KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Carbon Reduction and Environmental Sustainability Tool (MyCREST) is a five-star success story, said the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).
CIDB and the Public Works Department (PWD) launched MyCREST in 2015, with the aim of increasing the number of green buildings in the country.
In 2014, there were 8,028 construction projects, of which 121 projects were classified as green buildings.
CIDB said since the launch of MyCREST, PWD had made it mandatory for all new public building projects worth RM50 million and above to use MyCREST.
Through this mandate, it is projected that all public projects moving forward will be certified as green buildings.
Similarly, the private sector has also pledged its support for MyCREST.
This can be seen from the 20 developers under the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) that signed a memorandum of collaboration last year to adopt MyCREST as a sustainability rating tool.
Kementerian Kerja Raya Tower (KKR Tower) is one of MyCREST’s big success stories.
KKR Tower was the first building to achieve a MyCREST rating of five. Additionally, the 37-storey building was also awarded the Green Construction Award and the Best Project Award (Building) at the Malaysian Construction Industry Excellence Awards 2017 recently.
The tower incorporates many green and sustainable features in reducing energy consumption, improving occupant comfort, reducing impact of material usage as well as making use of less treated potable water.
While its design incorporates floor-to-ceiling glazed facades, which are exposed to the east and west orientations, KKR Tower manages to reduce solar heat by employing triple-pane insulated low-E glazing.
CIDB also launched the Sustainable Construction Excellence Centre (MAMPAN) to increase awareness and promote the use of sustainability rating tools and systems, including MyCREST.
From 2016-2020, CIDB’s environmental sustainability objectives and targets are guided by the initiatives outlined under the environmental sustainability strategic thrust of the construction industry transformation programme (CITP).
CITP is aimed at transforming Malaysia’s sustainable infrastructure to be a model for the emerging world, with 100 per cent of all large infrastructure and building projects exceeding sustainability requirements and a reduction of four tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
Since its launch, MAMPAN has partnered with four institutes of higher learning, namely Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Rehda Institute, to conduct research and development on sustainability.
Three memoranda of understanding had also been signed with UKM, USM and UTM.