Final Draft

Analysis and Evaluation of the Manufacturing

Industry for Building Materials for Energy Efficient

Buildings in Malaysia

Bachelor-Thesis

Course of Study: Innenausau

Fakultät für Holztechnik und Bau

UAS Rosenheim

Sebastian Kupfer

Matr.No. 728 820

First Examiner: Prof. Dr. Lachmann

Second Examiner: Prof. Köster

Date of registration: April 26, 2014

Date of delivery: August 11, 2014

Final Draft

Abstract i

Abstract

This thesis has been carried out in case of a cooperation between a German and a Malaysian

project. The German project is called RoCABT project and aims the implementation of a

centre of advanced building technologies in Malaysia. It is conducted by the university of

applied science Rosenheim and should enable an international exchange to promote energy

efficiency in the Malaysian building sector. The Malaysian project is called BSEEP project

and has the aim to make improvements in the utilisation of energy efficient building designs

and technologies. For this it also views policy framework and institutional as well as financing

capacity improvements.

In case of the cooperation this thesis conducts an analysis and evaluation of the Malaysian

manufacturing industry for building materials for energy efficient buildings. Targets have been

to give an general overview about the related industry and the framework conditions. Further a

analysis and evaluation of manufacturer has been carried out to answer the following questions

defined by both of the projects:

1. Which building materials or technologies are available

2. Is it possible to build an energy efficient building with the existing Materials

3. What changes have to be made to encourage or increase the manufacture of such materials

4. What are main strength and weaknesses of the investigated manufacturer

5. How can manufacturers profit from an RoCABT and how can they be supported and

addressed

6. How can Malaysian and German manufacturer be supported by an RoCABT

7. How can manufacturers be addressed by an RoCABT

8. How can such a centre be set to ensure a cooperation of manufacturers with RoCABT

9. Which companies are recommended for a further cooperation

10. Where can further research be carried out

To answer these questions, an analysis and evaluation in case of a desk and field research

has been conducted. Out of insights of the field research a strength and weakness analysis

of the manufacturer has been prepared. To ensure the collection of qualified data, interviews

and visitations of factories took place in case of a two month stay in Malaysia. Results have

been, that main materials are available on the market. Especially materials produced in an

industrialised process have advanced specifications such as insulation materials or lightweight

bricks. Materials produced in an process based on high amount of physical work are less

advanced, such as windows or façade elements. Further, knowledge about modern technologies

and their potentials to contribute to savings for energy consumption is missing in many of the

companies. It has also been detected, that framework conditions for this industry need to be

improved. For example there are no advancements or incentives by the government available

to support this industry.

Final Draft

Abstract ii

Collected information have further clarified, that due to low energy costs, awareness for energy

efficiency in buildings is low and mandatory guidelines and standards for utilisation of efficient

building designs and technologies are missing. Main weakness of the manufacturer have been

detected in a lack of undertaken research and development. Since improved materials are not

claimed by the customers and the price is the main arguments for material decisions, concern

about development of advanced materials is rather small.

In general, fabricators of the main materials are available, but knowledge and technologies

are improvable. In some of the companies a qualified infrastructure as well as machinery is

available. It is assumed, that with growing demand for advanced products specifications will

improve as well and a RoCABT could contribute to this development by delivering knowledge

and support.

Final Draft

CONTENTS iii

Contents

Abstract i

Table of Contents iii

List of Figures 1

List of Tables 1

Acronym 1

1 Introduction 3

1.1 Energy Supply in Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.2 Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector of Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.3 RoCABT-Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.3.1 Scientific Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.3.2 Goals and structure of the structural measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.4 BSEEP-Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.5 Set of Objectives and Definition of Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.6 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing industry 12

2.1 Labour Qualifications and General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.2 Labour costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.3 Incentives for Manufacturing companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.4 Incentives for Green Building and Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.5 Grants, Funds and Soft Loans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.6 Standards, Testing of Materials and Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3 Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 20

3.1 Climate conditions and requirements for EE buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3.2 Definition of Relevant Building Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.3 Conclusion: Choice of Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3.4 Determination of Manufacturer for Chosen Building Materials . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4 Desk Research 31

4.1 Methodology and Conduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

4.2 Information from Desk Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4.2.1 Location of Manufacturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4.2.2 Products and Specifications of Manufactured Products . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4.2.3 Comments and Certifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

4.3 Conclusion Desk Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

4.4 Closer Choice of Companies to be Evaluated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Final Draft

CONTENTS iv

5 Field Research: Evaluation of the Manufacturer 48

5.1 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

5.2 Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

5.2.1 Glazing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

5.2.2 Window, Facade, Shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

5.2.3 Bricks and concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

5.2.4 Roofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

5.3 Conclusion Field Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

6 Application part/conclusion 78

7 Declaration 83

References 86

A Attachment 87

A.1 GBI Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

A.2 List of promoted Products for Incentives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

A.3 Cost / Specification Comparison LRC Eco Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

