Starproperty.my Sunday 15 June 2014 28 C O V E R S T O R Y

By nuRuL HanISaHnurulhanisah@mystar.com.my

MORE projects today are integrating green sustainable designs to meet the increasing demands for ecologi-cal-friendly developments. One such example is Wisma Rehda, the Rehda

headquarters.It stands proud as a green building that

has passive ventilation, efficient energy con-sumption and an effective water conservation system in the heart of Kelana Jaya in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

GreenRE Sdn Bhd executive director James Chua pointed out the finer tips of the green building features in great detail that can be broken down into the following features below.

Building orientationWisma Rehda is a three-storey develop-

ment which has a built-up area of 29,000 sq ft. The front and back façade of the building faces the north-south axis which is an important element of the building’s design.

“During the design planning of this build-ing, our concern is that it must face the correct direction. The prevailing wind coming from the north and south provides us with the natural ventilation we need,” said Chua.

The building’s orientation provides cooling comfort for the staff and visitors to Wisma Rehda’s building.

“Hence, we don’t need much air-condition-ing in this building, thanks to the integrated passive features,” he added.

double-skin facadeThe building also features “block walls”

which function as a second skin to the build-ing’s envelope. Not only does this double-skin feature prevent heat from entering the build-ing but it also acts to provide natural ventila-tion. As the heat is filtered through the “block walls”, the interior of the building will be kept cool.

Heat gain into the building is minimised during the construction stage of the build-ing by the design consultant team to keep the Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) to 47.98 watts per sq m based on the OTTV’s for-mula as calculated then.

“The double-skin façade on the east and west sides of the building help to prevent the heat from coming in without sacrificing daylight. During the day, we receive sufficient amount of daylight in the building so we don’t need to switch on any lights.”

According to him, the building is so well-shaded from the sun’s heat, that Rehda only requires a minimal usage of air-conditioning.

The “stack effect”Wisma Rehda has a triple volume atrium

with its design idea revolving around natural lighting and ventilation within the building.

The glass atrium roof allows natural day-light to penetrate the building while the open aluminium louvres surrounding the atrium roof function as air vents to disperse warm air, hence facilitating the stack effect.

“We are inspired by the courtyards of the old traditional Malacca house designs with good lighting and air well systems. Therefore we applied the same concept into this build-ing. The ‘stack effect’, a process in which warm air in the building escapes to the roof while cool air rushes in to take its place, allows the air exchange to keep the atrium cool,” he said.

Rainwater harvesting system and Photo Voltaic (PV)panels

Among the other sustainable features prevalent at Wisma Rehda is the rainwater harvesting system.

The building collects approximately 2 mil-lion litres of rainwater per year which is used for landscape irrigation and cleaning purposes within the development. The rainwater col-lected also came in handy during the water

rationing in Selangor a few months ago.“We use water from the rainwater tank for

cleaning purposes, water for the fish ponds and lavatories while the tap water remains as the source for our staff to wash their hands and for drinking purposes,” Chua enthused.

Wisma Rehda also generates its own elec-tricity by harnessing solar energy from its (PV) roof panels. “Instead of selling the energy to Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) via the Feed-in Tarriff (FiT), Wisma Rehda utilised it leaving the FiT quota to the general public to encour-age more natural energy resources harvesting.

Wisma Rehda uses only energy saving light bulbs in the building. Walking through the office areas, it is obvious that Rehda walks the talk as its offices only uses natural daylight as their lighting source.

“The lights in the restrooms use motion sensor and will only be switched on once someone enters and will be switched off auto-matically after five minutes,” he enthused.

Green landscape and water features

Wisma Rehda has an abundance of green-ery, plants and trees surrounding the devel-opment, offering a sense of serenity for the staff and visitors alike. Water features such as the fish pond is located at the entrance of the building.

“Besides the landscape features and green

rooftop, we intend to incorporate as many green features as possible, where we hope to create a fish farm and a rooftop vegetable farm within Wisma Rehda,” Chua said.

According to Chua, Wisma Rehda uses the Smart Coat technology which Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) professors had researched on.

This technology ensures that the building does need to be repainted any time in the near future as it makes the walls complete hydrophobic, thus extending the lifespan of the walls of the building.

Rehda walks the talk with its green building The headquarters of the Real estate and Housing developers’ association Malaysia (Rehda) incorporates sustainable features that are in line with its eco-friendly efforts.

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The exterior view of Wisma Rehda.

The giant fan above the atrium complementes the natural ventilation.

West-facing “double-skin” facade minimises heat gain into the building.

Triple-volume internal light well with stack effect natural ventilation.

Pot-holed block walls providing natural ventilation throughout the building while water features and greenery complement the entrance.

– Photos by MOHD SYAFIQ IKHWAN

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