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Future Proofing Property
FuturArc Forum 2008 opens in Malaysia

The FuturArc Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia saw a turnout of 270 participants. These attendees came with one sole purpose in mind—to work towards a more sustainable built environment.

Attendees at the Forum

FuturArc Forum 2008 was held on 26 February in Malaysia with experts on green building from around the world calling for action on sustainability. The forum is being held by FuturArc journal's publisher, BCI Asia, in eight cities across Asia Pacific with expected participation by 4,000 architects, engineers and property developers as well as students of these professions.

Dr. Ken Yeang, principal of Llwelyn Davies Yeang (UK) and Hamzah & Yeang (Malaysia), kicked off the forum by sharing on eco-design in the UK. Dr. Deo Prasad, Director of the Sustainable Development Program at the University of New South Wales, then covered the fundamentals of green design, focusing mainly on the designed product. Next, FuturArc's Chief Editor Dr. Nirmal Kishnani, expounded on the greening process, and highlighted five myths of green buildings. Subsequently, John Bulcock, Director of Ecological-Homes (M) Sdn Bhd, elaborated on designing active and passive green features to encourage homeowners to adapt to a greener lifestyle. Ulf Meyer, an author and lecturer on Progressive Architecture based in West Berlin, Germany described the latest concepts of environmentally friendly design in contemporary European architecture and urban design. And rounding up the day's presentations was Poul Kristensen of IEN Consultants, who talked about the road to zero energy buildings in Malaysia. The speakers' presentations will be made available on the FuturArc website at www.futurarc.com.

As one of the jurors, Dr Nirmal Kishnani described the difficult challenge of designing green buildings as posed by three development sites (Malaysia, the Philippines and Australia) in the inaugural FuturArc Prize design competition. From strong contenders across Asia-Pacific, Malaysia's Tan Bee Eu and team as well as Tan Sih Pin both received citation awards in the Professional Category for their design of D'Rimbunan at Leisure Farm Resort Residences in Johor, Malaysia. Lim Wei Tiong and team also received a citation award in the Student Category, for their design on the same Malaysia site. The awards were presented to them at the forum by Antara Trillingsgaard of Autodesk, the design software provider, and Dr Matthias Krups of BCI Asia, the construction information provider.

A lunch was held at the forum to recognize the 10 most active architectural firms in Malaysia. The firms in the BCI Asia Top 10 2008 for Malaysia are Arkitek Maa Sdn. Bhd., Atelier Adt Akitek Sdn. Bhd., ATSA Architects Sdn. Bhd., BEP Akitek Sdn. Bhd., GDP Architects Sdn. Bhd., GRA Architects Sdn. Bhd., NRY Architects Sdn. Bhd., RSP Akitek, SA Architects Sdn. Bhd. and VERITAS Architects Sdn. Bhd.

The Malaysia forum's Gold sponsor is Saint-Gobain Construction Products (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (formerly known as BPB Malaysia Gypsum Sdn Bhd) and the Top 10 awards' sponsors are Autodesk, Kohler and Philips.

The FuturArc Forum will be moving on to Philippines next on 29 February where green experts from around the world will once again take the stage in addressing various sustainability issues.


Presenters' Notes
Presenter Biography File
Dr Ken Yeang is an architect specializing in the design and planning of signature green buildings and masterplan. He is the principal of Llwelyn Davies Yeang (UK) and Hamzah & Yeang (Malaysia). He studied at the Cheltenham College in Gloucestershire and received his architectural education at the Architectural Association (AA) School in London. He completed his doctorate at Wolfson College, Cambridge University (UK) on ecological design and planning. Not available

Dr Deo Prasad, PhD is Director of the Sustainable Development Program at the University of New South Wales. He has worked on milestone projects including Australia's solar village, Sydney Olympics, advanced tools for building performance assessments, emerging green building technologies and numerous other projects. He has published in excess of 150 key papers in this field including books such as Designing with Solar Power (EarthScan commissioned by IEA), Energy Efficient Australian Housing (AGPS) and Global Warming and the Built Environment (FPSpon). He has directed the UNSW Centre for Sustainable Built Environments for 12 years. Dr Prasad sits on many boards and committees internationally in this field (Canadian Net Zero Energy Buildings Network, Korean Eco-Peace Leadership Foundation, Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development, Shanghai, Special Committee on Urbanisation at UNEP, Bangkok, International Solar Energy Society (Freiburg), Standards Australia Committee on Energy Efficient Buildings and many more). He has won the Australian National Innovation Award and the NSW Government 2004 Green Globe Award as well as the 2006 Royal Australian Institute of Architects National Award for his contribution to the research and design of sustainable buildings. Download File
Dr Nirmal Kishnani, PhD is Chief Editor of the FuturArc journal. He is both an educator and practitioner in the area of green buildings, and presently teaches at the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore. He has lectured and written widely on the subject of greening Asia and has been a consultant to projects across the region, most recently as head of a sustainability unit operating from Singapore. Download File
John Bulcock, Director of Ecological-Homes (M) Sdn Bhd, has good knowledge and extensive networks in Malaysia and Europe. His company has set new standards for the residential sector in Malaysia by building exclusive state-of-the-art homes offering self sustainable, environmentally friendly and healthy living with a gentle and responsible approach to the environment. Download File
Ulf Meyer is a trained architect, prominent author and lecturer in the field of architecture and urban design based in Berlin. He has lectured at universities and cultural centres in Europe, the US and Canada as well as Japan, China and Taiwan. He has published over 700 articles in newspaper and magazines as well as several well-known books on urban design and architecture. Download File
Poul E Kristensen holds a BSc (Hons.) in Mechanical and Civil Engineering. Since graduation in 1977 he has been involved in research on energy efficiency and renewable energy in buildings, with projects under the International Energy Agency as well as under the Danish and European Energy Research Programs. Poul Kristensen founded IEN Consultants in year 2000, and since 2001 the company has carried out research and demonstration projects on energy efficiency and sustainability in buildings in Southeast Asia from their office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Among the projects undertaken by IEN Consultants are the energy design of the Low Office Building for the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications in Malaysia and the energy design of the Zero Energy Office Building for Energy Commission Malaysia. Other projects include the Kesar Solitaire office building in Mumbai. Download File

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