A.4 Example of Manufacturer Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

A.5 Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

A.6 Factory Visit: Documentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

A.6.1 Ajiya Berhad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

A.6.2 Topline Glazing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

A.6.3 Fascina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

A.6.4 Central Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

A.6.5 Facade Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

A.6.6 LRC Inside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

A.6.7 Henner AAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Final Draft

LIST OF TABLES 1

List of Figures

1.1 Malaysia electricity tariffs 2008-2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.2 South East Asian residential electricity tariff 2013/2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.3 Costs for monthly electricity consumption of 275 kWh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.4 GDPs per capita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.1 Malaysian qualifications framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.1 Sun path diagramm and solar radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3.2 Dry-bulb temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.3 Dew point temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.4 Electricity consumption breakdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.5 Shading depending on sun path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.6 Ventilation concept of Kampung house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.7 Conventional windows as experienced in Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.1 Map of manufacturer location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4.2 Cornerstone: General construciton principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

4.3 Cornerstone: Detailed construction of floor/ceiling elements . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

5.1 Evaluation Glazing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

5.2 Evaluation Window, Facade, Shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

5.3 Evaluation Bricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

5.4 Evaluation Roofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

6.1 Example for variants of lightweight bricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

List of Tables

2.1 Persons engaged by qualification in manufacturing sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.2 Persons engaged by qualification in manufacturing sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.3 Persons engaged by qualification in manufacturing sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3.1 Horizontal global radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4.1 Products and specifications for branch: Window, façades, Shading . . . . . . 33

4.2 Products and specifications for branch: Glazing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

4.3 Comparison of speciications (Glazing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4.4 Products and specifications for branch: Roofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4.5 Products and specifications for branch: Lightweight Bricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4.6 Products and specifications for branch: Insulation Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4.7 Products and specification for branch: Technical Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

4.8 Products and specifications for branch: New Building Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 41

4.9 Origin of investigated companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

4.10 Testing or certification for branch: Window, façade, Shading, Insulation, Bricks . 43

4.11 Testing or certification for branch: Roofing, Glazing, Technical Equipment . . . . 44

Final Draft

Acronym 2

Acronym

PV Photovoltaic

MIDA Malaysian Investment Development Authority

EE Energy Efficient

R+D Research and Development

RoCABT Rosenheimer Centre of Advanced Building Technologies

BSEEP Building Sector Energy Efficiency Project

MSG Malaysian Sheet Glass

NSG Nippon Sheet Glass

CNC Computerized Numerical Control

DG Double Glazing

ERP Enterprise Resource Planning

U-PVC Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride

FTL Facade Testing Laboratory

AAC Autoclaved Aerated Concrete

HVAC Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning

IBS Industrialised Building Systems

UITM Universiti Teknologi Mara

UTM Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

SMECORP Small and Medium Enterprises Corporation

USD United States Dollar

GWh Giga Watt hours

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GBI Green Building Index

EDP Electronic Data Processing

SME Small and Medium Enterprises

MS Malaysian Standards

DSM Department Standards Malaysia

CIDB Construction Industry Development Board

OTTV Overall Thermal Transfer Value

BEI Building Energy Index

GEF Global Environment Facility

HGR Horizontal Global Radiation

TRY Test Reference Year

SHGC Solar Heat Gain Coefficient

abs. absorption

UAS University of Applied Science

ACA Accelerated Capital Allowance

RA Reinvestment Allowance

GB Green Building

Final Draft

Introduction 3

1 Introduction

In this section, a short overview about the situation in Malaysia concerning energy supply,

energy efficiency (EE) in the building sector and the projects this thesis is related to will be

given. Further, the main questions this thesis should answer are defined. An outline of the

methodology followed in this thesis will be given towards the end of this section as well. The

aim of this section in general is to provide the reader with an overview of the current situation

in Malaysia in order to establish a firm basis of information required for a better understanding

of the following chapters. For more detailed information the author recommends the study of

the listed sources.

1.1 Energy Supply in Malaysia

Malaysia is a country with a comparatively small population (30 Million1) towards adjacent

countries2 but huge deposits of fossil fuels such as oil and gas. This circumstance lead the

country to fast economic growth. This can be seen by the growth of the Gross Domestic

Product(GDP), which rose from 93,8 billion USD in 2000 to 289 billion USD in 2011 (308

%)3. The relation between economic rising and deposits of fossil fuels is shown very well by the

contribution of the governmental owned company PETRONAS on the state revenues. These

had been 44% in 2007 4 and even today this value has not changed significantly (45% in 20125).

With the economic growth the demand for energy also rose constantly in the last decades. From

1980 to 2002, for example, the average energy consumption rose at 7,3% per annum6 and is

expected to maintain this level of growth in the next years. Electricity production increased

as well by 80% between 2000 and 2010 from 69,255 to 125,288 GWh 3. Today, the growth of

energy demand is even higher than the growth rate of GDP. This imbalance is an indicator

that more energy-intensive economic activities drive the economic growth of Malaysia7. The

latest numbers for energy and electricity consumption from 2012 are the following3 8:

- Energy production 84,267 ktoe

- Energy consumption 75,907 ktoe

- Electricity production 11,562 ktoe / 134.5 billion kWh

- Electricity consumption 10,011 ktoe / 116.4 billion kWh

- Electricity consumption residential 2,126 ktoe/ 24.7 billion kWh

- Electricity consumption commercial 3,325 ktoe/ 38.7 billion kWh

- Electricity consumption industrial 4,509 ktoe/ 52.4 billion kWh

An important factor for economic growth has also been high subsidies on fuel and gas. In turn,

these affect the prices for electricity, because electricity production is based on fossil fuels at a

