PU office to set example in green certification

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 01/19/2010 11:04 AM

The planned new Public Works Ministry office on Jl. Pattimura in South Jakarta will be the first building in Indonesia to be certified by the Green Building Council of Indonesia and will at least achieve a gold ranking for design, an organization director says.

Green Building Council of Indonesia (GBCI) director of rating and technology Rana Yusuf Nasir said that the new building was the council’s pilot project for green building.

Planners designed the building site plan to include zero rainwater run off. It will also have a water recycling and treatment system with 83 percent water consumption. It will include an efficient energy system that will save energy consumption by up to 30 percent, with a target of 200 kilowatt-hours per square meter each year.

According to the GBCI, the average office usage in Jakarta currently stands at 250 kilowatt-hours per square meter per year.

Rana presented the building designs recently as a case study for businesses with interests in the green building sector.

The GBCI also launched its framework for a “greenship” rating system. The council plans to launch its official rating system for newly constructed buildings in March or early April. The council will prepare a rating system for existing buildings next week.

Rana said that the greenship rating will have four rankings — bronze, silver, gold and, the highest, platinum. A building receives bronze certification if it fulfills at least 35 percent of the total points needed; at least 46 percent for silver, gold 57 percent and platinum 73 percent.

He said that looking at the current planning of the building, it would at least be given gold certification.

Consulting company PT Jakarta Konsultindo is the building’s planning consultant. Director of Jakarta Konsultindo Maryanti Kusuma Masmara said that it was in the planning process.

“The construction will begin around this year,” she said.

The GBCI scrutinized several aspects of the building plan, according to its rating system framework.

Rana said that the organization examined the planned building’s appropriate site development, energy efficiency and refrigerant, water conservation, material resources and cycle as well as indoor air health and building environment management.

The planned building would gain points due to its accessibility to public transport. The plan also included a bicycle rack, and bathroom and changing room facilities. The building will be energy efficient utilizing natural daylight and an average air-conditioning temperature of 25 degrees Celsius.

The plan for the ministry building has fulfilled 66 percent of the total points needed.

Rana said that it was possible to achieve an even higher rank. “It is possible to be more energy efficient,” he said.

Office building and mall operators at the seminar said they were positive about the upcoming rating system from the GBCI.

“Without the rating system, we will be left behind other countries. We have to implement it fast,” Grand Indonesia Shopping Town engineering and maintenance senior manager Slamet Ristono.

GBCI chairwoman Naning S. Adiningsih Adiwoso said that the demand for green buildings was high in Jakarta.