First Platinum Leed Certificate Awarded to Building in Cambodia

• 31 December 2015
• Local News
• 2325 Views

The headquarters of Bureau Veritas Cambodia Limited is the first building in Cambodia to receive ‘Platinum certification’— the best LEED category.

Unlike green building technologies which focus generally on buildings that use sustainable materials, save energy, and produce less environmental impact, LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a much higher level of green technology that is made up of a range of high features and design approaches to reduce energy consumption and minimize environment impact.

While many buildings these days may call themselves “green,” they don’t all have LEED certification – It’s a pretty high bar.

There are four levels of LEED certificate through the rating score level; Certified (40-49 scores), Silver (50-59 scores), Gold (60-79 scores), and Platinum (80-110 score).

Bureau Veritas’ three-floor office building located in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district was completed in 2014 and is worth about US$3 million. It was granted the LEED Platinum Certificate in 2013 with a score of 90 from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the LEED certification founder. That is higher than the Vattanac Capital Tower which won LEED Gold status for best commercial development in 2012.

Registered under the LEED commercial interior design, the building’s internal space has met the LEED requirements for interior design. This LEED platinum-winning building got a high score from USGBC’s seven main criteria. It got 20 points of 21 for Sustainable Sites, 11 of 11 of Water Efficiency, 34 of 37 for Energy and Atmosphere, 6 of 14 for Materials and Resources, 9 of 17 for Indoor Environment Quality, 6 of 6 for Innovation in Design, and 4 of 4 for Regional Priority Credits.

“To just be certified as an LEED building requires meeting lots of criteria and a lot of effort, let alone receiving a Platinum rank, the highest status of LEED,” said Yim Keokalyan, Executive Director of VRK Corporation Co., Ltd, the building’s main contractor.

Because Bureau Veritas is an international company offering testing and certifying consumer goods like garments, it proposed this LEED design to the contractor. Keokalyan believes the benefits the building owner receives, besides saving energy costs and promoting good health for its staff, is the attraction for its high-profile customers.

After its experience with constructing this LEED building, VRK has realized the benefits of green building technologies. The company has now directed its services to the green building sector. To distinguish itself from other contractors in the market, VRK applied to be a member of USGBC last year. The company, which also joined the Cambodia Constructors Association (CCA) last year, also supplies various LEED-recognized materials mainly related to Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (M.E.P) after realizing that these materials are very rare in Cambodia.

Kalyan stressed that constructing an LEED-certified building is very difficult, especially when it comes to sourcing LEED-materials, asserting that the construction costs for a LEED building are 30-40% more than normal buildings.

Being the only USGBC member in Cambodia to date, he has observed that some of the many local firms that have experience constructing green buildings are considering joining this association. “Many contractors can build green buildings, but they don’t specialize themselves like my firm because many of them are members of green building associations based in Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore which have lower standards than the USGBC.”

With over 10 years of experience in the construction industry, Keokalyan also observed that developers and contractors are focusing more on green features because they care primarily about the projects’ cost-saving in the long run.

While he wishes to see more contractors and developers focus on green building technologies by using green materials, he also believes the government should reduce tax for owners and contractors that develop green buildings as these kinds of incentives are offered in other countries?.