1www.cia.gov, July 20142Populations: Thailand 67.471.401, Vietnam 93.421.853, Philippines 107.668.231, Indonesia 253.609.6431

3WKÖ, Lädnerreport Malaysia4Thomas Brandt, Zielgruppenanalyse Malaysia Energieeffizienz im Gebäudesektor , Page: 45http://www.reuters.com, 20126W.Hong, Builing Energy Efficiency: Why Green Buildings Are Key to Asia’s Future, Page: 2017Classified Document, for information contact author8Malaysia Energy Information Hub: www.meih.st.gov.my

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/my.htmlhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/02/us-malaysia-petronas-idUSBRE86105420120702http://meih.st.gov.my/statistics

Final Draft

Introduction 4

level of 91.7%1. But since Malaysia wants to become a fully developed country by 2020, the

government announced to reduce subsidies constantly. In the 10th Malaysian Plan (a plan that

gives an overview of the nations development for the next 5 years) the government announced

that they want to reduce subsidies for energy with the goal of achieving market pricing by

20159. The realisation of this announcement can already be seen in the rising of electricity and

fuel costs. So fuel rose by 63% in the summer of 20084 and electricity costs also rose in different

steps in the last nine years. Figure 1.1 shows the development of the domestic electricity tariff

for residential sector1011.

2008:

1-5

00

kW

h

2008:

501-6

00

kW

h

2008:

601-7

00

kW

h

2008:

701-8

00

kW

h

2009:

1-5

00

kW

h

2009:

501-6

00

kW

h

2009:

601-7

00

kW

h

2009:

701-8

00

kW

h

2011:

1-2

00

kW

h

2011:

201-3

00

kW

h

2011:

301-4

00

kW

h

2011:

401-5

00

kW

h

2011:

501-6

00

kW

h

2011:

601-7

00

kW

h

2011:

701-8

00

kW

h

2014:

1-2

00

kW

h

2014:

201-3

00

kW

h

2014:

301-6

00

kW

h

2014:

601-9

00

kW

h

10

15

9.5

12.412.713

9.1

12 12.312.6

6.9

10.6

12.712.813.213.5

6.9

10.6

16.417.3

$cent

kW

h

Figure 1.1: Malaysia electricity tariffs 2008-2014

Ind

on

esia

2012

aver

age

Th

ailan

dfi

rst

150

kW

h

Th

ailan

d151

-400

kW

h

Th

ailan

d400+

kW

h

Vie

tnam

0-

100kW

h

Vie

tnam

101-

150

kW

h

Vie

tnam

151

-200

kW

h

Vie

tnam

201

-300

kW

h

Vie

tnam

301

-400

kW

h

Vie

tnam

401+

kW

h

Ph

ilip

pin

esL

uzo

n

Ph

ilip

pin

esV

isayas

Ph

ilip

pin

esM

ind

an

ao

Sin

gap

ore

2014

Mala

ysi

a1-2

00

kW

h

Mala

ysi

a201-3

00

kW

h

Mala

ysi

a301-6

00

kW

h

5

10

15

20

6

9

1213

6.87.8

9.810.611.3

11.613

10.7

7

20.5

6.9

10.6

16.4

$cent

kW

h

Figure 1.2: South East Asian residential electricity tariff 2013/2014

910th Malaysian Plan, Page: 113/11410Malaysian electricity tariff: www.tnb.com.my11Average exchange rate 2013: 1USD = 3,15MYR Source: http://data.worldbank.org

https://www.pmo.gov.my/dokumenattached/RMK/RMK10_Eds.pdfhttp://www.tnb.com.my/residential/pricing-and-tariff/tariff-rates.htmlhttp://data.worldbank.org/indicator/PA.NUS.FCRF

Final Draft

Introduction 5

Compared to the Malaysian electricity tariff Figure 1.2 shows the residential tariffs of the

surrounding countries of Malaysia11 12.

Due to the circumstance that each nation has different tariff structures for commercial- and

industrial tariffs respectively, only the residential have been compared. The different structures

make it complicated to illustrate a comparison of commercial and industrial tariffs. Detailed

information for these can be found on websites of the domestic electricity suppliers12.

Since the electricity tariffs are structured in

six different ways, another baseline of com-

parison will be presented. This comparison

is based on the average electricity consump-

tion of a Malaysian household of 3300 kWh

per year13 (275 kWh per month). Figure 1.3

shows a comparison of costs for this demand

in the previously mentioned countries.

By comparing the GDP per capita of these na-

tions, a qualified evaluation of the tariffs can

be conducted1. A comparision of the GDPs is

shown in Figure 1.4.

As seen in Figure 1.3, in spite of the tariff in-

creases in the last years, the Malaysian price

for electricity is still the second lowest com-

pared to the surrounding countries. In relation

to the GDP it can also be seen that there is a

disparity between costs for electricity and the

economic strength of Malaysia. So conclud-

ing it can be stated that Malaysia adjusted

their prices for electricity but that it is still

too cheap, especially compared to neighbour-

ing countries which have much lower econom-

ical strength. So out of this data it is con-

ceivable that prices for electricity as well as

for energy in general will rise in the future if

government aims to achieve the goals it pro-

claimed. For this reason EE in the building

sector will also become more relevant to local

developers.

