GBI committee asks for extension of green incentives

KUALA LUMPUR: The Green Building Index (GBI) committee has requested for an extension of the current incentives given by the government to encourage more adoption of green buildings. The current incentives will end on Dec 31 next year.

“We are requesting these incentives to be given an extension to 2020 as many of the buildings that have applied for GBI certification are still under construction," GBI accreditation panel chairman Boon Che Wee told reporters at the launch of the GBI Residential New Construction Tool (RNC) Version 3 yesterday.

Under current incentives, building owners who obtain GBI certificates from Oct 24, 2009 to Dec 31, 2014 are given an income tax exemption. Buyers who purchase GBI-certified buildings from developers are given stamp duty exemptions on instruments of transfer of ownership. The exemption amount is equivalent to the additional cost incurred in obtaining the GBI certificates.

“According to GBI criteria, a building needs to receive its certification of completion and compliance (CCC) and be 50% occupied before it can be certified," Boon said.

The committee is also requesting for more incentives to be given to GBI-certified buildings, which include the reimbursement of registration fees and facilitator's fees.

“We hope these fees can be included in the incentives and be considered green costs," Boon said.

To date, the GBI has certified over 60 million sq ft of green buildings.

In its first year in 2009, it received 55 submissions and certified one building. In its fourth year, the committee received 121 submissions and certified 68 buildings. As at June this year, it had received over 450 applications for registrations and certified 137 projects or 30% of the submissions. This translates into a total carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction of 224,435 tonnes a year.

The launched RNC is the third edition in four years since GBI's inception. It caters for landed single buildings, strata low rise and strata high rise. Points are redistributed among the six key criteria of the rating tool (energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, sustainable site planning and management, materials and resources, water efficiency and innovation). It also inducts the new criteria of assessment of buildings emphasising on the current issues faced by the construction industry.

“The main purpose of the tool is to take in more developments and to encourage more property types to register for the certification," said Boon.

“Previously, we only had one type of tool suitable for low-rise and high-rise buildings. Now we have a system that breaks down the criteria to suit the two categories respectively."

The launch was officiated by Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili. He said the interest from the Malaysian building industry has really propelled in the last two years.

“People are becoming more aware of what it means to have a GBI-certified building in your portfolio," Ongkili said. “It will add value to your property and at the same time contribute to our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions."

The GBI was created in 2009 through the combined efforts of the Malaysian Institute of Architects and the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia. It provides a common and verifiable building industry mechanism to benchmark buildings within the Malaysian context.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 12, 2013.

Source: http://www.theedgeproperty.com/news-a-views/11378-gbi-committee-asks-for-extension-of-green-incentives.html