Malaysia Gears Up With Asean Neighbours In Green Development

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is on the right track in its efforts to increase the country's green development credentials with 137 projects having been certified as of the second quarter of this year. More than 50 million sq ft of building space have achieved Green Building status since Malaysia began practising certification using the fully-Malaysian Green Building Index (GBI) tools, said Project Director of Reed Exhibitions Louise Chua in a statement Wednesday. The tools were introduced by the Malaysian Architects's Association (PAM) and the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia in 2009. Chua said new efforts such as the Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB)'s new planning guidelines for green construction and the green building and carbon-rating tool developed by the Real Estate and Housing Developers's Association (Rehda) fitted closely with its Asean and Asian neighbours in focusing on the future of green technology in development. Besides Malaysia, other countries in the region such as Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines also have green initiatives that will serve to enhance the quality of life for their citizens.