Green Buildings

Walk down any street in Jakarta – taking care not to choke on the pollution or get run over by traffic – and try to find a building designed with energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in mind. Be prepared for a very long walk, writes Prapti Widinugraheni.

Jakarta’s buildings and houses may look grand, sleek or even a little bit artistic, but they are seldom designed to minimize pollution, save on electricity and water usage, or integrate with natural surroundings. They seldom follow what building designers these days call “green building” principles – a concept which encompasses energy efficiency, sustainability and a holistic approach to building.

Although lacking popularity in Indonesia, in many parts of the world green building has become mainstream, with the issues of environmental preservation and sustainable development no longer the domain of a small but vocal “green movement”.

These days there is a general consensus on the harm that building and construction activities inflict upon the environment, and acknowledgment of the need for architects and building planners to incorporate sustainable principles into their designs in response to warnings from scientists of the real and present danger of global warming.

The convention of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in San Antonio, Texas, in May, for example, unanimously acknowledged the importance of applying an environmentally friendly approach to design – the convention’s theme, “Growing Beyond Green”, said it all.

At the convention, Raymond J. Cole of the Canadian Green Building Council said that built structures that interfered with the ecosystem needed to be replaced with “carbon neutral” structures producing “zero energy”.

“Architecture needs to be healing, not destructive,” he said.

Also, to develop should no longer mean to occupy.

“Developing goes beyond creating a ‘high performance building,’” said William Reed of the U.S. Green Building Council. “It is about bringing out the capabilities or potentials of a site.”

To do this, designers must “experience the whole system” – gain environmental knowledge of the site, understand the “story of a place” and implement continual “dialog” with the site.

“It is important to understand the invisible relationships of the site before building and enable the development to ‘weave’ into the site,” he said.

If architects cannot do this, Reed suggested they consider hiring experts, such as systems ecologists, for the purpose.

South African architect Chrisna du Plessis, a guest speaker at the AIA conference, went even further, saying the job of architects was to ensure the system of relationships in the environment remains intact, and that architectural designs have a sense of belonging in and interdependence with its locality.

At a glance, green building may sound irrelevant in an already damaged place like Jakarta, but Indonesia’s building planners still have the chance to do their bit for the environment. A good first step would be to follow government guidelines and standards on energy preservation in buildings, some of which have existed as far back as 2000.

Architect Jimmy Priatna said most planners have regularly ignored these guidelines because of the need to conduct various complex, time-consuming analyses to achieve the standards set down by the regulations.

“Architects are generally not keen on these analyses,” said Jimmy, who is also a lecturer at Petra Christian University in Surabaya.

Another reason energy efficiency is not high on the agenda of architects is because electricity costs so little that it becomes a disincentive for saving.

“Subsidized energy as we have now is very cheap, so developers do not immediately feel the need to skimp. Only when electricity prices are left entirely to the market will people become inclined to save energy.”

In Jakarta’s high-rises, air-conditioning – a must in the tropics – makes up 50 to 60 percent of the power bill; this is a cost building owners generally take for granted. What owners – as well as investors and other stakeholders – are often unaware of is that green building would allow them to acquire considerable long-term savings on their power expenditures.

“A building may be able to save 25 percent of energy costs by cutting back on operational activities. But if that building had been built using green principles, the savings could amount to 40 to 50 percent,” said Jimmy, who designed the Graha Pangeran building in 2002 and the Graha Wonokoyo building in 2006, both in Surabaya,  which have been recognized by the ASEAN Center for Energy for their energy efficiency

He said energy efficiency in buildings can be achieved through the selective use of materials and hi-tech “gadgets”, such as curtain walls, clever light switches and low-emission glass; as well as through passive environmental control techniques, such as the careful configuration of windows and positioning of the building.

But the achievement of sustainability in green building goes beyond technological advancement and design gimmicks. Like his American counterparts, Jimmy pointed out the holistic nature of green building: the achievement of energy efficiency through integration with the environment, collaboration with people from various fields of expertise and discussion with all stakeholders.

A high-rise project he is currently working on for an educational foundation, for example, requires him to consult intensively not just with the developer but with educators and the building’s owners.

At the end of the day, green building’s main concern is treading lightly on the Earth. Du Plessis coined the term “architectural spirituality”, where architects see their role as participating and reciprocating with “the world” and being co-creators and co-evaluators with nature.

“Every day, be aware of your actions and how they change your environment. Ask yourself: is what I am doing now, at this moment, contributing positively to the environment? If the answer is no, then ask: what changes should I make?” Du Plessis said.

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