Property Players Go Green Too

Green is the way to go for industry players, was one of the headlines in the Star (business) on Saturday, 23rd May.

The Green Building Index (GBI), Malaysia’s very own certification scheme for sustainable buildings, was officially launched on Thursday. This is part of the efforts initiated to green the property industry.

The GBI, developed by the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) and Association of Consulting Engineers (ACEM), will encourage developers of housing and commercial projects to adopt environment-friendly features such as energy-efficient elements, rain harvesting and conservation of original land form and vegetation.

It is noted that although the cost of developing a green building may be more than that of a conventional building, maintaining and operating it would be cheaper in the long run.

If a building is constructed with the right green designs and features, energy costs could be reduced by 50%, which is a substantial saving as energy easily makes up 25% of a building’s operating cost. Together with other forms of savings, green buildings can cut operating costs by about 60%.

GREATER adoption and use of environment-friendly planning techniques, designs and “green” materials in property projects will go a long way towards promoting green practices in the country.

Rather than depending on legislation to make it mandatory for industry players to incorporate pro-environment design features in their projects, it will be more effective if industry players voluntarily adopt green and environment-friendly designs and concepts in their projects.

The Government’s initiative to ensure new government buildings feature energy-saving and other pro-environment measures is a good start to promote the green culture among property industry players.