Article on Green Development

Go green for a brighter future

Bricks & Mortar by TEH LIP KIM

THE world is going green and as property developers we should place priority on how we can contribute towards a better environment and the community at large. Everything that we build will stand as testimony to our craft across many generations. Our buildings will speak volumes about whether we, as a society, cared for our environment, our home.

Property developers can respond to this eco-challenge in many ways. Sometimes, a small amount of effort is all it takes to bring about a large quantity of benefit. Developers can start off by taking small steps such as making use of natural air, light and ventilation when we design.

If a building is able to make use of what nature has to offer, then that means it is less dependent on electrical power. Layouts that are open and linear, with no nooks and crannies, will use less electricity.

Taking this a step further, we could think of other environmentally friendly ways to make buildings more energy efficient. These could include planting grass on rooftops, which would help keep temperatures down inside buildings, translating to a lower dependence on air-conditioning in our hot weather, and relieving our environment of ozone-eating CFCs. Of course, on-going maintenance will be required and the rooftops could be treated as part of the gardens belonging to the development.

We can also make provision for the water that is used in buildings to be recycled. Tap water can be channelled back into toilets and then treated for use in gardens. We can place solar panels on the roof for sustainable energy use. While solar panels are generally considered an expensive add-on in Malaysia, countries such as Japan, the Netherlands and Germany, already have government initiatives to support the building of integrated solar projects.

We can use recycled or sustainable materials for our construction. For example, a local company has discovered that old tyres need not be thrown away, but can be put under the foundation of a house to regulate the temperature inside the home.

We can use technologies that reduce water and energy consumption. If we have a high-speed elevator in the building, we can collect the energy that it generates on the way down for later use.

The problem, however, is that several of these technologies are, at present, rather costly for our stage of development.

Building safety is another important consideration that developers here should address. While Malaysia lies outside an earthquake-likely demarcated zone, many places in KL felt tremors during the recent earthquakes in Sumatra, and thousands of people were evacuated from their high-rise buildings until the danger had passed.

So, even though the law here does not require buildings to be designed for seismic conditions, we decided to design Park Seven so that it will withstand the horizontal force of an earthquake.

This involved strengthening the joints to provide better control of the lateral movements, increasing reinforcements in the columns and constructing closer links in the columns and the beams.

We comply with both the British standards, to which Malaysia adheres, and the Indonesian seismic code.

Eco-friendly designs may add an additional 15% to 20% to the total cost of construction for a developer but this is money that is worth spending. Over in Singapore, some flats designed to be environmentally sustainable were recently snapped up at premium prices, proving critics wrong who said that they would be hard to sell.

Financial experts, too, believe that by paying attention to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues they can affect the way an investment portfolio performs. Two years ago the United Nations Secretary-General invited a group of the world’s largest institutional investors to jointly develop the UN Principles for Responsible Investing. While being aspirational and voluntary in nature, these principles provide investment professionals who are serious about ESG issues, with a framework to guide their investment decisions.

Green architecture has, in fact, taken off to varying degrees in many countries, including Singapore. Our neighbour down south launched a scheme in January 2005, called the BCA Green Mark Scheme under their Ministry of National Development, which rates existing and new buildings on their environmental sustainability, quality, safety and innovation, and presents cash incentives for buildings that win top ratings.

Regionally, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have also implemented programmes to encourage their property developers to move towards more eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable buildings.

Malaysia, too, should get serious in this area if we want to be considered a developed nation. In fact, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for a balance between development and environmental sustainability in his speech to launch the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

As developers, we build for the future. Let us take the lead to ensure that our buildings are friendly to our environment, for the benefit of generations to come.