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Sustainable Building Asia
by John Herbert
Why is sustainability and sustainable building so important? There are several reasons:
1) For buildings, the CAPex investment is less than 30% of the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) therefore OPex presents a major challenge for the future owners.
2) In world of scarcity and fewer natural resources the necessary fuel and energy for inefficient buildings will be significantly more costly compared to those built with sustainability as a core principal.
3) Building sustainable is smarter, it actually lowers both your CAPex and OPex. For example if the actual design incorporates window shading, in the tropical climate less space cooling is required. In turn smaller chillers, and accessories (piping, ducting and electrical work) can be used. If smaller chillers are used smaller power cabling and switchgear is needed from day one, lowering CAPex.
4) Learning from past mistakes, we see that today's OPex for old buildings inefficient buildings is a significant contributer to climate change and Opex for building owners.
Standards
Standards are critical for the development of any market.
There are several methodologies for sustainable building including
probably the best know in Asia are BEAM1
and LEED. Once a standard is created, it
invites competition, and encourages creativity boosting the
overall market for green buildings.
Core Idea
The core idea for sustainable building is to planning from day one to limit environment impact of the facility in terms of construction and future operating costs.
This principal can be applied to every building type including industrial, commercial, mixed use, health care, institutional, residential, etc. .
For energy consumption, optimizing or reducing energy demand with smart design, reduces the need for electrical power reducing pollution.
Further Information
If you need further information regarding Kelcroft and the services we provide to help businesses, call Mr John Herbert at our Hong Kong office telephone +(852) 2335 9830 or by fax +(852) 2335 9862.
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keywords: Sustainable building, HK-BEAM, BEAM, LEED, sustainability
1. HK-BEAM was re-branded BEAM in 2008