Malaysia - Top 5 Green Properties

Eco-friendly properties are gaining a lot of attention worldwide, and in Malaysia, the Green Building Index which is quite similar to LEED of the United States are setting up courses and standards to help architects and designers understand and use their brain powers to create buildings that are safe for the environment. While some companies may target the Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Green Excellence Awards, which is supported by ZDNet Asia, acknowledges some of the most distinguished property developers, others may seek for recognition by overseas awards for green buildings.

1. GTower

One of the buildings with international recognition as being a green building is GTower. It is a new working concept, which combines offices, a private club and a boutique hotel called the G City Club Hotel. The building is the first certified green building in the country and was awarded the BCA Green Mark (Singapore's Building & Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Scheme).

The building is constructed with the idea of cutting carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, maximizing energy and water efficiency and to provide high standards of indoor environmental quality. It was given Grade A++ by BCA. The first "plus" is for achieving an international standard of "environment-friendly" as defined by BCA Green Mark GOLD certification (provisional) and the second "plus" is for being a Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) compliant building and connectivity specifications.

2. KEN BANGSAR Serviced Residences

Ken Bangsar is the masterpiece of KEN HOLDINGS BERHAD, which is a reputable, award winning Green property developer. Its property division, KEN PROPERTY SDN BHD, was responsible to transform KEN BANGSAR into the Number 1 GREEN rated building in Malaysia, receiving the BCA Green Mark GOLD Plus award in July 2009. The GOLD Plus award was, at that time, the first and highest award for non-Singapore companies. In 2010, KEN BANGSAR was also announced as the winner of the Malaysian Green Building Index (GBI) Gold Award, recipient of The Edge's PAM Green Excellence Award 2010 and Best Green Developer 2010 title by New Straits Times.

The 15-storey luxury apartment is low density with only 80 units of freehold serviced residences at its dispense. Each unit is equipped with water storage heater, laminated Low-E glass and energy efficient air conditioning. The airy double volume lobby is kept cool and breezy by a system called CHEEL which recycles the condensate water from air-conditioning onto an evaporative feature wall. The heat pump harvest waste heat from the air cond units to produce hot water for the public washroom.

3. 1 First Avenue

1 First Avenue of Petaling Jaya with MSC Status is another "Green" property of the country. It is solely office buildings, certified as a Green Building by the Malaysian Green Building Index. It is a building with 25 stories of GRADE A office tower, strategically located in the Bandar Utama City Centre, just beside one of the biggest shopping mall in Bandar Utama, the 1 Utama Shopping Centre. The building has raised flooring for flexible provision of power supply, and a landscaped lobby at every single floor. It also has excellent ICT infrastructure, with dedicated power supply for secured IT UPS backup during power failure. It also has a dedicated secured telecommunication ducts.

4. Sunway Rymba Hills

Sunway City has always been trying to incorporate 'green' ideas into their projects, and by far Sunway Rymba Hills is probably the one with the most expectations to bring out the 'green' idea. As the name itself unfolds the idea of the residential properties, this Sunway City property attempts to embrace the Lifestyle Of Health And Sustainability (LOHAS) philosophy. It is a gated and guarded low density leasehold zero-lot bungalow, developed within a 6.5 acre of private forest park. It claims to use green building materials, and includes a reading room and informative labeling of plants and trees. The project claims 60% of green spaces overall, and some units will also enjoy a Sky Garden which is great for garden parties or converted to a private sanctuary for a little quiet time. It is located not in any faraway land, but in the embrace of the Sunway Damansara neighbourhood.

5. 11@ Mont Kiara

11@ Mont Kiara, or MK11 is a project by Sunrise Berhad, and is said to be the country's first residential property to gain the BCA Green Mark award. It is built on 6.7 acres of freehold land with 338 units within its three towers of luxury condominiums. The 43-storeys luxury condominium is located within the high-end Mont Kiara area, and incorporates energy and water efficient systems and beautiful landscapes. There are a lot of facilities in the project: a lap pool, children's playroom, multipurpose halls, air-conditioned gymnasium, water jet splash pool, wading pool, sawna, children's playground, badminton court, squash court, half basketball court and tennis court.

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Original article

Why You Can Look Forward to Green Homes in Malaysia

Gone are the days when the concept of 'green living' were only reserved for the conservationist groups and tree huggers. What started as an alternative lifestyle movement has become a pivotal effort to conserve Earth's depleting resources in a bid to create sustainability and a healthier environment. We have started living our green lives but have you given much thought as to whether your home should do the same too?

