Kota Kinabalu's Wakid Wonder

KOTA KINABALU: A building resembling a wakid, the basket that Sabah’s ethnic Kadazandusuns use to carry their agriculture produce for generations, has become the first certified green structure in the state.

The RM16mil Sabah Art Gallery Conservation Centre in Luyang here has been accorded the silver classification from the Green Building Index Accreditation Panel.

On hand to receive the honour from panel chairman Boon Che We was state Tourism Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun who said the building’s solar pho­­­­tovoltaic electricity generating system produced 5% of its power needs.

“The building electricity demand would thus be 1mW less a year – saving 780 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted during that period,” he said.

Rainwater will also be harvested, thus saving up to 330,000 litres of potable water or 32% of the total annual consumption.

Masidi said other energy-saving features in the building included the use of efficient LED lights with motion sensors that would automatically switch off should visitors walk away from paintings or any other exhibit there.

“Automatic photo sensors have also been installed to integrate natural and artificial lighting systems to avoid unnecessary energy wastage.”

Boon said the centre was among 70 structures in the country that had been accorded the green certification.
Of these, 39 are new non-residential buildings, 25 residential ones and five structures that are green-retrofitted, one of which is the Prime Minister’s office.

Boon said the panel had received applications for green certification from owners of a diverse range of properties, including government and corporate offices, hotels, shopping malls, factories, hospitals and airports.

Source: http://kepkas.sabah.gov.my/2012/07/04/kota-kinabalus-wakid-wonder/

Photo source: http://www.bt.com.bn/news-asia/2012/07/03/sabah-art-gallery-receives-green-building-index-certification

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Google Founder Building Eco-Mansion

Famed progressive thinker and Google co-founder Larry Page is working out the details as he plans his new 6,000-square-foot, eco-friendly house on an acre sized lot in Palo Alto. 

The Google house will include solar panels, materials that do not emit toxic chemicals, and paving that allows the rain to seep through, which is a major plus in California, where water planners are looking to fill up aquifers. 

The exterior of the house will have zinc cladding and plenty of enormous windows, including a wall of sliding-glass doors in the back. Page is also working with an arborist to replace some trees in poor health with those that use less water.

Building this eco-house adds to Page’s forward thinking work in areas such as alternative energy companies (he was a major investor in Tesla Motors, which developed the Tesla Roadster, a 220-mile (350 km) range battery electric vehicle.) 

Larry Page, with the help of Google’s philanthropic arm, promotes the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric cars and other alternative energy investments.

Read more: Google Founder Building Eco-Mansion | Sustainability Ninja

Photo source: http://www.topnews.es/aggregator/sources/5?page=4 

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Habitat for Humanity Building 5,000 Energy Efficient Homes

Habitat for Humanity International (which has built over 300,000 homes) and The Home Depot Foundation are now working together to build 5,000 energy efficient homes over the next five years. 

The $30 million Partners in Sustainable Building program will issue grants to Habitat affiliates for homes built following Energy Star, LEED or other nationally recognized green building guidelines.

In 2009 and 2010, 1,500 sustainable homes will be built by 120 Habitat affiliates in 45 states. The program will grant $3,000 per home built to Energy Star standards and $5,000 per home built to a higher standard, like LEED.

In a pilot program tested in 2008, the sustainable features led to energy savings of 15% to 30%. For those that were built to LEED Platinum standards, energy savings have hit 50%.

Read more: Habitat for Humanity Building 5,000 Energy Efficient Homes | Sustainability Ninja

Photo source: http://www.richmondhabitat.org/news-and-events/habitat-for-humanity-ranked-6th-among-top-builders/ 

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Types of Green Technology

Previously we discussed about what Green Technology is all about, today we shall discuss further about the various types of Green Technology:

1.Energy- Which is the most important and urgent concerns of green technology. There are more and more needs for energy generation methods which are more efficient, greener and better for the people and environment. Many country has been rejecting or reducing the use of fossil fuels and coals as these resources are getting lesser in the world and not to mention they are rather polluting as well. Some of the more favorable methods are those like hydro-powered generators, wind turbines and solar power which are able to produce cleaner energy without wasting resources.

2.Building- Green building is an innovative way for greener living. Environmental friendly materials such as recycled glass, bamboo in replace of wood, energy efficient technology and designs. Environmentally responsible and resource efficient process are used to build green building from designing, constructing, operating, maintenance, renovating and demolition. Other than that, there are also issues such as using energy, water and other resources efficiently, reducing waste, pollution and improving employees productivity and health.

3.Preferred Purchasing- This is where business and manufactures finds new ways of producing products which have the smallest impact on the environment. While consumers purchasing products that are more environmentally friendly.

4.Chemistry- Nowadays more companies are discovering greener alternatives for the previously environmentally harmful chemical products. It is also known as sustainable chemistry to encourage the design of products and processes that minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry seeks to prevent and reduce pollution at is source and avoid problems before they happens.

5.Nanotechnology- It involves manipulating the materials to the smallest nanometer to best implement greener principles in the fields. It enhance the environmental-sustainability of processes and also improve sustainability. This could help minimize the potential environment and human health risk which is associated with the manufacture and use of nanotechnology products and to encourage the replacement of existing products with new nano-products that are more environmentally friendly throughout their lifecycle.

Sources:

http://whitney05.hubpages.com/hub/Green-Technology 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_chemistry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_nanotechnology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_building

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Sabah developers interested on green buildings

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah developers are keen to participate in green building development after getting a clearer picture of the costs involved.

Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association president Datuk Susan Wong said it was ready to promote and en-courage green building development which would save on energy and other costs in the long run.

“Green building involves all sorts of technology. For example, heat can be reduced considerably with the orientation of a building to avoid facing the sun and with large windows,” said Wong.

At the recent opening of the International Property Exhibition, Wong had called for a reduction in Green Building Index (GBI) certification fees.

Yesterday, however, she said the fees were fair, adding that she was initially misguided on the GBI certification fee formula and that the RM5,000 and above charge were for bungalows.

Wong said the fee for a typical 172 sq meters double-storey terrace house was as low as RM100.

“For development of 1,000 units of double-storey terrace houses, the fee would be as low as RM65 per unit. For a 500-unit housing development, the GBI certification fee is RM90 per unit while the fee is RM200 each for those between 50 to 100 units,” she said.

She said developers in the state were keen to have their projects certified as green buildings due to the growing demand. 

 

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/15/nation/20110515093346&sec=nation

 

Green Sabah says: Developers must be well-informed with the advantages of green building in order to promote green building development. Besides imposing the GBI certification fee, there should be an approach for green roof as well.

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