Ind

on

esia

Th

ailan

d

Vie

tnam

Ph

illip

ines

Sin

gap

ore

Mala

ysi

a

20

40

60

16.5

28.523.6

29.4

56.4

21.8

US

D

Figure 1.3: Costs for monthly electricity consumption

of 275 kWh

Ind

on

esia

Th

ailan

d

Vie

tnam

Ph

illip

ines

Sin

gap

ore

Mala

ysi

a

0

2

4

6

·104

5,2009,900

4,000 4,700

62,400

17,500

US

D

Figure 1.4: GDPs per capita

12Indonesia: www.pln.co.id, Thailand: www.boi.go.th, Vietnam: http://talkenergy.wordpress.com,

Philippines: www.napocor.gov.ph, Singapore: singaporepower.com.sg13Rowse, Housing Mortgages That Enable EE , Page: 11

http://www.pln.co.id/dataweb/STAT/STAT2012ENG.pdfhttp://www.boi.go.th/index.php?page=utility_costshttp://talkenergy.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/electricity-tariff-for-asean-domestic-may-2014.pnghttp://www.napocor.gov.ph/index.php/2013-09-13-01-23-51/psalm-effective-rateshttp://www.singaporepower.com.sg/irj/portal?NavigationTarget=navurl://41c8e6a3faf48bb168af2c222faa8ee4&windowId=undefined

Final Draft

Introduction 6

1.2 Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector of Malaysia

The main argument for decisions concerning material and equipment in the building sector is

still the price. This was experienced in several discussions with local developers during the

author’s visit to Malaysia for this thesis. Since they do not keep the buildings, they only

care about building costs and not about operating costs. Further, awareness and knowledge

of the customers about EE is still low.14 So there is no reason for the developers to invest in

technologically advanced materials or building principles that increase EE of buildings. Because

of this, materials that promote EE of a building, or EE building designs, are not used very often.

In addition, energy efficient building designs such as shadings or overhanging roofs to protect

façades from solar radiation have been replaced by western architecture and the use of air

conditioning15. So many buildings that have been build 30 years ago with traditional building

design (Kampung house)16 have advantages providing thermal comfort while being EE towards

modern buildings15. Some people, such as Mr. Yap, Executive Manager of SOLAMAS, also

talked of a ”desperate need of re educating” in Malaysia and a ”going back to grandfather’s

construction”15.

The Standard for the building sector in Malaysia today is MS 1525:2014. It is the current

standard architects and engineers refer to concerning energy efficient building designs. Unfortu-

nately, this standard only provides a minimum performance specification and is not mandatory,

so it is practised voluntarily17.

To implement a rating scheme for green buildings to promote green building (GB) in Malaysia,

the Green Building Index (GBI) was developed and launched in 2009. It is a private initiative

developed by construction industry professionals to promote sustainable elements in build-

ings18 19. In detail, GBI is a rating system for buildings and evaluates a building in certain

criteria. Depending on the level of compliance with these, the building is ranked in one of four

different levels from Greeness to GBI Silver, Gold or Platinum. By the growing awareness of

Green Building Index, the MS 1525:2014 is used more often, but still in a small amount com-

pared to all buildings built in Malaysia. The Statistics of GBI show that only 235 buildings have

been totally certified in the period from 2009 to June 201420. In Line with this, government is

further the biggest customer for EE buildings15.

That is because only for governmental build-

ings Malaysia has enrolled itself to follow EE

guidelines. So EE requirements came into force

late 2013 to projects implemented by JKR21.

Some representative projects of the govern-

ment are itemized aside with their building en-

ergy index (BEI22).

• Diamond Building: 100kWhm2

year

• Low Energy Office (LEO): 35kWhm2

year

• Zero Energy Office (ZEO): 65kWhm2

year14Milad Samari, The Investigation of Barriers in Developing GB in Malaysia Page: 415Thomas Brandt, Zielgruppenanalyse Malaysia Energieeffizienz im Gebäudesektor , Page: 52-5316www.malaysiasite.nl17CK Tang & Nic Chin, Detailed Study and Report on the Current Building Designs and EE Building

Applications Page: 518APEC, Peer Review on EE in Malaysia (Final Draft), Page: 3119www.greenbuildingindex.org20Attachment A.1: GBI Statistics21Public Works Department22T. Jacquemin, Report on the Green development in Malaysia with a focus on the Building sector , Page: 16

http://www.malaysiasite.nl/malayhouse.htmhttp://www.greenbuildingindex.org/organisation.html

Final Draft

Introduction 7

So the lack of awareness of the population, cheap energy prices and missing mandatory guide-

lines are the main barriers for EE in the building sector. This is also recognised officially. In a

classified document of KeTTHA 23 for example, they identified these points as barriers as well,

respectively made them to main actions of their plan24.

1.3 RoCABT-Project

This text has been provided by the RoCABT-Project.

