Green Buildings Expands to Jakarta Indonesia

Axis Capital Group, a construction company based in Singapore has seen the developments in the construction industry for years. Green buildings have now evolved to be the current trend in the said country and now, it has reached its neighbors. Jakarta, Indonesia also has its fair share of eco-friendly construction which Axis Capital Group is also slowly getting involved in this great evolution.

Through the years, many analysts have stated the great developments of Asia with reviews showing 61% of its construction industry going green. Among the countries of Asia, Singapore is leading the way in this regard with double the share of green projects than the Asian average, but what about Indonesia, the region’s biggest economy and a country with a booming construction sector?

The Green Building Council of Indonesia, founded in 2009 and a member of the 90-century World Green Building Council is the one responsible for promoting greener construction in the country. In order to promote the advocacy, they involve themselves in the certification of green buildings, speaking and appearing at industry events while trying to convince the Indonesian building community that it makes economic as well as environmental sense to make their buildings energy efficient.

The general view is that while much has been done to encourage green building in Indonesia, the incentives are not attractive enough and the legislation is not strict enough to really get things moving yet. Moreover, companies have not supported the cause because of fear of fraud and scams that these individuals may have under their sleeves.

There has been some progress, though. One year after it was set up, the GBCI succeeded in introducing a Greenship Rating tool, which ranks buildings in six categories (land use, energy efficiency, water conservation, source materials, air quality and environmental management) in a similar way to ratings systems in Europe. However, the Greenship Rating is voluntary and take-up is low – only ten buildings in the whole of Indonesia are certified green, with a further 70 being examined by the GBCI hoping to get the status. 40 of these are in the capital Jakarta. The GBCI has also launched the Greenship Associate and Greenship Professional training Programs, providing education, competency training, and assistance on green buildings to industrial and professional associations. Its GBCI Membership Catalogue also lists green products from over 100 member companies.

To date, the government of Indonesia has implemented rules in response to the GBCI’s cry for a greener environment. This, as analysts had said, is one step towards a great rule of nature in our modern lives.