Greentech House Competition launched by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and BE-Basic

This week, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and BE-Basic launched the Greentech House Competition at UTM's International Campus in Kuala Lumpur in the presence of several hundred students from architecture, interior design, planning, biotechnology, chemical engineering and other disciplines.

The competition aims to increase awareness for sustainable building and living and to facilitate innovation in building materials. Multidisciplinary student teams are invited to design "their sustainable house" from biorenewable materials.

A two-day seminar kicked off of the competition on Tuesday October 4 with international and Malaysian experts presenting novel bio-based materials, energy systems, innovative house design, industrial manufacturing and supply chain management. Several thought-leaders hinted on rethinking the traditional Malaysian architectures while integrating sustainability and innovations from non-traditional disciplines such as biological and mechanical engineering. The Greentech Housing Competition is developed by UTM's Institute of Bioproduct Development, UTM's Faculty of Architecture, The Netherlands' BE-Basic public-private partnership, Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development and Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre.

Sustainability is a central element in the Greentech House Competition. Students are challenged to develop ideas which dramatically reduce the use of energy and think of better ways to re-use waste and water streams when people live in the house. But they are also asked to take the eco-footprint and cost of the building process and building materials into account. A good design will also keep the house cool, provide a comfortable living environment, which is flexible so that family changes can easily be catered for.

"The students are asked to make groups representing different disciplines so they can learn from each other. The kick-off event shows that many are keen to develop greener houses for future needs. We especially ask them to also communicate their project with a wider community, so we can build awareness amongst the public for sustainable building", says Professor Patricia Osseweijer of Delft University of Technology and BE-Basic, one of the initiators of the competition.　

Professor Ramlan Aziz, Director of IBD: "Building houses has not changed very much for many years. Nor have the building materials. There is a lot of potential to decrease our GHG emissions with new processes and new materials. The building industry is a huge industry with new building contracts amounted to RM53 billion in 2010. So building more sustainable houses has an enormous impact on our society."

The competition is organised and sponsored by UTM, BE-Basic, the Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre (MCSC) and the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust (CMEDT). The winning team will receive RM20,000 while special prizes are available for special parts of the competition. Teams from all Malaysian universities can participate. Registration of teams closes on October 31, their designs need to be submitted by January 31, 2012, and the final ceremony and announcement of the winning design and team will be at KLCC on March 4, 2012. For more information contact Greentechhouse.

About IBD

Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD) is a Centre of Excellence focussed on Research, Development and Commercialisation of innovative bioproducts to support and elevate the nation's wellness industry. It assists in developing high value components and processing technology for industries such as nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, herbal & phytochemicals, flavour and fragrance, food ingredients, probiotics, biofertilizers and biopesticides.

IBD is equipped with multi-purpose facilities and manned by a group of highly skilled multi-disciplinary experienced personnel. Research are carried out in an ISO certified laboratory to ensure the quality is according to the international standard. IBD serves its customers to develop bioproducts through a complete process. IBD is located at UTM Johor Bahru, strategically near to the state administrative centre - Nusajaya. More information is available at: www.ibd.utm.my