The Low Carbon City Awards 2023

UOW Malaysia Glenmarie, Shah Alam campus has been officially awarded the Diamond Design award at the Low Carbon City Awards 2023 that was held on the 8 February 2024 for the 3rd time.

The Low Carbon City Awards 2023 organised by Minister of Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change (NRECC), through the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC). The award is to recognise the ongoing efforts and commitment of local authorities and organisations in promoting sustainable and low carbon urban development.

It is also in line with the country’s commitment to achieve the target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity (against the gross domestic product) by 45% in 2030 and achieve net zero emissions as early as 2050.

Minister of Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change (NRECC), YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, emphasizes the importance of sustainable development and the vital role of local authorities (PBT) as well as strategic cooperation from various parties in achieving the low-carbon urban goals.

Award recipients comprise local authorities and organisations that have implemented GHG emission reduction initiatives through the Low Carbon Cities 2030 Challenge (LCC2030C) program.

The recognition for the year 2023 involves the awarding of 85 Diamond Recognition for the achievement of reducing carbon emissions from five main elements, namely energy, water, waste, mobility and greenery.

By embracing the culture of energy conservation, UOW Malaysia has successfully achieved carbon emission by 28.81% since 2016 across 2 elements which is equivalent to 1,135.12 tCO2eq.

 

First Private IHL Awarded The SEDA Low Carbon Building Certification

UOW Malaysia KDU University College (Glenmarie, Shah Alam campus) has been officially awarded the Low Carbon Building (LCB) 2-Diamond rating under Voluntary Sustainable Energy Low Carbon Building Assessment GreenPASS Operation by Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) Malaysia on 23rd June 2020. This is the first ever Low Carbon Building recognition awarded to a private institute of higher learning (IHL) in Malaysia.

SEDA Low Carbon Building (LCB) assessment program is a platform to appreciate the sustainable energy low carbon building initiatives, using UNEP-SBCI Common Carbon Metric/CIDB’s CIS20-GreenPASS. By embracing the culture of  energy conservation, UOW Malaysia KDU University College has successfully achieved carbon emission reduction of 11.32% equivalent to 488.20 tonne CO2 /year or 703,458 kWh/year with building energy index (BEI) of 136.13 kWh/m2/year. It is noteworthy to mentioned that energy conservation effort by UOW Malaysia KDU University College was accelerated when granted with Energy Audit Conditional Grant under RMK11 on 13th August 2018.

UOW Malaysia KDU University College energy audit and energy conservation implementation team was led by Ts. Nagentrau Muniandy (Energy Manager & lecturer) from School of Engineering (SOE) and Mr. Jagjeet Singh Ajmir Singh (Facilities & Maintenance Manager) under guidance of Ir. Dr. Thirumalaichelvam Subramaniam (Energy Expert). Energy audit findings and strong support from the top management, have intensified the implementation of energy conservation effort to drive UOW Malaysia KDU University College as low carbon campus building. UOW Malaysia KDU University College is committed toward continuously implementing and more importantly sustaining energy conservation culture to support government target to reduce 40-45% CO2 intensity by 2030.

The 2-Diamond SEDA LCB certificate awarded to UOW Malaysia KDU University College.

From left: Mr.Jagjeet Singh Ajmir Singh (Facilities & Maintenance Manager), Ts.Nagentrau Muniandy (Energy Manager & lecturer) and Mr. Mohd Shah Hambali Arifin (SEDA)

UOW Malaysia KDU Go Green Campus Won The Shah Alam Low Carbon Building Award 2017

With the implementation of UOW Malaysia KDU Sustainability Empowerment Initiative under UOW Malaysia KDU Empowerment Plan, and the adoption of 17 important characteristics of being a Green Campus since it moved to its flagship campus at Utropolis Glenmarie in 2015, UOW Malaysia KDU University College today proudly proved that they are on the right track in creating a green eco-system by receiving the Low Carbon Building Award 2017 from the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA).

At the prize giving ceremony held in MBSA headquarter here, UOW Malaysia KDU was bestowed the First-Runner-Up of Low Carbon Building, under the category of Commercial and Institution for the general title of Shah Alam Low Carbon Awards 2017. The award with a cash prize of RM2000 was presented by the Mayor of Shah Alam Dato’ Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad, to Mr Mitchell Liong Chee Chiun, Senior Manager of Student and Alumni Centre (SAC), UOW Malaysia KDU University College.

“This accolade is to reward organisations and individuals with excellent green footprint, in order to encourage the community in improving the quality of low-carbon lives with continuous implementation of go green programmes using low carbon elements,” said the Mayor.

According to Dato’ Ahmad Zaharin, there were 53 institutions in total that competed for the awards. The assessment period spanned from 18 May to 15 October 2017 was based on the data collected for the whole year of 2016. The competitors were graded on the establishment of Low-Carbon-Committee, the initiative of programme implementation, the efforts on reducing energy and saving water, the management of solid waste and the arrangement of transportation, just to name a few.

The core objectives of this award are parallel with the goal set by MBSA in achieving Carbon Dioxide Release Rate of 30 by 2030.

Commenting on the award-winning, Liong enthused, “In our UOW Malaysia KDU Empowerment Plan, UOW Malaysia KDU Sustainability aims to protect the environment by planning, organising and introducing numerous campus-wide programmes and sustainability efforts that will reach out to all students. By winning this award, it shows that we are on the right track to further create and educate our community to have a green ecosystem.”

Shah Alam Low Carbon Building Award 2017 was presented to Mitchell Liong Chee Chiun (2nd from right), Senior Manager of Student and Alumni Centre (SAC), UOW Malaysia KDU University College by the Mayor of Shah Alam Dato’ Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad (2nd from left).

A group photo of the winners of Shah Alam Low Carbon Awards 2017 with the Mayor of Shah Alam Dato’ Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad (standing in the centre).

With the ‘Go Green’ ideology, UOW Malaysia KDU has been emphasising on the creation of a sustainable environment that can contribute to sustainable education, as this will eventually produce graduates of higher quality. In line with the ‘Green Campus’ concept, UOW Malaysia KDU’s main campus building located at Utropolis Glenmarie, Shah Alam has been implementing crucial characteristics such as follow:

  • 16.3% of green footprint;
  • Building automation system to monitor energy usage;
  • Good passive envelope design with Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) of less than 45W/m2 (minimal solar heat gain through façade);
  • Naturally ventilated courtyard and corridors;
  • Advance Building Management System with scheduling capabilities;
  • Energy efficient centralized chilled water air conditioning system;
  • Provision of digital power meters to track energy consumption for reporting and improvement;
  • Demand-controlled ventilation control using CO2 sensors for lecture theatres;
  • More than 30% of the area designed with usable daylighting;
  • Harvested rainwater used for irrigation and cooling tower make up;
  • Water efficient sanitary fittings;
  • Water leak detection system for conservation of water;
  • Energy efficient artificial lighting design and fittings;
  • Facilities for recycling activities;
  • Dedicated preferred car park for green vehicles;
  • Tobacco smoke-free campus;
  • Educational displays showing building’s real-time energy performance.