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High-rises to face audits, green building code
The city administration says it will audit existing high-rise buildings to ensure compliance with a green building code slated to go into effect this month
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T
he city administration says it will audit existing high-rise buildings to ensure compliance with a green building code slated to go into effect this month.
The audits would cover energy and water conservation and efficiency, indoor air quality and building maintenance, Jakarta Building Supervision and Regulation Agency (P2B) licensing unit chief Heru Hermawanto said.
The five-year functional certifications of buildings that flunked the audit would not be renewed, Heru told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
'Building owners will be given time to adapt to the code, because we know that implementing it in existing buildings faces not only technical problems, but also legal matters, since most of the buildings are rented,' Heru said.
The new code, which implements a 2012 gubernatorial regulation on green buildings, is mandatory for existing and new buildings such as office buildings, shopping malls and apartments larger than 50,000 square meters; hotels and healthcare facilities larger than 20,000 square meters; and educational facilities larger than 10,000 square meters.
'The agency's job is to issue permits for new buildings whose designs are in accord with the green criteria stipulated in the code and to encourage existing buildings to adapt green lifestyle mechanisms,' Heru said.
According to agency feasibility supervision unit head Pandita, building owners would be invited to meet officials later this month to receive more information about the standards.
'This is to get them prepared ahead of the audit,' Pandita said.
Separately, Nirwono Yoga, an urban analyst at Trisakti University, applauded the move by the P2B to audit buildings.
'The most important thing is for the government to be tough in imposing sanctions on building owners who are reluctant to do the audit,' Nirwono said.
Nirwono said that the agency should involve experts, academics and building owners in the audit process.
'If the results come out, they should be made public for residents to know and to give appreciation for successfully implementing the green building code,' Nirwono added. (hrl)
