Malaysia's Hanging garden of BABYLON?

The Star on Tuesday has an interesting article of a garden on the roof. Maybe unlike the hanging gardens of Babylon?

I remember when the former Malaysian Minister of Agriculture, Tan Sri Sanusi Junid suggeseted planting paddy on rooftops, many were cynical and just laughed at him.

He should be smiling now as a garden is blooming at the roof top of the new wing of the 1-Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya, some 35 m from the ground.

The garden ( about 2,787sqm,), planted with some 500 species of rare tropical and temperate plants, has recently been opened to the public on weekends.

1-Utama director Datuk Teo Chiang Kok, an avid gardener, was reported to say, “Having a green roof insulates and blocks heat from the roof, thereby decreasing the air-conditioning required to cool the building. (This) allows 1-Utama to conserve energy and be environmentally responsible,”.

The soil mix used for the garden’s flower bed – granulated horticultural carbon – is a planting medium derived from light, compacted and carbonised sawdust that puts to use wood waste that would otherwise be rotting in dumpsites and releasing carbon. This is a green technology developed by a botanist Dr Francis Ng.

“The horticultural carbon is being tested with different plants. The most amazing result is with rice that is grown in containers. It shows that the usual way (submerging rice plants) is not the only way to grow rice.

Unfortunately, the horticultural carbon is not commercially available yet although Ng is trying to encourage the manufacturer and 1-Utama to look into commercial production.

Although the Department of Irrigation and Drainage’s Stormwater Management Manual was introduced in 2001, it remains only a guideline. Commercial building developers are not legally required to implement it in their projects.)

The owners of 1- Utama has led the way by collecting rainwater to water the garden.
The rainwater is diverted from the roof and stored in specially built reservoirs in the basement in all Bandar Utama commercial buildings, namely the extended wing of 1-Utama Shopping Centre, the Centrepoint Neighbourhood Centre, the IBM-KPMG Plaza and the One World Hotel. The harvested water is used for flushing toilets, watering plants and also supplied to the cooling tower of the air-conditioning system.

“However, the rainwater collected is not sufficient to flush all the toilets. It only saves us 30% of the total water consumption in the new wing,” says Alfred Chong, landscape manager of Bandar Utama City Centre, the subsidiary of Bandar Utama Group which manages the commercial units.

The company’s pioneering effort closely follows the growing importance given to rooftop space by city authorities worldwide.

Last month, Toronto (in Canada) approved a bylaw that requires new residential units over six storeys, schools as well as commercial and industrial buildings to have up to 50% green roof coverage. Chicago (in the United States) offers incentives to builders who put green roofs on their buildings.

It has been estimated that if all the roofs in a major city were “greened,” urban temperatures could be reduced by as much as 7°C.

Originally, a green roof was one where vegetation partially or completely cover the roof surface over a water-proofing membrane.But the term has since taken on an expanded meaning to include green technologies that are introduced on that space, like harvesting of rainwater and harnessing solar energy through a photovoltaic panel.

High rise dwellers will soon be growing their food on roof tops next. Tan Sri Sanusi's dream has come true! Now who's laughing?

Dry and Hazy Days are Back

El Nino is here again. We are in for more hot days. It was reported that in the STAR yesterday that Malaysia experiences a hot and dry season in June, July and August with temperatures ranging between 33 °C to 34 °C. However, with the El Nino phenomenon, temperatures can rise by an additional 3 °C.

The Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Datuk Douglas Uggah said with such hot and dry conditions, any open burning activity could worsen the air quality.

It was showed that there was an increase in the number of hot spots in Sumatra and Kalimantan with 996 and 108 hot spots respectively.

With the dry spell with less rain, comes the warning to use less water as the water levels at the dams are receding. So every one is urged to use less water.

City folks must not wash themselves too often nor wash their cars using water hoses but are advised to use pails instead. To water the plants, it is best to recycle the water you use washing the vegetables and stuff at the kitchen sink.

