The government has issued its first-ever decree on green building standards to promote
low-carbon architecture and as part of national efforts to mitigate and adapt the severe impacts of climate change.

The decree, scheduled to be enforced this year, would still be on a voluntary basis for the country’s building owners.

“We will first target hotels, building offices and apartments in the big cities since they contribute significantly to carbon emissions,” Dadang Hilman, head of the adaptation on climate change unit at the Office of State Minister for the Environment, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The decree set nine standards of green building from eco-label materials, low carbon fuel, water and waste management and indoor air quality.

The decree said the materials used in the green building should have eco-label certificates and be locally sourced.

In terms of energy, the building should set facilities to conserve energy and promote alternative fuel with low carbon emissions.

Owners of green buildings should also build facilities to conserve water and harvest rain water as alternative sources to groundwater.

The decree said that well-designed buildings would help reduce the amount of waste generated by the occupants by providing composting facilities.

“The most important thing is the green buildings should be prepared for the impact of climate change, such as floods, typhoons, storms, landslides and rising sea levels,” Dadang said.

He said green certificates would be issued by independent green building certification institutes selected by his office.

These certificates would be reviewed every two years.

Dadang said the decree on green building standards was part of the government’s plan to move toward a low-carbon economy by investing more in energy efficiency and halting deforestation.

Indonesia is one of the most vulnerable countries to warmer temperatures with experts saying it would lead to more natural disasters.

Almost all the provinces have suffered natural disasters causing huge losses, which has had a negative economic impact both provincially and nationally.

Experts said the excessive combustion of fossil-based fuels was the main contributor to the global warming, which would subsequently threaten the clean water supply in the dry seasons and flood incidents in the rainy period.

Indonesia, which depends on fossil fuels as its main source of energy, has issued a series of regulation to cut the emissions for energy but its implementation remained poor.

Many countries have developed their own standards for green buildings, such as Australia, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Germany, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and the United States.

Source: The Jakarta Post