This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on May 27, 2024 - June 2, 2024

Following its first certification of a completed international project, the iconic Battersea Power Station in the UK (retail component) in January, GreenRE Sdn Bhd can add another to the list. On May 16, AEON Mall Mean Chey in Phnom Penh, Cambodia was awarded a Gold certificate under the non-residential category by the green building certification body.

The mall was developed and is currently managed by AEON Mall (Cambodia) Co Ltd, which has two other such malls in the country, namely AEON Mall Phnom Penh and AEON Mall Sen Sok City, which opened in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

AEON Mall Mean Chey was opened to the public in December 2022. Spanning 174,000 sq m, the mall comprises four storeys and has about 4,000 parking bays. It has a total gross floor area of about 180,000 sq m with approximately 250 retail lots.

According to GreenRE executive director Ashwin Thurairajah, AEON Mall Mean Chey is currently the biggest plaza in Phnom Penh.

“GreenRE is proud to commemorate its first certified project in Cambodia and Southeast Asia (outside Malaysia). May this be a platform for further expansion in the region,” he said at a plaque handover ceremony to the mall on May 16.

BSD Consultancy Sdn Bhd, which is the environment, social and governance (ESG) consultant of AEON Mall Mean Chey, said the mall has incorporated green features such as reduced window-to-wall ratio, insulation of external walls and roof as well as low-E coating glass on the building’s façade, effective indoor air quality management plan and use of efficient MERV 14 filters to maintain its indoor air quality, and recycling bins and practice of regular waste management as well as a reuse-and-upcycle waste approach to emphasise the need for recycling among the mall’s tenants and visitors.

For energy efficiency, the mall is equipped with a high-efficiency chiller plant, LED lightings, energy-efficient lifts and escalators, and zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) refrigerant. For water efficiency, the mall has submeters linked to the building management system to monitor water consumption, a cooling tower water treatment system with eight cycles of concentration (COC) and drought-tolerant plants for minimal irrigation.

When asked why it built the mall as a green building, AEON Mall (Cambodia) Co Ltd managing director Endo Fumihiko answered during the ceremony, “Green buildings help us, in terms of design, construction and operation, to reduce or mitigate detrimental effects on the environment while also having the potential to create beneficial outcomes.

“[For] AEON Mall Mean Chey, it will benefit us in terms of operating cost savings and increased asset value. [Overall], the mall was designed with its occupants’ health and comfort in mind by having better air quality and more natural daylight. This can lead to higher tenant productivity and enhance the property’s value at the same time, as the building contributes positively to the environment.”

Fumihiko added that the mall has solar panels on the rooftop to reduce grid consumption and its carbon footprint. “Other features of the mall include a large outdoor park [named] Komsan Park, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and an energy management system to ensure the mall’s sustainability.”

Presenting some of the mall’s green features, AEON Mall (Cambodia) construction and development deputy manager Sok Seak said the building was designed to maintain sustainability standards following GreenRE’s requirements and fitted with some of the latest green innovations.

“In terms of energy savings, we estimated 27% energy savings of overall building energy consumption through the use of solar panels that have a capacity of 2,881kWp. Our chiller plants are high-efficiency plants of about 0.68kW/RT. We also use air handling units with proper variable speed drive control, which gives us significant energy savings for our air-conditioning,” he added.

Sok also said Komsan Park houses more than 50 species of tropical plants native to Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia. The plants were meticulously chosen so that they would be easy to maintain in the long term, he explained.

In order to ensure these green features are maintained to serve their purpose in the long term, he said the management has put in place a corrective maintenance plan that includes planning, monitoring and active management. “Some of the strategies we have put in place include regular maintenance of systems for energy consumption, water savings and air quality improvement on [a] monthly or yearly basis.

“Regular inspections of our green features are also needed, especially for the solar panels to maximise energy efficiency and ensure that the cooling tower will be able to continue operating optimally. The use of sensors, meters and building management systems also helps us track the performance of our green features in real time as automated alerts can inform maintenance personnel for faster response when issues arise.”

Also on May 16, GreenRE signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Cambodia Green Building Council (CamGBC) to provide support and knowledge pertaining to green buildings.

At the signing, Ashwin said, “Having completed the certification for the mall, CamGBC has invited us to become a strategic partner to assist in developing its own local green certification tool, developing human capital through training and learning development activities as well as to drive further membership into the council.”

He elaborated on the terms of the MoU, including CamGBC recognising GreenRE as an international certification partner on a non-exclusive basis, with GreenRE contributing 5% of the certification fees in the first year and 10% thereafter from Cambodian projects to CamGBC; jointly creating platforms and/or events for awareness and education; and providing support and guidance to CamGBC members in matters related to green building certification.

CamGBC president Chea Bunseang said, “Cambodia has been developing slowly after the civil wars and as there is urban development, green buildings are not quite common. Our government also does not have any policies for green buildings.

“As architects in practice, we have to take initiative and an advance step to move on. I think green technology and green building tools for development are a must. In order to create more awareness among the Cambodian people, we must first build our human capital. At the same time, we have to set up our criteria and technology.

“So far in practice, CamGBC has started teaching courses on green buildings in Norton Universiy, that we call ‘Introduction of Green Building Designs’ and it has been very successful. Many students like this course.

“Other than that, international investors that come in like AEON are required to have green certification. We are currently developing a green building rating system specific to Cambodia called Cameel. It is now in the pilot stage,” Chea added.

CamGBC is a non-governmental organisation under the Architects Association of Cambodia.

“I hope when GreenRE comes in, with education and training, we will be able to build the first generation who will be aware of what green buildings are all about. The outcome of the training is to have our CamGBC members on par with other GBC members.

“After the first batch is trained, they will take over the training and we will expand our human resources. Not only architects but also mechanical engineers and other professionals will be part of the training,” Chea said.

GreenRE director Datuk Rick Cheng, who was present at the MoU signing, said Malaysia was also once a beginner on green buildings and learnt plenty from the Green Mark Certification Scheme in Singapore over the past years.

“When we first started GreenRE, it was modelled after Green Mark and they were happy to teach us. Today, others can be in a similar position, learning and adopting from GreenRE. We are not using the same model as Singapore anymore because they have a lot of high-rise buildings, whereas in Malaysia, we have more landed developments.

“But Cambodia and Malaysia are very similar in the sense that both build a lot of landed properties and, of course, some high-rise as well. In time, you can do the same thing as we did, which is tweaking the model to suit your own country,” Cheng said.

When speaking about the government’s support to raise awareness of green buildings in the country, Cambodian Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction secretary-general Mom Mony tells City & Country in an interview following the ceremony: “We currently don’t have active initiatives but we do support those who provide us with the funds, namely the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Green Growth Institute, to carry out more green development-related projects.

“I think we now understand better that green buildings are important. The Ministry of Environment has stated that it aims to improve the country’s sustainable and environmentally responsible construction practices. My ministry is also pushing for green as much as we can, green in the buildings and in the city.”

On his outlook for the country’s property market, Mom said, “At the moment, it appears to be at a standstill because the global environment is not very encouraging for investors to come in. But I hope more will come in because the government is now trying to provide incentives, for example, the recently approved US$600 million city in the Preah Sihanouk province.

“It all depends on how the government benefits from green buildings in terms of energy and cost savings. The private sector knows the benefits, but does not have the money as it is costly. Since that is the case, we are also pushing for more passive designs like high ceilings and open spaces to allow more natural ventilation and light. This will also consume less energy.”

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