Uniform Building By-laws to include green building features

KUALA LUMPUR: The Housing and Local Government Ministry is reviewing the Uniform Building By-laws to make Malaysian buildings more environment-friendly. The review of the By-laws will incorporate green building technologies and features.

This is a move towards sustainable development in Malaysia, Housing and Local Government.Minister Datuk Kong Cho Ha told reporters at the Green Solutions for Property Development Conference held on Monday May 17.

"The Uniform Building By-laws has been in existence for a long time and a lot of things have changed since, especially building technology. We will be amending the by-laws to include some of the features in the Malaysian Green Building Index (GBI) such as energy savings. We will also look at building materials and architecture," said Kong. The GBI is a green building standards rating launched last year.

Discussions with stake holders in property development, construction and building material manufacturers are ongoing to ensure a feasible by-law, Kong added.

The new by-laws will be implemented in two stages. "We are trying to complete stage one this year. It consists of the more urgent features such as energy savings, rainwater harvesting and certain components of GBI," said Kong.

The Conference is jointly organised by the Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REHDA) Institute and the Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning and Human Settlement, a non-governmental multi-sectorial organisation encompassing the private, public and academic sector with an aim to improve the quality of life and sustainability of human settlements.