green buildings, a must and a requirement

Green Buildings, a must and a requirement Jakarta Post | Wed, 05/26/2010 11:04 AM | Supplement Currently, green buildings have become a popular trend across the world because environment friendly buildings greatly contribute to the reduction of global warming. ButhowaboutinIndonesia?Dopropertydevelopersherehaveatrueawarenessoftheneedto constructgreenbuildings?Unfortunately,untilnowsuchaconcepthasonlyreachedthediscussion stage. Moreover, large tenants, for example multinational corporations, do not demand that Indonesian developers provide them with green office buildings when they set up business here.

Actually, based on the large space required by such corporations and the money they spend on renting office space, they are in a position to force developers to build green office buildings, said Stephanus D. Satriyo,associatedirectorforpropertyandfacilitiesmanagementofPTCushman&Wakefield Indonesia.

However,althoughthereisnorealpressureitdoesnotmeanthatIndonesiandevelopersaredoing nothing about the issue. The Green Building Council of Indonesia (GBCI) was established in 2009 and its members comprise construction professionals, prominent property sector figures, government officials, educators and researchers as well as NGOs that are concerned about the environment. GBCIisamemberoftheWorldGreenBuildingCouncil(WGBC),whichisheadquarteredinToronto, Canada,andhas64countriesasmembers.ItonlyrecognizesoneGBCineachcountry.GBCIconducts intensivepublicinformationandawarenesscampaignsandissuesgreenbuildingcertificatesin IndonesiabasedonevaluationthatisspecificallydesignedtoIndonesianstandardsandiscalled Greenship.

Theimplementationofgreenbuildingsherewillgivethefollowingresults:ecologicalsustainability, conservationofenergyandvariousnaturalresources,financialefficiency,acompetitiveedgeand responsible world citizens. In short, green buildings will contribute to the sustainability of the world we live in.

However, as GBCI is only one year old, its efforts fall short of expectations. One can easily estimate that developinggreenbuildingsisfarmorecostlythanerectingconventionalbuildings.Togetagreen certificate,therearenumerousprerequisitesorconditionstobefulfilled:Theconstructionprocess shouldnotdamagetheenvironment,theuseofenvironmentallyfriendlymaterialsthattakeinto account the 3Rs reduce, reuse and recycle and energy and water efficiency.

Stephanus, who is an active member of GBCI, said that to a certain extent it is undeniable that a number of developers are fully aware of the need for green buildings and have started to build them. Somedeveloperspromotetheirbuildingsandapartmentsasgreenbuildings,butinrealitythegreen concepthasonlybeenappliedinafewareas,suchasintheintroductionofmoregreenspaceand gardens surrounding their buildings. Also, the buildings save energy to a certain extent, for instance with the use of individual air-conditioners instead of centralized air conditioning and by recycling water.

However,nobuildingsinIndonesiahavebeencertifiedasgreen.Itfollowsthelawofsupplyand demandinthatthereisalmostnodemandinthemarketforsuchbuildings.Thereisalsoa misunderstandingthatgreen,environmentallyfriendlybuildingsarecostlyandthereforenotfeasible business-wise.

Developedcountrieshave quiteadifferentviewpoint.Notonlygogovernmentsoverseassupportthe construction of green buildings but such buildings also have a high market and resale value. Infact,somedevelopingcountries,suchasMexico,India,ChinaandVietnam,alreadyimplementthe greenbuildingconceptthroughLeadershipinEnergyandEnvironmentalDesign(LEED),whichwas initiated by Green Building Council of the United States.

Property here, especially office buildings, is enjoying positive growth as demand increases every year. According to datacompiled by Cushman &Wakefield Indonesia, in 2010 there was3.93 million square metersofofficespaceinJakartasCentralBusinessDistrict(CBD)Jakarta.Thisyear,therewillbean additional240,600squaremetersintheCBD.BakrieTower(60,000squaremeters)andEquityTower (83,600 square meters) are under construction and will be marketed in May or June this year.

Indeed,todaythereisnodemandforgreenbuildingsbutitispossiblethatinthenextthreeorfour yearsmultinationalcompaniesthatareconcernedabouttheenvironmentwillputpressureon developers to provide them with space in certified green office buildings.

Basically, many in the property industry welcome thegreen building concept although itneeds a lot of preparation here, such as guidelines, tools, standards and so forth. An institution like GBCI is expected to conduct expansive and aggressive public awareness and information campaigns on the issue. But most importantly, the green building concept is not the sole responsibility of developers. Everyoneshouldbeconcernedaboutthepreservationofourenvironmentforasustainablefuture, commented Stephanus.