1.3.1 Scientific Goals

The conceptual design and later on the construction of the Rosenheimer CoE for Advanced

Buildings is the cornerstone for a scientific development of energetic optimized building el-

ements. The developments mostly aim at the adjustments for tropical rainforest climate in

Malaysia. Generally the building elements can be divided in two groups. On the one hand

for example the structural components of the building envelope are developed according to the

building tightness and the insulations position whereas on the other hand building services en-

gineering such as energy supply and energy distribution is being established. Those are being

refined for the Asian market and the peoples needs. In the section of structural components and

building services engineering the tropical, very muggy climate in Malaysia leads to a significant

need for research and development. A detailed specification of the Scientific Goals is very de-

pendent on the partaking companies and their products. However the improvements are being

tracked under the aspect of a high adaptability in the south Asian area. Following listed are

the Scientific Goals for the construction of the CoE for Advanced Building Technologies. For

the buildings evaluation and the dimensioning of its building envelope and services engineering

the upcoming parameters are being measured and analysed.

• Metering of exterior- and interior temperature, exterior- and interior humidity and airspeed to calculate the comfort on the model of P.O. Fanger with the PMV-formula (Pre-

dicted Mean Vote).

• Metering of surface temperature, moisture in structural components and energy flow (heatflow) to figure out which form of construction is best used in a humid tropical climate.

• Probing of a buildings orientation and the profile of antiglare shield, which can preventthe infiltration of sunrays and which achieves the shading of faades (avoiding glare).

• Metering of energy consumption through building services engineering (air conditioning,ventilation system, etc.) to undertake adaption and improvements and maybe develop

automatically regulated systems.

With the results the German companies products are being developed further, adjusted and

optimized. Hereby the products for the Southeast Asian area made by German companies

23Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water24Classified Document, for information contact author

Final Draft

Introduction 8

are being raised onto a high-quality level and achieve series maturity. There through on the

one side the added value of the products is being raised for the companies, which will reflect

on the need for qualified workplaces, on the other side the extension of German companies in

the Southeast market will contribute to the creation of carbon dioxide neutral, energy efficient

and climate appropriate buildings, which is urgently necessary in the course of the expanding

climate change.

1.3.2 Goals and structure of the structural measure

The primary project goal is the implementation of new technologies and construction methods

according to the Malaysian requirements in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences

Rosenheim and German industry partners through the conceptual design and construction of a

research and development centre for advanced and energy efficient building the Rosenheimer

CoE for Advanced Building Technologies. To keep up an intensive and long lasting contact to

Malaysia there will be building specific products by German and Malaysian companies coordi-

nated among each other and adjusted to the climate conditions in Malaysia. Additionally the

optimal use of regenerative energy sources will be practically fathomed, especially with regard

to the central cooling problem. In doing so all measures will undergo an ecological and primary

energetic evaluation. As already described in chapter 3 the assessment and design of the build-

ing envelope and the building services engineering for subtropical climates will be performed by

the CoE for Advanced Building Technologies which is to be constructed. With the knowledge

of the measures and the research results the used or also new products of German companies

will be developed further, adjusted and optimized. Those and other applied research and devel-

opment projects shall be executed together with the Universiti of Kuala Lumpur, whereby the

scientific leadership can be taken over by both the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim

and the Uni KL.

Final Draft

Introduction 9

1.4 BSEEP-Project

The BSEEP (Building Sector Energy Efficiency Project) is a GEF funded project under the

Malaysian Public Works Department JKR. This project was founded to help Malaysia to reduce

the growth in the energy consumption of the building sector. In general, it has the aim to

make improvements in the utilisation of EE building designs and technologies in the Malaysian

building sector. To realise this the project comprises five components25;

• Component 1: Institutional Capacity Development

Implementation of different programmes which install energy management systems and

practices in existing buildings. The target is to develop a mechanism for data collection

to prove the effectiveness of energy efficient building designs and retrofitting measures.

The emerging database should be the basis for formulation of guidelines or benchmarking.

• Component 2: Policy Development & Regulatory Framework

Determination and enhancement of relevant existing policies relating to the compliance

with EE standards in the building sector. Formulation of new policies that ensure in-

creasingly cost-effective mandatory building standards. This component should further

concern the updating and enhancement of MS 1525 and its application to a wider segment

of buildings as well as the utility regulations and energy tariff restructuring.

• Component 3: EE Financing Capacity Improvements

Reinforcement of the financial benefits from the adoption of EE initiatives for the building

industry by enhancing the awareness in the financing community of the financial viability

of EE projects. This component should develop attractive and streamlined financing

processes for the interested users to utilise extensively the EE initiatives they wish to

incorporate in their projects.

• Component 4: Information and Awareness Enhancement

With this component the project wants to address the lack of knowledge and awareness

about EE technologies and practices. Prospective users should be addressed as well as the

local building and material industry and system suppliers. Relevant technical documents

such as technical guidelines, control and management systems and building energy simu-

lation tools should be prepared to enhance the capability of the existing building industry

players in the design and development of EE buildings and related services.

• Component 5: Building EE Demonstrations

Since many people still worry that EE buildings are not cost effective and that the incor-

poration of EE features is excessively costly, BSEEP wants to take care of this prejudice.

The aim is to implement demonstration projects, developed with local expertise to give

confidence to the industry players that such expertise and services are readily available

locally and that their costs are not exorbitant.

