KUALA LUMPUR: Urban development projects in the region may have to adopt an "Asean green building" standard in the future, says Nga Kor Ming.
"There was a proposal for Asean to set up a common standard for green buildings where development projects have to meet certain green standards," the Housing and Local Government Minister said at a press conference after attending the Asean-China Roundtable Talks on Urban Construction and Housing on Thursday (July 4).
He said this requires buildings to incorporate features such as the use of eco-friendly building materials, rain harvesters and solar panels, among others.
At present, he said Singapore, Brunei and China have a green building standard.
He said Malaysia's proposed green building standard will be tabled at the next roundtable talks next year.
Meanwhile, Nga the Kuala Lumpur Communique was unanimously passed during the roundtable talks.
He said Asean members as well as China have agreed to strengthen the framework for cooperation in housing and urban development.
He added this included advancing technology, innovation and green construction for sustainability and efficiency.
Nga said that member states have also agreed to work towards developing climate-resilient cities by accelerating local and regional climate actions.
A total of 11 Asean representatives including from China attended the roundtable talks which were chaired by Malaysia for the first time.
