CIDB: Sustainable construction a game changer for industry

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 5): The country has, under the Eleventh Malaysia Plan 2016-2020 (11MP), identified “sustainable construction” as the game changer for the construction industry, said Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia chief executive Datuk Dr Judin Abdul Karim (pictured) at the Zofnass Programme Symposium held at Harvard University in the US recently.

“Our ultimate goal is to ensure that as Malaysia advances to become a truly developed nation, its construction industry must grow and embrace global standards for modern, efficient and sustainable practices,” he added.

He says the construction industry is a key economic driver in Malaysia, and from 2011 to 2014, a total of 29,435 construction projects valued at RM470 billion were awarded.

“This makes it imperative for us to ensure that environmental sustainability is included as part of our strategy to balance economic growth with environmental sustainability… The Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP), which was launched as part of the [11MP], sets a clear goal for us to drive Malaysia’s sustainable construction as a model for the emerging world.

“This is important as it will fundamentally shift the way our people regard the importance of conserving our environment while boosting socio-economic development. At the same time, we need to consider increasing construction projects’ resilience against climate change and natural disaster,” he added.

The five-year CITP was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak in September and focused on quality, safety and professionalism; environmental sustainability; productivity; and internationalisation.

Judin said one of the key strategies is to ensure greater industry adoption on sustainable practices by focusing on high-impact public projects, which sets an example for the industry to follow.

CIDB is currently working closely with authorities to drive compliance and environmental sustainability standards and to share best practices on key public projects such as the River of Life in KL, the Mass Rapid Transit, High Speed Rail and Pan Borneo Highway construction.

“We aim that moving forward, all large infrastructure and building projects in Malaysia are rated and exceed sustainability requirements. By encouraging the construction industry to be more environmentally responsible, we could reduce total carbon footprint in the industry by four million tonnes per year. With better compliance, we will also ensure that our infrastructure projects become more resilient and sustainable in the long-run, in line with Malaysia’s vision to be a fully developed nation by 2020,” said Judin.

The board shared the CITP during the two-day event organised by the Zofnass Programme for Sustainable Infrastructure at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Over 100 public sector officials, industry professionals and leading academics attended the symposium to share their best practices as part of its aim to facilitate the adoption of sustainable solutions for infrastructure projects and systems.

The other Malaysian delegates who attended the symposium are member of the board of directors of CIDB and managing director of Kota Kelang Development Sdn Bhd Datuk Ng Seing Leong, managing director of Ekovest Bhd Datuk Lim Keng Cheng, project director of MRCB Nor Izzati Tan Sri Mohammad Salim, and senior manager of IJM Construction Sdn Bhd S Ramesh Subramaniam.

Do not ask your soul mate about the value of your home. Click here at The Edge Reference Price to find out.