In a bid to make Petaling Jaya an eco-friendly city by 2030, new property projects must now fulfil a list of green criteria before they can obtain the city council’s approval.
Developments including bungalows, apartments, condominiums, semi-detached houses are required to have a rainwater harvesting system that complies with the housing ministry’s guidelines.
On the other hand, commercial and mixed commercial developments should fulfil five conditions.
Apart from the rainwater harvesting system, they should come with LED lights and green development manual (Masma) specifications. They should also comply with the green building index (GBI), and 10-15 percent of their total area should be allocated for landscaped spaces.
“These things would have to be fulfilled first before the approval for the planning permits are issued,” said Lee Lih Shyan, head of MBPJ’s one-stop centre (OSC).
But to become GBI-compliant, new projects must meet the criteria on energy and water efficiency. And this should be seen in the building plans.
For instance, the project should have solar panels and the windows are big enough to allow sun light pass through. Nevertheless, GBI compliance is only required for large-scale projects.
In addition, the green space in each project should be free from utilities and other structures.
Meanwhile, home owners in Petaling Jaya are urged to go green for a chance to get an assessment rebate of up to 100 percent.
The rebate‘s value will be determined by six criteria, namely energy efficiency, water use, transport, composting, biodiversity and other green initiatives of the home owners.
Owners of flats, bungalows, semi-D’s, apartments, terrace houses and condo units are eligible. But applicants must submit their application form, along with a copy of their latest assessment bill, electricity and water bills, as well as myKad.
Homeowners who receive the rebate will be required to reapply next year.
Farah Wahida, Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email farahwahida@propertyguru.com.my
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