A sustainable property employs a few methods to reduce pollution, emissions and unnecessary waste. Many forward-thinking property developers in Malaysia have taken to creating sustainable communities and selling the concept of a green lifestyle, in their projects. Many downstream property companies have also begun embracing this new paradigm by actively conducting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs that contributes towards a sustainable environment.

In an age where preservation is imperative to the Earth's subsistence, eco homes are fast taking over the market in Malaysia, not only for its increasing trend but also its contribution to long-term investment, and the fact that the country possesses the ideal location and climate for green homes. Today you can find such communities blossoming in various parts of the country such as Setia Eco Park, 11 @ Mont Kiara and Hijauan Residence, all located within Kuala Lumpur's vicinity. Urban developer YTL Corp has commissioned Bird Island in Kuala Lumpur as the proposed site for the YTL Green Homes Competition, which challenges international world-class architects to create the most ground-breaking and environmentally-friendly home ever built.

It was announced that Kuala Lumpur will host the 3rd International World Class Sustainable Cities Conference (WCSC 2011) this coming 20th and 21st of September 2011. The conference will showcase a number of successful green practices that have been implemented around the world, tobe considered for future development projects across the country. A local municipal council based in the state of Selangor called Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) have deliberated on the possibility of awarding RM500 rebates to homeowners who partake in eco-friendly practices at home. This includes discounts for energy-conserving home upgrades like solar-powered water heaters or even cycling to work. This initiative was recommended by the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry's Low Carbon Cities Framework and funding for this project will be channelled from the PJ Sustainable Development Trust Fund, which will require RM50,000 for the project to take off after a proper assessment has been regulated.

The concept of eco-friendly homes are increasing in popularity in Malaysia. If you already own a property, you can make conscious choices on your lifestyle to create a green home; or if you are currently looking to buy or build property, you can begin looking into making the right choices by being mindful of the consequences of your development, as well as the effects the property has on its surrounding environment. Either way, you are working towards the future of Malaysian homes and living.

Larry Lim is a Kuala Lumpur-based SEO Consultant. He writes for HomeGuru, a leading Malaysia property portal with more than 50,000 listings for residential and commercial real estate, news, forums and personal property advice from a broad line-up of real estate specialists.

Original article

Why you can look forward to Green Homes in Malaysia

Gone are the days where the concept of "life" green were only reserved for conservation and tree huggers groups. What began as a movement of alternative life became a pivot to conserve resources depleting of Earth to create a healthy environment and sustainability. We started to live our lives green but you given much thought as to whether if your home should be same too?

A sustainable property uses several methods to reduce pollution, emissions and unnecessary waste. Many forward-thinking of property developers in Malaysia have taken to create sustainable communities and to sell the concept of an ecological lifestyle in their projects. Many property downstream companies began to embrace this new paradigm by actively conducting programs of social corporate responsibility (CSR) that contributes to a sustainable environment.

At a time when preservation is imperative for the subsistence of the Earth, eco homes are fast taking on the market in Malaysia, not only for its upward trend, but also its contribution to the long-term investment and the fact that the country has the ideal location and climate for green homes. Today, you can find these flowering communities in various regions of the country as Setia Eco Park, 11 @ Mont Kiara and the Hijauan residence, all located in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur. Urban developer YTL Corp has commissioned Bird Island in Kuala Lumpur as the site proposed for the competition of YTL Green homes, which presents world-class architects to create the most innovative and environmentally friendly home environment ever built.

It was announced that Kuala Lumpur will host the 3rd International class sustainable cities World Conference (WCSC 2011) this coming September 20-21, 2011. The Conference will present a number of successful ecological practices that have been implemented worldwide, tobe considered for future projects of development across the country. A local Council based in the State of Selangor, known as Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (MBPD) deliberated on the possibility of granting rebates RM500 owners unite in green practices at home. This includes discounts for the conservation of energy upgrades home solar water heater or same bike to work. This initiative has been recommended by the energy, green technology of the Ministry of water low carbon cities framework and funding for this project will be sent the PJ Sustainable Development Fund Trust, which will require RM50, 000 for the project to take off after that a proper assessment has been regulated.

The concept of green homes are more popular in Malaysia. If you already own a property, you can make conscious choices about your life style to create a Green House; or if you currently need to purchase or construct property, you can begin to seek to make the right choices by being aware of the consequences of your development, and the effects of that property has on its surrounding environment. In any event, you are working towards the future of Malaysian and living homes.

Larry Lim wrote HomeGuru.com.my, a website property of Malaysia leader with over 50,000 entries in residential and commercial real estate. HomeGuru.com.my is a joint venture between the Redberry (Malaysia) and all the media property (Singapore), which has succeeded at Singapore PropertyGuru.com.sg real estate portal.

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