Environment
Keeping green cost down
New art gallery may be Sabah’s first environmentally friendly building
By Olivia Peter
Pictures by Oliver Majaham
Masidi Manjun, minister of tourism, culture and environment, wants the new 16m-ringgit ($5.2m) Sabah art gallery and conservation centre to be the Borneo state’s first environmentally friendly building under the Green Building Index (GBI). But the cost of going green is high and he is trying to keep it down.
He is looking at the lowest of four GBI classifications. “Our aim is to make the gallery the first GBI building in Sabah,” he said during a recent site visit.
This means that the four-storey building at Jalan Penampang, next to the national archives, will have minimum green features such as a solar power generator and system to harvest rainwater to reduce dependence on piped water from the river.
The solar power system costing 125,000 ringgit will be the first in Sabah to generate four kilowatts of electricity to run air-conditioners in the building. Project officials said it would reduce power cost because of less dependence on the Sabah Electricity Sendirian Berhad (SESB) for electricity.
“The main power supply for lighting and other uses still comes from SESB,” said an official who asked not to be named.
Masidi said the gallery had already met one of the GBI criteria through sustainable site planning and management.
Construction began last July but work has slowed a little by more rainy days since. The gallery with a floor area of 3,066 square metres (33,000 square feet) is expected to be ready by the end of December.
GBI certification adds between 3% and 15% to building costs. Registration fees range from 5,000 to 45,000 ringgit. Project officials said it wouldn’t make sense to spend too much on GBI certification for a 16m-ringgit building. They did not elaborate.
The building will be the first of its kind in Malaysia where the first and second floors will be used to keep artists’ work. The exhibition area occupies the third floor and part of fourth floor which will have an office and a library. – Insight Sabah
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We are making Sabah not just a gateway for trade, investment and tourism but a modern, vibrant, prosperous and harmonious place to live.
Prime Minister Najib Razak speaking at the open day of the Sabah Development Corridor in Kota Kinabalu on February 16.