Today I was annoyed to see a motorist throwing a lit cigarette butt from his car. Didn't he realize that in the hot weather that was a dangerous thing to do? In the past, lots of bush fires have been caused by reckless motorists in this way.

The public must be warned that the Department of Environment is increasing air and land surveillance to monitor open burning activities. Enforcement on smoke, gas and dust emissions from motor vehicles and industries will also be stepped up.

So, buck up everyone.Go check your vehicles. Contribute to a healthy air quality by maintaining your vehicles to reduce black smoke.

Industries are also required to comply with standard environmental rules. They must refrain from discharging their effluents directly to the atmosphere or waterways.

It is time for everyone to care for the atmosphere that we live in. Pity the young children with respiratory problems and the old folks with less efficient body systems. Every time there is a haze, there will be more people at the hospitals with respiration problems.

Let's all be more responsible-use less water, recycle the water, service your vehicles regularly, don't litter and do not contribute to open burning during these hazy and dry days and beyond.

Plastics that Melt Away

This is unlike the chocolates that melt away in your mouth.This is a dream come true.Imagine all the plastic bags from Giant, Tesco, Jusco, Carrefour and the takeaways you lug home are now soluble in water.

The Star reported that a team of researchers at the Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) has invented an award winning material called the Greenphylic Water-Soluble Degradable Plastic, a polymer similar to plastics but dissolves in water.

The project bagged the Gold Medal of the 19th International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition on May 19.

It also won the Best Invention for Universities/Research Institutes category, World Intellectual Property Organisation Best Invention Award and KASS International (a Malaysian Intellectual Property firm)Best Invention Award.

UTP had earlier in November, 2008 won the Gold Medal at the Belgian and International Trade Fair for Technological Innovation in Brussels.

The project is led by Prof. Ramiah Jegatheesan of the Electrical and Elctronic Engineering faculty, UTP.

Winning the award has increased the potential of the new material being commercialised.

Plastics are a source of pollution to the environment and are still harmful even when they degrade. And once they have broken down into smaller molecules, they can contaminate the soil and water tables.

According to Prof Ramiah burnt plastics produce dangerous gases which can cause serious health problems. In addition, discarded plastics clog drains and sewerage pipes.

The new invention Eco Plast is a resin consisting of a synthetic polymer material made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, polyvinyl alcohol is a colourless, water-soluble, flammable resin belonging to the family of organic polymers. It is derived from a vinyl polymer.

The resin is used in sizing agents that offer resistance to oil and grease upon paper and textiles; to make films resistant to attack by solvents or oxygen; as a component of adhesives and emulsifiers; and as a starting material for the preparation of other resins.

“Polyvinyl alcohol is a water-soluble synthetic polymer which has excellent film forming, emulsifying and adhesive properties. It is odourless and non-toxic, has high tensile strength and flexibility as well as high oxygen and aroma barrier.

However, these properties depend on the ambient relative humidity. With higher humidity, more water is absorbed. The water, which acts as a plasticiser, will then reduce its tensile strength, but increase its elongation and tear strength,” explained Prof Ramiah.

Eco Plast dissolves in water at normal room temperatures of between 25°C and 35°C. If the water is heated, the dissolving time reduces considerably.

In normal thickness, Eco Plast dissolves in water within 60 minutes at a water temperature of around 25°C. It will dissolve in 15 minutes if the water temperature is 40°C. If the water temperature is increased to 50°C, the dissolving time will take only five minutes.

According to Prof Ramiah, the resulting water that is used to dissolve the Eco Plast does not contain any toxic elements and thus there will be no harmful effect to living beings or the environment. This water can be disposed off into the kitchen sink as normal waste water.

Eco Plast can be used to manufacture carrier bags that are useful for grocery items, to pack medical pills, produce gloves and for packaging of other substances.

At present, Eco Plast is two to three times costlier to produce compared to plastic.Once it is commercialised and manufactured on a large scale, the cost will reduce substantially. Furthermore, there is no cost involved in disposing of this material.

UTP have filed for patent and are currently in the process of commerciali­sing the product.