REHDA pushing Malaysian government for more energy-efficient buildings

The Real Estate and Housing Developer’s Association Malaysia (REHDA) has asked the Malaysian government to include in the 2013 budget the renovation of various buildings to become more energy-efficient.

According to The Business Time, Datuk Seri Michael Yam, president of REHDA, said the fund would capably take on 30 per cent of the green building development expenditure.

REHDA has also encouraged the government to acknowledge international green certificate rating systems including the LEED of the United States, Australia’s Green Star, the UK’s BREEAM, and Green Mark of Singapore for the qualifications for incentives provided by the government.

Yahoo reported that REHDA also hopes to get initiatives such as the stamp duty waiver which will double tax subtraction on training costs encountered by property development firms, as well as for the turnover of green certified properties from developers to buyers for the next five years.

About 40 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions presently come from the building sector. However, Yam said that it could be reduced with green building’s lower carbon emissions.

“Currently, less than 0.5 per cent of all commercial and residential buildings (in Kuala Lumpur) are green certified,” he added.