The Energy Commission’s Diamond Building in Putrajaya was named the most energy-efficient building at the Asean Energy Awards (AEA) 2012 held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The Diamond Building won the top prize in the category of “New and Existing Buildings”.
The category was open to buildings that were not more than five years old.
The award ceremony was held during the joint gala dinner of the Asean Ministers of Energy Meeting and the Asean Energy Business Forum on Wednesday.
It was attended by Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin.
The AEA, which began in 2000, is an annual awards programme that recognises “outstanding work for excellence, creativity, practicality and dedication to a cause in the field of energy”.
The seven-storey Diamond Building is the first office building in Malaysia to obtain the Green Building Index platinum rating and the first building outside Singapore to obtain the island state’s Green Mark platinum rating.
Local firm NR Architect was involved in the design of the building, with Thai architect Dr Soontom Boonyatikam as the principal architect and IEN Consultants as the sustainability consultant.
The Diamond Building uses mostly natural light and its energy consumption is about one-third of a normal building.
“I believe that this impressed the judges. So did the sustainable design principles incorporated in the architecture of the building,” said Gregers Reimann of IEN Consultants.
Everything in the building is made from sustainable and energy-saving materials, from energy-efficient computers and lighting systems to non-toxic cleaning materials.
Rainwater harvesting also saves about 70 per cent to 80 per cent on water usage.
Solar power supplies about 10 per cent of the energy used in the building.
Meanwhile, the Ministry’s Green Data Centre won the Energy and Efficiency Best Practices Award, while the Sungai Perting mini-hydro power station in Bentong, Pahang, won the Best Practices on Renewable Energy award.
The UTM One Stop Centre for Sustainable Energy Management Programme won the Best Practices on Energy Management for Building and Industry award.