25All infos: PTM, BSEEP Inception Report

Final Draft

Introduction 10

1.5 Set of Objectives and Definition of Targets

Both of these projects, the BSEEP and the RoCABT project, deal with EE in the Malaysian

building sector. Since these projects have correlations in some work packages, a cooperation

was introduced. This thesis is part of this cooperation and should give an overview about the

manufacturing industry for building materials for EE buildings in Malaysia. This will be done

in two steps:

• Giving an overview about the prevailing framework conditions for this industry

• Analysis and evaluation of manufacturing companies and available materials and tech-nologies of this branch

The target is to find out which materials are already available on the market, what the state of

the art is and to get an general overview about the market to develop concepts to support these

companies. For this there will not be a particular view on residential or commercial sector.

In the preliminary work both the sectors will be considered, for example in case of electricity

consumption. But in the sections concerning about choice and evaluation of materials, selection

will be done independently from the sector. Further, materials are rated as EE for this thesis,

if they help to reduce consumption of electricity. Materials that are described as EE because of

a production process with low energy consumption or caused waste should not be considered.

A more detailed analysis should show how these companies produce their products, how they

are organised and what their strengths and weaknesses are. With this insights an answer

of how Malaysian companies can be supported by a Centre of Advanced Building Technolo-

gies (RoCABT) should be given. Since the idea of the RoCABT project is based on an ex-

change of knowledge and technology, respectively an international exchange, the question of

how Malaysian manufacturer can be supported is one of the main targets.

Based on the insights of this thesis, the below stated key questions should be answered in the

last section. The selection of questions is based on requirements set by RoCABT and BSEEP

project in the run up of this thesis.

1. Which building materials or technologies are available

2. Is it possible to build an energy efficient building with the existing Materials

3. What changes have to be made to encourage or increase the manufacture of such materials

4. What are main strength and weaknesses of the investigated manufacturer

5. How can manufacturers profit from an RoCABT and how can they be supported and

addressed

6. How can such a centre be set to ensure a cooperation of manufacturers with RoCABT

7. Which companies are recommended for a further cooperation

8. Where can further research be carried out

Final Draft

Introduction 11

1.6 Methodology

This thesis is divided in six sections. First section gave insight about the situation in Malaysia,

described the projects this thesis is related to and defined targets and objectives. Second section

gives an overview about several macroeconomic conditions. This includes information about the

qualification and costs of labour, incentives for companies and manufacturer as well as grants,

funds and soft loans. Further, an overview about material standards, testing and certification

is given as well. All this is done to describe the framework conditions for this industry, because

some conclusions and recommendations in the very end of this thesis are related to these topics.

Choice of investigated materials and equipments is done in the third section by analysing the

climate conditions. Therefore, data from the Malaysian test reference year (TRY) had been

evaluated. Derived from these conditions, manufacturer of the chosen materials had been de-

termined. In general, analysis and evaluation of these manufacturer had been done by an desk

and field research as recommended in the stated source26. The desk research is conducted in

section four considering all the chosen manufacturer. This was done by creating profiles of them

including information concerning their location, produced material, specification and further

information available on the Internet or in product brochures. In the end of this section a

closer selection of manufacturers investigated and evaluated more in detail by a field research

was done. This field research is described and the conclusions are summarized in section five.

Derived from the insights collected in the first five sections, the previously defined questions

are answered in section six.

All Statements given in this thesis are based on stated citations or information and experiences

made while factory visits, interviews or further discussions. Documentations of these are at-

tached in the end of this thesis and only conclusions of these are depict in this composition.

The factory visits and interviews had been conducted while a two month stay in Malaysia. This

was necessary to get qualified information for this thesis.

26Kreutzer, Praxisorientiertes Marketing, page: 72-79

Final Draft

Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing industry 12

2 Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing in-

dustry

2.1 Labour Qualifications and General Information

Malaysia has a shortage of skilled labour, especially in the middle management and in techni-

cal jobs (engineers, technical experts, EDP and automation, product development/design)27.

Related to this is also the circumstance that many Malaysian specialists that went to overseas

for working did not come back. Government guesses only around 1% of them was coming back

to Malaysia. To prevent this problem government launched a program called Talent Roadmap

2020 27 28. A further problem is that young employees with Malaysian graduations do not fulfil

the demands of the industry. Many, especially foreign employers, complain that the real skills

of the graduates from Malaysian universities do not match with their level of education27. This

is also approved by statements of some interviewed companies. Some of them mentioned, they

prefer employees with foreign degrees and many managers themselves had degrees from Great

Britain or Australia as well. It was further described that because of governmental support of

Bumiputera29 by scholarships for example, people are studying in university who in fact didn’t

deserve.

In general the educational system of Malaysia

Figure 2.1: Malaysian qualifications framework

is structured as followed. After nine years in

school a tests grants the students the Lower

Secondary Assessment (LSA). With this as-

sessment they are allowed to go to upper sec-

ondary vocational or technical school, depend-

ing on the result of their test. These schools

last for two years. So after eleven years alto-

gether, they get Malaysian Certificate of Ed-

ucation (Vocational) (MCE/MCEV). This is

equivalent to international GCE-O Level. This

degree authorizes the students for a further

education in diploma or certification programmes.

