TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Building a green foundation for Indonesia
Today’s buildings account for 19 percent of energy-related greenhouse-gas emissions and consume 40 percent of electricity worldwide.
Change Size
Today’s buildings account for 19 percent of energy-related greenhouse-gas emissions and consume 40 percent of electricity worldwide. (Shutterstock/File)
A
swelling population and rapid urbanization is leading to a growing demand for new construction across the world, threatening major increases in carbon emissions. To offer a glimpse, today’s buildings account for 19 percent of energy-related greenhouse-gas emissions and consume 40 percent of electricity worldwide.
Back home, Indonesia is the fourth largest greenhouse gas emitter, after the United States, China and India. The buildings sector is the country’s third-largest final energy consumer after the industrial and transportation sector. It accounts for 30 percent of the country’s total energy consumption and is expected to rise to 40 percent by 2030.
As part of its plans to reduce emissions by 29 percent by 2030, the government is pushing for higher energy efficiency in buildings. To take it forward, it is necessary to modernize building construction with smart strategies to save energy and minimize impacts of climate change within a local climate context.
Indonesia’s property sector stands poised for transformation. Strong capital investment, rising personal income and rapid urbanization continue to fuel construction growth at five percent annually, accounting for roughly a quarter of gross domestic product (GDP). Further, Vice President Muhammad Jusuf Kalla has set a target of building two million homes per year for low-income households, in order to meet the demand.
A new report by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Cooperation (IFC), Creating Markets for Climate Business, estimates a US$3.4 trillion green buildings market by 2025. Most of the growth in the global building market is expected to come from developing countries. The rapid growth in construction in these countries, along with the urgency of mitigating climate change, makes green buildings an important solution.
Given the scenario, green buildings could be a more sustainable solution to keep up with the country’s growing infrastructure needs and its drive to increase resiliency to climate change.
They incorporate sustainable measures in design and construction, promoting efficient use of energy, water and other resources with low carbon footprint.
