification bodies in

themarket confusing

both professionals

and developers.

Professionals view

the amount of green

tools in themarket as

an additional burden,

as they are unsure

which standards to

follow andwhat are the

essential or necessary

greenmethods to take on.

According to Tang, “The

irony is that there is awareness

amongMalaysian developers and

architects on sustainable

development; local authorities have

also showed their interest in the

idea of developing green buildings

in their neighbourhoods (as

compared to the general attitude

some 15 years ago). Yet, the

enthusiasmhas not translated into

action and initiatives have not

been taken up as the property

market is still dominated by

location, price and aesthetics.”

MISCONCEPTIONS,

CAPABILITIES AND

GETTING TO THE

CORE

On the issue that green

buildings are thought

to be expensive, Tang

opines: “Green is

expensive when the

standard design is

slapped onwith

green features; with

each feature as an

additional cost. It is

expensive because we

dare not take the risk,

especially engineers and

specialists. Most would prefer to

staywithin tried and successful

formulas rather than improve or

improvise.”

He adds that many developers

tend to just add on green features to

the standard design of their

buildings instead of implementing

sustainablemethods and elements

of construction into the blueprint

from the beginning.

Tang declares that this risk-

averse attitude towards sustainable

development, coupledwith the

reliance on pre-existing designs are

the culprits that give the perception

that green buildings are expensive.

Besides this, the idea of adopting

trends and technology fromother

countries bring us to another

perception, of the country’s

incapacity to innovate and come up

with new and sustainable building

methods.

Tang feelsMalaysians have the

tendency to doubt their capabilities

and achievements in setting trends

that lead in innovation. This meek

attitude (some call Asian culture)

has often “led some companies to

blindly adoptingWestern trends

and technologywithout weighing in

their local context”.

Tang circumscribes the dilemma

with the following thought.

“The question is this: Is green

expensive because professionals are

not being paid to be hardworking?

Or is green expensive because

professionals are not taking the

risks to up-selling themselves?

“Before we blame the developers

for anything, wemay need to blame

ourselves for not up-selling

ourselves. This is a problem

because the green issue is about

power play in the industry, as

organisations are fighting one

another and reinventing the same

wheel of blaming each other. Some

of theseman hours in placing the

blame on each other could have

been used to innovate and

implement new ideas. We not only

need tomake greenmore affordable

but alsomore exciting,” Tang

shares.

SUGGESTIONS AND

SOLUTIONS

At the presentation, Tang offered

some solutions and advice to

developers and architects.

He says the first thing that people

need to be aware of is of their

surrounding. “Bear inmind the local

area, the DNA and characteristics of

the land intended for development

before adopting foreign trends. Not

all trends from theWest are suitable

for our country asMalaysia is in the

tropics and not a countrywith

four seasons.”

He urges developers to

adopt trends and solutions

that are appropriate and

feasible to our climate,

our environs, our

building and

development rules

and regulations, as

well as our culture.

The next issue he

addressed is the

perception that

Malaysia is lagging

behind in terms of

taking sustainable

steps. As it turns out,

Malaysia does have the

means, expertise and

achievements. He cites

Malaysia’s green exploits as

in the Securities Commission

office, whichwonMalaysia its

first Asean Energy Award for

Energy Efficient Building in 2001.

Other buildings like Kompleks

Kerja Raya 2 (KKR2), the Low

Energy Office (LEO) building in

Putrajaya, Green Energy

Building in Bangi and the

Diamond Building (Energy

Commission) are testaments

toMalaysia’s capabilities in

constructing green buildings.

His advice: “Start

evaluating the available

resources within the

country before

adopting any

technology and

trends from

abroad.”

Tang also

urges

developers and

those in the

construction

industry to be

innovative and

move out of their

comfort zones.

He talks of some of

the available resources

industry players could refer

to.

Innovative software Cost

Work

enables developers and architects to

determine the right design and

materials for their construction

work. The programme analyses

factors like the type of walls, glazing

tiles, direction of the buildings, etc.

with information on sustainability

benefits and net savings. This

software addresses a common

practice in the industry that causes

problems, which Tang believes is

the issuing of separate budgets by

the quantity surveyor and the

mechanical and engineering

departments on the installation of

lighting and air-conditioners.

Guidelines for energy efficient

building construction for tropical

climate locales are available in

books like

Building Energy Efficiency

Guidelines for ActiveDesign

and

Building Energy Efficiency

Guidelines for PassiveDesign

. These

books are written byMalaysians

and published inMalaysia and have

been used by professionals in other

countries, in practice and training/

teaching architects. Tang feels these

books prove that Malaysia does not

have to look to the west for every

sustainable trend.

POOLING TOGETHER

FOR CHANGE

However, Tang reckons that there

is a need for industry players in the

construction line to collaborate,

discuss and find newways to

benefit fromgreen development.

As sustainability is defined as

“meeting the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of

future generations tomeet theirs”, it

has been established and

acknowledged across the globe that

sustainability affects and involves

people, the planet and profits –

hence, the vox populi that it is

founded on three pillars – economic,

environmental and social, “which

means sustainable development will

not be sustainable if it does not

benefit all the respective parties in

the construction industry,” Tang

adds.

“However, we cannot just solely

rely on tax incentives and levies to

encourage all parties to go green.

Rather, we need to come together to

make green development amust

and desirable proposition – having

our own solution to suit our country

and climate, while simultaneously

adopting the necessary trends. We

cannot always rely on the

government to come upwith

solutions and directives; we need to

take the initiative tomake

sustainable development a trend,”

he prompts.

Green buildings use natural

resources efficiently, lowering

both utility bills and impact on

the environment.

• Buildings are positioned to

have an enormous impact

on the environment and

climate change. At 41%of

total US energy consumption,

buildings out-consume the

industrial (30%) and transport

(29%) sectors.

• Buildings use about 14%of

all potablewater (15 trillion

gallons per year), but water-

efficiency efforts in green

buildings are expected to

reducewater use by 15%

and savemore than 10% in

operating costs. Retrofitting

one out of every 100American

homes withwater-efficient

fixtures could avoid about

80,000 tonnes of greenhouse

gas emissions, which is the

equivalent of removing

15,000 cars from the road

for one year.

• Standard building practices

use andwastemillions of

tonnes of materials each year;

green building uses fewer

resources andminimises

waste. LEEDprojects are

responsible for divertingmore

than 80million tonnes of waste

from landfills, and by 2030 that

number is expected to grow

to 540million tonnes.

GREENCOSTS,

GREENERPROFITS

• Upfront investment in green

buildingmakes properties

more valuable, with an average

expected increase in value

of 4%. By virtue of lowered

maintenance and energy costs

the return on investment from

green building is rapid: green

retrofit projects are generally

expected to pay for itself in just

seven years.

•Green buildings reduce day-to-

day costs year over year. LEED

(Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design)

buildings report almost 20%

lower maintenance costs than

typical commercial buildings,

and green building retrofit

projects typically decrease

operation costs by almost 10%

in just one year.

• Between 2015 and 2018,

LEED-certified buildings in the

United States are estimated to

haveUS$1.2 billion in energy

savings, US$149.5million

inwater savings, US$715.2

million inmaintenance savings

andUS$54.2million inwaste

savings.

** Box info retrieved from US Green

Building Council website. More interesting

information on World Green Building

Council website.

Email your feedback and

queries to: propertyqs@

thesundaily.com

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MARCH 11, 2016

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NOVEMBER 24, 2017