To promote Bumiputera, some of them are even

allowed to go to university with the MCE/MCEV

degree. All others have to finish the diploma

or certification program to be allowed to go to

university30. Figure 2.1 illustrates the qualifi-

cation framework of Malaysia31.

27R.Jaensch, Lohn- und Lohnnebenkosten: Malaysia, 2013, Page: 1-228Detailed information: www.talentcorp.com.my29Bumiputera is description of the indigenous poeple of Malaysia30Kopp, Das Bildungssystem Malaysias: Zwischen gestern und Cyberjaya, Page: 73-7531MQA, Malaysian Qualifications Framework , page: 13

http://www.talentcorp.com.my/2012/04/24/talentroadmap2020/

Final Draft

Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing industry 13

2.1 Shows a statistic of persons engaged by qualifications in the manufacturing sector by 200932.

Qualification Total %

University degree and above 111,755 6.6%

Diploma STPM or equivalent 198,065 11.7%

SPM/SPMV or equivalent and below 1,383,334 81.7%

Table 2.1: Persons engaged by qualification in manufacturing sector

An advantage for Malaysian labour is their good knowledge about the English language. This

makes it more easy for foreign companies to get into the market.

Even in the Building and agricultural sector it gets more difficult to find good workers. Main

reason for this is that local workers do not want to do hard and physical work27. Because of

this, Malaysia is heavily reliant of foreign labours 33. In 2012 around 1,6 million registered guest

workers have mainly worked in the manufacturing industry (39%), the agricultural industry or

plantation (29%) and the construction sector (14%)33. Unofficial estimations even guess that

in addition to the 1,6 million legal guest workers there is the same number of additional illegal

workers in Malaysia33. In the fabrication workers are mainly trained in certain steps of the

production. Most of the companies have supervisors, who have a higher technical education

or have been trained by, for example, foreign machine suppliers. These persons give their

knowledge to the workers and show them how to do the work34. The Malaysian ministry of

work also operates 21 institutions for vocational education and introduced an dual system of

education after the model of the German system. But for the industry for building materials,

there is no such education available and as described above, workers are mainly trained by the

companies and their supervisors. Due to the reason that there is no organised training system

for labours and physical jobs are mostly done by less skilled foreign workers, further problems

are rising. Especially manufacturers and fabricators of new and complex materials and building

systems have problems to find right skilled workers. As the interviews made for this thesis show,

some fabricators of new, modular building systems have problems to find workers with the right

skill and education to fabricate their products.

32Asmeh, Labour Statistics, Page: 1833G. M. Ducanes and G. Ducanes, Labour Shortage, Migrant Recruitment, and Portability Page: 834Attachment A.5: Interviews

Final Draft

Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing industry 14

2.2 Labour costs

With the increasing level of employment, decreasing amount of vacant positions and a dynamic

economy, which complains about lack of labours, a rising tendency on wages can be registered35.

Further the minimum wages effective since 1.1.2013 supported development of labour wages. It

is estimated by CIDB that around 3.2 million employees profit from the minimum tariffs36 37.

Statistics show that in 2012 wages increased for 5% in Malaysia38. Tabel 2.2 and 2.3 show a

summary of average wages in the manufacturing industry. Detailed lists can be found on the

website of MIDA39 and CIDB40.

Position

(Industry for production of goods)

Wage in USD

(monthly)

Wage development

2011/12

Director/Manager (Employees: 500+) 12,849 23.5%

Director/Manager (Employees: -500) 9,855 -1.8%

Sales manager 2,584 6.4%

Civil engineer 1,344 3.9%

Skilled labour (Petaling Jaya, Subang) 690 5.7%

Semiskilled Labour 505 7.2%

Table 2.2: Persons engaged by qualification in manufacturing sector

Position

(Construction industry)

Wage in USD, Selangor (Daily)11

General construction worker, local 20.50

General construction worker, foreign 17.00

Concreter, skilled, local 29.50

Concreter skilled, foreign 21.90

Concreter, semi-skilled, local 20.20

Concreter semi-skilled, foreign 17.30

Bricklayer, skilled, local 31.40

Bricklayer skilled, foreign 23.50

Bricklayer, semi-skilled, local 22.20

Bricklayer semi-skilled, foreign 18.30

Table 2.3: Persons engaged by qualification in manufacturing sector

35R.Jaensch, Lohn- und Lohnnebenkosten: Malaysia, Page: 136Minimum wages: RM 800 (254 USD) for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, RM 900 (285 USD) for Peninsular37www.mohr.gov.my38R.Jaensch, Lohn- und Lohnnebenkosten: Malaysia, Page: 439Wages: www.mida.gov.my40www.cidb.gov.my

http://minimumwages.mohr.gov.my/employers/about-minimum-wages-policy/http://www.mida.gov.my/jpn/index.php?page=kadar-gajihttps://www.cidb.gov.my/cidbv3/images/pdf/n3c/labour/2013/c.%20workers%20jul%2013_semenanjung%20-%20upload%201.pdf

Final Draft

Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing industry 15

2.3 Incentives for Manufacturing companies

In Malaysia there are several tax incentives available. Information about tax incentives are

provided by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). All information in this

section are provided by this41 or SMECORP42.

