Enigin Update - Thailand and Singapore Green Building Awareness
THAILAND’S businesses and corporations are becoming increasing aware of climate change and stricter environmental regulations which is accelerating promotion of green buildings by governments and businesses alike, so states Dr Atch Sreshthaputra, a board member of the Thai Green Building Institute.
Many companies now wish to publicise their green credentials as it is good for their corporate image, especially if their products, services or buildings have been certified as environmentally friendly.
"For example, the Energy Complex, the new head office building of the PTT group of companies, is certified at the platinum level by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the US, and the head office of Kasikornbank on Chaeng Watthana Road (Bangkok) is certified at the gold level.
“This is something that is needed to be a world-class business and to build credit in the world market.
"The green building design process should be done by considering several factors such as location, climate and geography, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the surrounding environment which are different depending on each location,” said Atch
Atch did add that there is still resistance from some in Thailand to green building, with most green projects needing to hire foreign consultants, but he suggested that Thailand should have its own green building standard.
He said international standards such as LEED were suitable for commercial buildings but not necessarily as guidelines for all forms of green design and architecture. As an example, he pointed to traditional Thai-style houses, which are relatively good in terms of energy conservation.
More and more Asian countries are focusing on green buildings, particularly China and India with their rapid economic growth, but smaller nations in the region not only need to consider energy efficiency but can do so very effectively, while supporting their own economies.
Ng Eng Kiong, secretary of the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC), supports this view and has stated that the green building industry is growing very fast as countries across the world are concerned about high CO2 emissions,
"The [Singapore] government places a concern on green building and we have allocated a lot of funds to support environment-friendly construction projects, both for new buildings and to renovate existing buildings.
"We have policy tool to help our nation lower energy consumption and support environmental protection,” said Ng.
Singapore formulated its first green building master plan in 2006 to spearhead new green development as well as major retrofitting of existing sites, with considerable success.
"When you consider construction in Singapore during the past few years, almost all projects are focusing on green technology. Despite higher costs than traditional construction, it's good for the efficiency of energy consumption in long term," added Ng.
Ng stated that the second green building master plan will focus on existing buildings, targeting 80% of Singapore's buildings for the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) "green mark" standard by 2030. The BCA green mark scheme has funding of US$93 million to encourage energy saving modifications for existing structures.
Enigin's Distributors in the region are offering leading edge energy saving technology to developers and existing building owners to help reduce their CO2 emissions and save money on energy costs.
Picture by StarvingFox
