The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has called on its members to adopt ‘green building’ practices in their daily operations in a move to create a more environmental-friendly sustainable nation.
FMM Environmental Management Committee Chairman, Datuk Mizanur Rahman Ghani, said the federation, which has about 2,000 members currently, wanted to educate members on the need to incorporate green elements in their buildings to conserve the environment.
“Adopting green building practices can enhance efficiency and productivity. If you an exporter and have green credentials, it will enhance your brand image,” he told a press conference here Monday.
A green building focuses on increasing the efficiency of resource use — energy, water and materials — while reducing building impact on human health and the environment during the building’s lifecycle, through better siting, design and construction.
Green buildings should be designed and operated to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on its surroundings.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Green Building Index (GBI) Accreditation Panel, Ar Von Kok Leong, said GBI has been catalysing Malaysia’s green movement by actively engaging infrastucture industries to educate and advocate sustainable building practices.
He said between 2012 and 2015, 32 projects were registered with GBI to achieve the GBI certification which gives a measurable assessment to factory owners on how “green” or sustainable their building was.
“Out of this 32 projects, 10 have received their certification. We aim to have at least 100 green projects over the next five years,” he said.
Meanwhile, Group General Manager of Nippon Paint Malaysia Group, Gladys Goh, said her company was already adopting green practices in its operations.
She said the company had developed environmental-friendly paints which were zero volatile organic compounds since 2006.
On another note, she said, a seminar entitled “The FMM - Nippon Paint Green Factory Seminar 2015: Planning for a Greener Factory” will be held on Aug 27 at Nippon Paint Re: Think Re: Create Expo at Lot I-17, Taman Perindustrian Subang Utama, Jalan SU 4, Shah Alam.
