By Sherry Koh | Apr 23, 2010
Datuk Ken Yeang, the master of green skyscrapers
 |
| Eco-starchitect: Datuk Ken Yeang, the inventor of bioclimatic skyscrapers, was announced as one of the '50 people who could save the planet' by The Guardian newspaper (January 2008) |
StarProperty.my spoke to Datuk Ken Yeang, an ecologist, writer and architect, about eco-buildings and environmental awareness. As a principal in T. R. Hamzah and Yeang in Kuala Lumpur and chairman of Llewelyn Davies Yeang, Yeang is globally renowned for his award-winning awe-inspiring green building designs. With more than 35 years of eco-architectural expertise, he is also the inventor of the bioclimatic skyscraper, which translates to designing buildings that takes into consideration the orientation of a building, its shape and vegetation, amongst others.
Yeang also invented the principles of eco-mimicry, which means, imitating the eco-system. His architectural eco-designs and masterplans aim to maintain linkages and connectivity between the human-built environment and the surrounding’s eco-systems.
His design talent is evident in many landmarks and projects around the globe, including The Roof-Roof House, Kuala Lumpur; Menara Mesiniaga, Selangor; Kowloon Waterfront Masterplan, Hong Kong; and National Library of Singapore. His latest projects include the DiGi Technical Building (a green building with vegetation growing on the walls) which is scheduled for completion in May or June 2010, and the Solaris Singapore, which has been certified BCA (Building and Construction Authority) Green Mark Platinum, the highest possible green certification granted by Singapore’s sustainable building benchmark.
You are known as the inventor of the bioclimatic skyscraper. Tell us a little about that. What makes a bioclimatic skyscraper?
Yeang: Low energy. It performs as a passive low energy building. Bioclimatic means (being) responsive to
the climate of the locality. Each different parcel will have a different environment. Like (in the) Tropics, the sun’s path is different. The seasons are different. Islands like Hong Kong are different because the wind directions are more predictable. Here, the wind directions are not so predictable.
There are aspects of climate that you can use to the benefit of your design. So for instance, if you shape your building properly, you can contribute towards low energy performance (of a building). Shaping orientation involves the walls, the facade design, the way you use the vegetation, the way you layout the plan.
[Starts sketching] For example, we are on the equator. The sun goes from east to west. If you have a thin vertical building, a good part of the sides are heated up in the morning and evenings. So let’s say you shape your building in a more horizontal or broad approach (with plenty of roof area), the sun only heats up at the sides (smaller area).
 |
| Green learning: Artist's impression of Singapore's national library |
So that means this (broad) building does not get so hot. So it is easier to air-condition because it is cooler. But the worst is a diagonally-shaped building, because that means the top and sides all get heated up (throughout the day). So, orientation is important.
Now, let’s say for a house. You shade one side to keep the sun out, but half the day the sun is at the top. So in a terrace house, the roof gets very hot. So you need to insulate it. All these are what I call bioclimatic design. For instance, if you start putting trees at the sides of the house, then trees provide shade to the house.
Bioclimatic design means that you are taking advantage of orientation (of a building). You design with proper shaping of the building, making use of vegetation, making use of facade design and colours. For example, black colour absorbs heat. Instead of reflecting heat, you are absorbing the heat. So, this is what you call bioclimatic. There is a whole science of designing building. What I have done is apply it to skyscrapers.
You have been building bioclimatic buildings for more than 35 years. Does it frustrate you that it took 35 years for people to realise green issues?
Yeang: It doesn’t frustrate me. I find it distressing that there are a lot of pretenders. People who say they do green design but don’t actually do it. They don’t really understand it. So they are the ones who mislead the public.
You invented the principles of eco-mimicry. Kindly explain what it means.
Yeang: Eco-mimicry is something that I developed; that we should design to imitate the properties of nature. If we don’t imitate them, then we are going against nature. Our system then becomes disruptive. So in nature, for instance, everything is recycled. Nature has no waste. You look at the ground. There’s no waste.
The waste of one organism becomes the food of another. Everything is recycled. But our human systems are not like that. We take something, use it and throw it away. That’s not the way. The way is somewhere in nature. So if we imitate nature, then we should recycle, reuse everything. We should design so that everything we use in the building can be recycled and reused. It’s not so easy. Door frames, bricks, window frames - don’t just demolish and throw it away.
What are the main challenges in designing green buildings?
Yeang: There are a lot of challenges [laughs]. First of all, you see, so much of it is in its infancy. Trying to do within cost is very difficult. Second, is to find the technology for it. It doesn’t always exist. Trying to make it work is difficult. Trying to get it built is difficult. Trying to convince clients to go green can be difficult.
We are doing a project in Singapore, the Solaris project, it’s under construction now. It’s Singapore’s Green Mark Platinum, the highest you can get. Platinum is 95 points, we are 97 points. It only costs 6.3% more than the industry’s standard (cost). In other words, you get a green building which costs only 6.3% more.
What are the green features that were incorporated into the Solaris Singapore project?
