‘Sustainable construction’ sounds like big words - but the idea is simple and its impact far-reaching - affecting each of us individually. The Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) - which represents all fields of engineering - believes that sustainability has been an issue of interest for all stakeholders in the engineering industry. We at IEM would like to address its importance and the pressing need for Malaysia to adopt it with greater vigour.
In simple words, sustainable construction aims to meet present-day needs for housing, working environment and infrastructure without compromising future needs. Sustainable consumption and production are important to be incorporated because it promotes economic growth without compromising the environment or jeopardising the needs of future generations.
This means efficient use of natural resources, minimising use of hazardous substances, and reducing pollution and waste.
In Malaysia, the government has been promoting sustainability initiatives since year 2000 and ever since then, many pilot projects have been initiated. At the Copenhagen 15th Conference of the Parties (COP-15), the government of Malaysia has committed to adopt an indicator of voluntary reduction of up to 40 percent in terms of emissions intensity of GDP by the year 2020 compared to year 2005 levels.
The government is aware of the need for sustainable construction and have initiated many sustainable and energy-efficient programmes such as Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS), Small Renewable Energy Power Programme (SREP) by the Energy Commission (ST), Feed-in Tariff (FiT) by the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (Seda) and Building Sector Energy Efficiency Project (BSEEP) by the Public Works Department (JKR).
However, the major challenge in implementing sustainability methods in the construction industry is to achieve win-win outcomes in order to attain mutual benefits for the environment and the industry’s economic cost benefits.
By raising awareness among buyers to demand for sustainable houses, housing developers will be pushed to improve specifications of their development projects which should include certain sustainable elements to attract buyers. Long-term commercial developments will eventually see the benefits of cost saving in adopting sustainable construction and green technologies, where the maintenance cost of the building and infrastructure will reduce in the long run.
All these would result in overall savings. On the marketing side, developers can also promote the long-term cost savings of their development that complies with the Green Rating that promotes energy efficiency.
However, there are still some obstacles towards the implementation of sustainable construction. Cost is still the main priority of any development. Obviously, sustainable construction increases project cost.
Developers must be convinced that solving sustainability issues will add value to the development and the public should be prepared to pay a higher entry cost to enjoy such benefits. Unfortunately, the industry still lacks understanding about sustainable construction. As such, more construction players should be involved in sustainable construction and also be encouraged to deepen their knowledge on sustainable construction.
Providing incentives
The government should play more active roles in promoting sustainable construction such as providing incentives to developers who would like to promote sustainability in their project, and promote new developments which adopt green technology by encouraging developments with green rating. Tax incentives can be given to developers which achieve a certain green rating.
The government may lead by example where the government and government-linked companies (GLCs) projects should specify green rating, energy efficiency and sustainable construction as a requirement in project specifications as an important strategy to ensure contractors adopt the concept of sustainable construction.
IEM is a learned society for the engineering fraternity and we have been actively promoting the concept of sustainable construction to our members. We do this by increasing their level of knowledge and awareness on the concept of sustainability as well as sustainable construction.
IEM will continue to organise training sessions with regard to sustainable construction, energy efficiency and green technology to disseminate knowledge on the latest techniques and technologies to our members.
Our institution has also been actively engaging various stakeholders in government agencies such as the Energy Commission (ST), Seda, JKR, MiGHT, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), the local councils, and more to develop strategies for the nation’s sustainability agenda.
The development of sustainable cities should place high importance on enhancing green-based development and optimising low carbon resources. Environment-friendly practices such as green
buildings, green lifestyles, and sustainable consumption and production should be embedded in the development of sustainable cities.
Sustainability is not just about green and efficient cities. Sustainability refers to the efficient use of limited resources such as water, land, energy and other raw materials, and holistic management of residues - solid waste, effluents or emitted gases.
Sustainability is about you, about us, and about our future generation. Let’s join our hands to work for our future together.
IR LIM CHOW HOCK is president, The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia.
