A Recipe For The Future

Dr Tan Loke Mun is the head chef behind the Tropics’ first Green Building Index and talks to ArchiLab about the recipe that is guiding the future of architecture

After obtaining his architectural training at Deakin University and later his doctorate from Melbourne University, Australia, Dr Tan Loke Mun returned to Malaysia in the 90’s and founded his own design firm, DTLM Design Group, as well as becoming Principal of DrTAnLM Architect and Director of ArchiCentre Sdn. Bhd. Tan spent years building his business until he began to realise that the building style of Malaysia at the time was already taking its toll on the environment. With the country’s minimal knowledge of green building and lack of code and resources, Tan assembled fellow architects and engineers who voluntarily gave their time over a six-month period to construct Malaysia’s Green Building Index (GBI). “It’s the first green rating tool for the Topics that is done from a professional point of view … from architects and engineers rather than the goverment,” says Dr Tan Loke Mun.

Comparing it to a culinary recipe, Tan was unsure of whether this new recipe he’d created actually worked and decided to “put my money where my mouth was”, and invest his time and money in building his home based on the new GBI. The S11 House in Petaling Jaya is a multi-award winning, tropical oasis with all the luxuries of a modern mansion except that during the building process, Tan implemented an array of details and protocols that make it the country’s first building to achieve the GBI’s highest-level, Platinum rating. From bulk, Rockwool insulation, low-E safety window glazing and cross-flow ventilation, to wind turbines, solar heating and rainwater collection, the S11 Building generates its own electricity and sells its excess back to the national electric grid, maintains an inside temperature of no higher than 25 degrees Celsius, and to this day “runs like a well-oiled machine,” says Tan.

“If you wanted to cook Tom Yum, you get a Tom Yum recipe. It may turn out being very good Tom Yum or not so good Tom Yum, but it’s still Tom Yum. If you use this Green Building Rating Tool, it’s like a recipe, as long as you follow it, you will get a greener building.”

By building the S11 House, Tan was able to prove that this new tool works, and by utilising sustainable products and building in a conscious way, you can achieve a home that benefits both the resident and the environment. Tan’s parting advice is that while it may be easier to implement green building features in a new build, certain changes can be made to existing buildings that will inevitably save money and lessen your environmental impact. The simplest upgrade is to install efficient, rockwool insulation in the roof which will keep the hot, Malaysian heat out, and maintain a cool temperature on the inside.

Since its release 10 years ago, over 200 million square foot of green space has been built, and Malaysia’s Green Building Index now has 10 tools that can guide commercial, residential, existing, heritage homes, and many more towards a better “way of life”.