KUALA LUMPUR (July 4): The draft of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act (EECA) has been presented and approved by the Cabinet about a month ago, according to Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin.

“The EECA still has to be presented to parliament and the ministry hopes that it will be tabled by the end of this year or next year,” Yeo told the media after the launch of the Greening Malaysia book here today at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

The book was launched by Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM) to celebrate Malaysia Green Building Index’s (GBI) 10th anniversary. The launch was also held in conjunction with the currently ongoing Kuala Lumpur Architecture Festival (KLAF) 2019.

GBI is Malaysia’s green building rating tool developed by the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM) and PAM in 2009. In these 10 years, some 500 buildings have been GBI-certified and nearly the same amount are currently undergoing construction.

“These 500 GBI-certified buildings had managed to reduce 1.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) which is equivalent to removing 243,000 cars from the roads or [having] a forest 22 times that of the land size of Kuala Lumpur,” said Yeo in her keynote address during the book launch.

“More than 50% of electricity usage is consumed in a building. By redesigning and retrofitting existing buildings, this will reduce CO2 emissions and energy usage further, thus saving money on electricity bills,” added Yeo.

Also present during the launch were PAM president Lilian Tay, PAM past president (2009-2011) Boon Chee Wee and ACEM president Datuk Mohd Adnan Mohd Nor.

The book, Greening Malaysia aims to create awareness on environmental issues among developers, architects and engineers, planners, designers, contractors and the public. It is edited by Mitchell Gelber, architects Boon Chee Wee and Serina Hijjas with photography by Lin Ho.

Greening Malaysia comprises three sections. The first section, “Green 500” features building performance data from 500 GBI-certified projects in Malaysia. It highlights the total accumulated energy, water and waste savings from all the projects to date.

The second section, “Green 15” contains case studies of 15 buildings with a wide range of building types, constituents and green building design solutions.

The third section, “Green Shifts” is an anthology of works by individual architects, engineers, designers, community organisers, academics and planners.

Following the launch, Yeo was also taken on a tour of PAM’s ‘Tomorrowland’ pavilion at the International Architecture, Interior Design and Building Exhibition (ARCHIDEX) at Hall 8 of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

When quizzed by reporters on her thoughts after touring the pavilion, Yeo said she was impressed with the projects and innovation showcased by some local architects.