Property players want council for green building

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 08/25/2007 1:34 PM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Property players suggested Friday the establishment of a green building council to encourage and supervise environmentally friendly building in Indonesia.

""So far, we have not seriously considered green buildings,"" Ahmad Djuahara, chairman of Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Architects Association (IAI), told The Jakarta Post at the sidelines of a discussion on green building.

Ahmad said Indonesian people and the government still lacked awareness of environmental issues.

""That is why we need to establish a kind of council so we can urge the government to issue regulations about that,"" he said.

Former chairman of the Indonesian Building Physics Experts Association, Rana Yusuf Nasir, said property players did not have to wait for the establishment of the council to promote green buildings as part of their efforts to prevent global warming.

""We must establish awareness now, because global warming is the real issue we are facing,"" he said.

During the discussion, Yandi Andri Yatmo from IAI's educational division said Indonesia had been left behind in the race to turn green.

""Many property players have never considered the environmental aspects of their buildings,"" Yandi said.

""They see buildings as the sole aspect of their businesses.""

He said the construction costs of green buildings would create extra expenses for developers.

""But they should realize the operational costs of green buildings are less than ... ordinary (buildings),"" he said.

The construction cost of a green building is approximately 2 percent higher than a regular structure, but operational costs can be 10 percent less than ordinary buildings.

It was unfortunate Indonesia did not yet have a benchmark for green buildings, Yandi said.

International property consultant Tondy O. Lubis said because Indonesia did not yet have a benchmark for green buildings, the country could learn from the United States' green building benchmark, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

The benchmark was introduced by the U.S. Green Building Council in 1998 and today is the most popular reference for green buildings in the world.

LEED stipulates green building requirements including construction activity pollution prevention, water efficiency, minimum energy performance, storage and collection of recyclables and environmental tobacco control.

Tondy said his company had recorded 40 green building projects in China, four in Singapore and one in Vietnam -- but none in Indonesia.

Although there are no buildings in Indonesia that fulfill LEED's requirements, the Wonokoyo building in Surabaya won the environmentally friendly category in the ASEAN energy award in May.

""Green buildings are important because the global trend shows that many multinational companies require green buildings for their branches throughout the world,"" Tondy said.

""If Indonesia can not provide that, they will find another place to invest.""

But Rana said Indonesia could not ""just blindly adopt the LEED procedure"".

""We will need to adjust (LEED) to the conditions in Indonesia,"" he said.

""The criteria must be localized and customized -- it cannot be implemented in Indonesia because we have a tropical climate,"" he said. (05)

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |