Our mothers used to tell us to reach for the stars. Now Mother Earth is now calling on us to reach for the green stars. Or at least, green building councils are.
Imagine a future where luxurious malls, premium office spaces and high-end hotels are marketing themselves no longer with five ordinary stars but with five green ones, based on their ecological performance rather than on the state of their air-conditioning.
And the country's recently established green building council might prove the bridge to reach this future. Underline "might" - going green is pretty complicated, especially when it's about really going green and not just mere greenwashing.
After two years of authorities mulling over the idea of having an independent body to urge property players and developers to go green, the Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI) is finally preparing a draft rating tool for certifying buildings' environmental soundness.
The draft sets out how both new constructions and existing buildings are rated according to their environmentally friendly features, such as the sustainability of the building site, the efficiency of the building's natural resources consumption, and the developers' innovation in going green.
"Our rating tool is currently being drafted and will be ready for launch by the end of November," GBCI founding member Tiyok Prasetyoadi said.
The council hopes to open for certification applications by mid next year.
The certification process will require applicants to submit the required data, such as on energy consumption and the waste management system, which will then be assessed by experts in each specific field hired by the council.
For the assessment process, there will be a fee, which will be finalized after further detailed calculation, Tiyok said.
Currently, only one out of seven inspected office buildings in the city has both thermal comfort and low energy consumption, according to a study by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), which named the S. Widjojo Center in Sudirman as one of the best examples.
The GBCI may find some support in their efforts to persuade developers: It seems that green has indeed become the new black, even in the property market.
A survey of the Asia-Pacific region by property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle found that tenants are increasingly willing to pay more to occupy space in a greener building.
While in 2005, only 11 percent of tenants were willing to pay a premium fee to rent in a green building, the figure had jumped to 64 percent in 2007, the survey revealed.
"Consultants in general don't change the market. It's the big players, the big corporates, that make the difference," said Trudy-Ann King, the Asia Pacific regional manager of the World Green Building Council, who is mentor for the organization's Indonesian chapter.
However, despite the potential of using the "green" label as a new marketing gimmick, the private sector has yet to seriously consider the issue.
Yet, according to Green Star executive director Robin Mellon, focusing on people's emotional and financial responses is key to running a campaign on the importance of the green issues in construction.
"We should stop looking at buildings as consumers *of energy and resources*, but producers which can give something back," Mellon said.
Green buildings are managed based on strategies for addressing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving water, avoiding waste, increasing recycling, preventing pollution, enhancing biodiversity, reducing natural resource consumption and encouraging a more productive environment.
The term "green technologies" refers to the optimization of all the factors that influence the building's performance, such as the facade, room comfort and systems engineering, according to structural engineer and architect Werner Sobek.
For a building to be labeled "green", it must start with appropriate planning that takes on a holistic approach across all phases from planning, construction and operation through to demolition.
It is essential that factors such as location, micro-climate, supporting structure and the materials used are also analyzed and examined for their effect on the construction as a whole.
The use of locally produced materials is also of concern. Developers and property players might argue that energy-efficient technologies are not within reach and are not locally produced.
But it seems that they just have to put more trust in local products.
Indonesian PT Metropolitan Bayu Industri, for example, has developed and invented a new air-conditioning unit using a chilled water system equipped with a passive heating pipe.
The design, which won the ASEAN Energy Awards for a special submission, also features a variable speed pump for the chilled water flow rate and a variable speed fan for the air flow rate, which can control both the temperature and the room relative humidity without an electric heater or heating coil.
The locally developed building feature can reduce operation costs by up to 40 percent, according to the company's plant manager, Joko Santoso.
But, relying on technology alone is not the answer, Mellon said: "We should mimic nature and design buildings that are environmentally sensible."
Indonesia does not have to look too far to find such examples, as its own indigenous architecture is rich in environmentally sensitive design. Because the country that lies on and around the equator, traditional buildings are oriented to face either north or south, and so often avoid facing west, which minimizes heat from exposure to the sun and so reduces the need for cooling.
Ready to go green?
Why do buildings need to be greener?
As the largest single contributor to the world's greenhouse gas emissions, buildings:
- use 32 percent of world's resources in construction
- use 40 percent of global energy
- consume 12 percent of water
- make up 40 percent of waste to landfill
Why build green buildings?
Adopting green building designs and practices can:
- reduce energy use by up to 85 percent
- reduce potable water use by up to 60 percent
- reduce waste going to landfill by up to 69 percent
- decrease building operating costs by up to 9 percent
- increase building values by 7.5 percent
- improve return on investment by 6.6 percent
- decrease vacancy periods and increase occupancy ratio by 3.5 percent
- increase worker productivity by 10.9 percent
Source: Green Building Council Australia
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