Building & Investment (Jul - Aug 2016) (Jul - Aug 2016) | Page 32

News & Events

IGEM: Developing ASEAN’s Green
building sector to new heights

Organised by KeTTHA and co-organised by GreenTech Malaysia, IGEM is the gateway to
ASEAN’s burgeoning green market.
BUILDINGS ARE a key contributor of climate change, accounting
for around 40% of global energy use and contributing about 30%
of city-wide emissions. To mitigate this, sustainability is now at the
core of city and town planning with green buildings playing a vital
role in effectively addressing global warming.
Globally, the number of green buildings continues to grow with
projections that 37% of companies will have the majority of their
real estate assets certified sustainable by 2018.
In the region, the ASEAN Joint Statement on Climate Change
to COP21 set guidelines for member countries to pursue green,
opening economic opportunities in establishing sustainable cities.
The Philippines is embarking on its first smart city, Clark Green
City, with projects worth USD 2.2 billion already being rolled out.
Thailand is developing three smart city provinces encompassing
Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai.
As a country committed to green transformation, Malaysia too
is advancing as a smart-city hub, focusing on major cities, economic
development zones and new urban housing areas. Malaysia now has
close to 700 green building projects registered and over 164 million
sq ft of certified green building space. Additionally, local councils
are adopting the Low Carbon Cities Framework and Assessment
Systems (LCCF), a tool to assist in sustainable city planning.
These concerted efforts from across the region are poised
to drive the demand and growth of green products and services
within ASEAN’s building and construction sector to new heights.
Showcasing these and other exciting possibilities in ASEAN’s
30
Building