Yeang: This Green Mark means that it has rainwater harvesting. The vegetation on the ground is replaced in the building. [Starts drawing] Let’s say your ground area is so much. This is the building. This area of vegetation, we put inside the building. So that means we don’t destroy the ground.
 |
Improve your eco-vocab:
Yeang's latest book |
You know, if you build, you lose the vegetation, so you put it back into the building. It totals to 113 percent more. 13 percent more (vegetation) than the ground area. It has climate responsive facades. To make it naturally ventilated, we have to have an operable louvered atrium. The top (roof) has louvers, so the wind can go out. When it rains, it automatically shuts. The ground floor is naturally ventilated. To make it naturally ventilated, you need to have a special kind of wall, the rain check wall. Means that it keeps out the rain but lets the wind in. There are a lot of other features (in Solaris).
How can we make existing buildings greener or organic?
Yeang: If you start with the key factors, which is energy, material and water. Try to make it low energy. Try to make it non-dependent on use of fossil fuels. So you should try renewable sources of energy, solar energy if possible. Back to eco-mimicry, in nature, the only source of energy is from the sun. Photosynthesis. So if you can design with renewable sources of energy, then we are imitating nature. So the first thing you need to do is try to look at energy sources. To make it carbon-neutral, if you like.
There’s the issue of cost...
Yeang: In the Solaris building, the energy and water savings is SGD700,000 a year. So you get paid back. So you have to look at energy systems, look at water systems. Then we look at drainage systems. Then you look at environmentally friendly materials. Then look at sewerage, how you can find some way to treat it without discharging it to the sea and river.
Then you look at daylight. How can we improve daylight entry into a building? By improving the daylight, you reduce the need for artificial lighting. Then you look at low energy lighting systems. Look at how to improve air quality using plants. We look at power. Reduce the area for air-conditioning. Look at facade design. Reduce the sun from entering. Look at roof design. So there are many things you can do.
How much will green buildings help in our PM’s vision of reducing carbon emission by 40% in 2020?
Yeang: We have to confront it, not just the developers. It is a mandatory thing we should all do. By the time you experience it, it is too late. It will take a natural disaster like the volcano (eruption in Iceland) to bring people to their senses. And it will happen suddenly. Suddenly, you see the water rises. Then all the island countries will disappear. Right now, they are looking into re-planning of Maldives. Because the water level has reached so high that the island is disappearing. Have to relocate. It’s a serious matter, you see. They say that if this happens, a good part of London will be flooded. And it will happen suddenly. When that happens, it’s too late.
It’s not just developers. It’s you and me. We have to change our lifestyles. For instance, eating beef contributes to 20% of climate change. If we eat fish, it is less environmentally disruptive. So, it’s a lifestyle.
The way we use electricity, the way we use water. When brushing teeth, we should switch off the tap water. That’s clean water (we are wasting). And we use clean water for flushing. Isn’t that a waste? Some parts of the world, there are no water and here we are using clean water for flushing. 40 percent of water in the house is used for flushing. Pure drinkable water, just for flushing. What a waste. So our lifestyles must change.
What does a green masterplan entail?
Yeang: Well, the green masterplan has to respect nature. You see, what we do as human beings is that we chop up nature. We not only chop up, we remove nature. Once you chop up nature, you are fragmenting nature. It doesn’t work as an ecological system anymore. [Starts sketching] The species from here (one place) cannot come here (be placed at another location). The whole ecology is gone. So a green masterplan is one that respects the ecology and replaces it.
So what you want to do is to maintain connections, from corridor to corridor, so that there is continuity. The linkages in the ecology system are there (remains). These linkages are not just vegetation. There are water systems. There are flows. There are processes that you have to respect. There are many results of clearing land. (When you) clear vegetation, (the) earth becomes exposed. Once (the) earth is exposed, you have erosion. Where does the erosion go? It goes to the water waste. The water waste kills the aquatic life. So what you do here has impact on the physical environment.
 |
| Early experiment: The Roof-Roof house in Kuala Lumpur was completed in 1985 and it incorporated Yeang's world-renowned bioclimatic principles (passive low-energy design) |
So that’s what a green masterplan is. It is not just planning. It is looking at the whole process, from the location to surrounding.
Are skyscrapers the most ecological way of building?
Yeang: No. We should try to keep (to) medium-rise if we can. Low-rise is wasteful of land. High-rise is wasteful of material. High-rise is high energy. Because (it takes) more energy to produce, more energy to build, more energy to operate. But high-rise can be justified if you have it near a transportation hub. Reduce transportation movement. So when you design something, it’s not just the energy consumption of that building. It includes transportation implications as well.
You are also a writer. What is your latest book?
Yeang: I write a book a year. The latest book is called Dictionary of EcoDesign, which was available from March 2010.
What is the most common question you get?
Yeang: Most common question is “Does it cost more?”. And I always tell them no. It doesn’t have to cost more. You see there’s no such thing as a 100 percent truly green (building). What we tell people is that you tell us
your budget (and) we tell you how green you can get.
----
REHDA Property Forum 2010
Datuk Ken Yeang shared his inspirational views on “Sustainable Buildings: Malaysia’s Journey To Green”
at the REHDA Property Leader Forum 2010 on April 23, 2010. For information on future events, call 03-7803 2978 or email syahiidah@rehdainstitute.com / ong_huitse@rehdainstitute.com
Other news:
|