Eco-friendly properties are gaining a lot of attention worldwide, and in Malaysia, the Green Building Index which is quite similar to LEED of the United States are setting up courses and standards to help architects and designers understand and use their brain powers to create buildings that are safe for the environment. While some companies may target the Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Green Excellence Awards, which is supported by ZDNet Asia, acknowledges some of the most distinguished property developers, others may seek for recognition by overseas awards for green buildings.
1. GTower
One of the buildings with international recognition as being a green building is GTower. It is a new working concept, which combines offices, a private club and a boutique hotel called the G City Club Hotel. The building is the first certified green building in the country and was awarded the BCA Green Mark (Singapore's Building & Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Scheme).
The building is constructed with the idea of cutting carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, maximizing energy and water efficiency and to provide high standards of indoor environmental quality. It was given Grade A++ by BCA. The first "plus" is for achieving an international standard of "environment-friendly" as defined by BCA Green Mark GOLD certification (provisional) and the second "plus" is for being a Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) compliant building and connectivity specifications.
2. KEN BANGSAR Serviced Residences
Ken Bangsar is the masterpiece of KEN HOLDINGS BERHAD, which is a reputable, award winning Green property developer. Its property division, KEN PROPERTY SDN BHD, was responsible to transform KEN BANGSAR into the Number 1 GREEN rated building in Malaysia, receiving the BCA Green Mark GOLD Plus award in July 2009. The GOLD Plus award was, at that time, the first and highest award for non-Singapore companies. In 2010, KEN BANGSAR was also announced as the winner of the Malaysian Green Building Index (GBI) Gold Award, recipient of The Edge's PAM Green Excellence Award 2010 and Best Green Developer 2010 title by New Straits Times.
The 15-storey luxury apartment is low density with only 80 units of freehold serviced residences at its dispense. Each unit is equipped with water storage heater, laminated Low-E glass and energy efficient air conditioning. The airy double volume lobby is kept cool and breezy by a system called CHEEL which recycles the condensate water from air-conditioning onto an evaporative feature wall. The heat pump harvest waste heat from the air cond units to produce hot water for the public washroom.
3. 1 First Avenue
1 First Avenue of Petaling Jaya with MSC Status is another "Green" property of the country. It is solely office buildings, certified as a Green Building by the Malaysian Green Building Index. It is a building with 25 stories of GRADE A office tower, strategically located in the Bandar Utama City Centre, just beside one of the biggest shopping mall in Bandar Utama, the 1 Utama Shopping Centre. The building has raised flooring for flexible provision of power supply, and a landscaped lobby at every single floor. It also has excellent ICT infrastructure, with dedicated power supply for secured IT UPS backup during power failure. It also has a dedicated secured telecommunication ducts.
4. Sunway Rymba Hills
Sunway City has always been trying to incorporate 'green' ideas into their projects, and by far Sunway Rymba Hills is probably the one with the most expectations to bring out the 'green' idea. As the name itself unfolds the idea of the residential properties, this Sunway City property attempts to embrace the Lifestyle Of Health And Sustainability (LOHAS) philosophy. It is a gated and guarded low density leasehold zero-lot bungalow, developed within a 6.5 acre of private forest park. It claims to use green building materials, and includes a reading room and informative labeling of plants and trees. The project claims 60% of green spaces overall, and some units will also enjoy a Sky Garden which is great for garden parties or converted to a private sanctuary for a little quiet time. It is located not in any faraway land, but in the embrace of the Sunway Damansara neighbourhood.
5. 11@ Mont Kiara
11@ Mont Kiara, or MK11 is a project by Sunrise Berhad, and is said to be the country's first residential property to gain the BCA Green Mark award. It is built on 6.7 acres of freehold land with 338 units within its three towers of luxury condominiums. The 43-storeys luxury condominium is located within the high-end Mont Kiara area, and incorporates energy and water efficient systems and beautiful landscapes. There are a lot of facilities in the project: a lap pool, children's playroom, multipurpose halls, air-conditioned gymnasium, water jet splash pool, wading pool, sawna, children's playground, badminton court, squash court, half basketball court and tennis court.
