Lack of awareness for green buildings

JAKARTA: While there is growing awareness about preserving the environment, not much has been done to educate the public about energy-saving buildings.

From their construction to operation, buildings across the globe have consumed 40% of the energy countries produce and 12% of clean water. Adding to that, buildings contribute 25% of global waste production and 35% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to global energy management company Schneider Electric.

Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI) chairman Iwan Prijanto said that the lack of awareness has hampered green building projects in Jakarta and nationwide.

“GBCI members comprise almost all developers in Indonesia.

“There have also been regulations that make green buildings mandatory.

“But if there’s no demand from the market, it will go nowhere,” Iwan said.

The government, through the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, as well as the Jakarta administration, have issued Ministerial Regulation No. 2/2015 and Gubernatorial Regulation No. 38/2012, respectively, to reduce the environmental impacts of the construction sector.

The Jakarta gubernatorial decree stipulates that developers must comply with green requirements with energy and water efficient buildings or fail to receive a construction permit.

These requirements also exist in other cities, such as Bandung in West Java, Medan in South Sumatra and Denpasar in Bali.

The Public Works and Housing Ministry has turned one of the buildings in its office complex in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, into an example.

The building has been certified by the GBCI and declared as the first government building to apply a green concept.

The certification was based on the GBCI’s green building standards, called Greenship. — Jakarta Post / Asia News Network