Towards Sustainable Buildings in Malaysia: Evaluating Malaysian Green Building Index

Towards the end of the last century, the industry and transport sectors were identified as the two main culprits responsible for the degradation of our environment. However, currently the role played by buildings and the construction industry has been identified as the major source of energy consumption in the developed countries. It was against this backdrop and heeding the increasing demands from end-users for green-rated buildings amidst a growing environmentally conscious society, Malaysia's very own green rating tool, the Green Building Index (GBI) was launched on May 21st 2009. The launching of GBI this year offers Malaysia a voluntary rating tool developed by Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) and the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM). However, as a voluntary tool will GBI be sufficient as a driving force for change in the future? It has been identified that the three main obstacles to construction of energy-efficient building are: (1) deficiencies in public policies to stimulate energy efficiency, (2) restrained governmental efforts to regulate the building industry, and (3) conservative practices in the building industry. Holistic approach on social issues is hard to quantify as it cross issues beyond the physical, political, government and entails other intangible aspects. Hence, without a strong shift in the legal framework and legislation as well as strong will for change amongst stakeholders and key players GBI may not be a forceful tool for change in Malaysia. This paper discusses on the way forward of how Malaysia can leap at the cutting edge towards sustainable development of the built environment in the future.