Depending on the sector the company is operating, different tax incentives are provided. In

this part only the incentives for EE equipment and materials and for the manufacturing sector

will be described. That is because all relevant companies for this thesis are members of this

sector.

In general there are two major incentives for companies investing in the manufacturing sec-

tor. The Pioneer Status and the Investment Tax Allowance. Apart of these two major

Incentives there are further Incentives for the following specialized companies:

• High Technology Companies

• Strategic Projects

• Small and Medium Companies

• Machinery and Equipment Industry

• Automotive Industry

• Utilisation of Oil Palm Biomass

• Additional Incentives for the Manufac-turing Sector

Since most of the mentioned branches do not relate to the topic of this Report, there will only

be a closer description of the Pioneer Status, Investment Tax Allowance and the Addi-

tional Incentives for the Manufacturing Sector in the following.

Pioneer Status

Companies eligible for Pioneer Status only pay tax on a part of their statutory income. In

general the exemption lasts for 5 years from the production day. This is defined as the day

the production reaches 30% of its productivity. In the general definition a company eligible

for Pioneer Status only pays tax on 30% of its statutory income. For different Companies,

branches or manufactured products or performances this number can vary to an exemption of

up to 100%. The Period the exemption lasts can also vary up to 10 years.

Investment Tax Allowance

Investment Tax Allowance is especially for companies that highly invest in new equipment and

machinery or have lots of costs for fixed assets. Further it is for companies undertaking lots of

R+D which have to invest a huge amount of money. In General a company granted Investment

Tax Allowance is entitled to an allowance of 60% on its qualifying capital expenditure. The

period of allowance is five years, but as well as the 60% of capital expenditure, the time can

vary depending on the branch, manufactured product or performance.

Additional Incentives for the manufacturing sector

These Incentives are given to the companies in different ways. Only the following relevant

incentives will be further described:

41Incentives: www.mida.gov.my42SMIDEC, Policies, Incentives, Programmes and Financial Assistance for SMEs

http://www.mida.gov.my/home/incentives-in-manufacturing-sector/posts/

Final Draft

Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing industry 16

Reinvestment Allowance (RA), Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) and Incenties for Indus-

trial Building Systems(IBS)

Reinvestment Allowance (RA) is an allowance of 60% on the qualifying capital expenditure

incurred for reinvestments in purposes of expansion, automation, modernisation or diversifica-

tion of existing businesses into any related products. In general it is given for 15 consecutive

years from the year the first reinvestment was made. As at the other incentives, the percentage

of allowance can vary depending on different terms and conditions.

Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) is given to companies that re-invest after these 15

years. With ACA further capital expenditure can be written of within three years.

Incentives for IBS also refer to ACA. This means that companies that follow Principles of

the industrial Building System and have additional costs are also eligible for ACA.

Apart of the mentioned incentives, there are further Incentives for research and development or

special Trainings to encourage human resource development. These further incentives are also

based on Investment Tax Allowance with special values concerning the rate of allowance and

the period of time the exemption lasts. For certain EE materials or equipments like lighting

products or photovoltaic elements government further removed import duties and sales taxes.

Eligiility for Pioneer Status and Investment Tax Allowance is based on certain priorities:

1. Level of value-added

2. Technology used and industrial linkages

3. The company is manufacturing a promoted Product43

4. The company locates itself or a new manufacturing plant in a promoted, structural weak

area of the country

On the list with the promoted products, there are unfortunately non for the building industry.

In an interview with two employees of MIDA34 it was explained that they are working out a

concept for new incentives to promote this sector and materials. At the moment MIDA is doing

studies in that field but they have not been able to give closer information about these new

incentives. In the interviews that have been made for this Report, it was also significant to

see that there is no claim for these incentives by the companies of the manufacturing sector

for building materials for EE buildings. Only one company explained that they share the costs

for sending workers to the machine suppliers for training with the government. In Point 2.5

Funding a closer explanation of this model will follow.

43Attachment A.2: List of Promoted Products

Final Draft

Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing industry 17

2.4 Incentives for Green Building and Technology

To promote green building in Malaysia, the Green Building Index (GBI) was developed to

promote green technology in the building sector. To give an incentive to fulfil with the require-

ments of GBI, an income tax exemption is given to people buying or building a house with GBI

rating. This income tax exemption is equivalent to the additional capital expenditure for the

GBI rating. It is effective for buildings sold between 24th October 2009 and 31st December

201444. As discussed with green consultant Gregers Reimann, he made the statement, that

these incentives are definitely a good driver, but it will only help to recover about 25% of in-

cremental cost of going green, so it is not a 100% refund. Further, he would say, that green

marketing is an equally big driver for people to go green45.

To promote industries in all economic sectors which utilise low-carbon or resource efficient

technologies, the Green Tech Financing Scheme (GTFS) was launched. This scheme covers

RM 1.5 billion46 and is given in cooperation with certain credit institutions. The maximum

financing is RM 50 million47 for suppliers and RM 10 million48 for customers. Government will

bear 2% of the total interest rate and provide a guarantee of 60% of the financing amount.

The loans are only provided to companies that have at least 51% Malaysian equity and supply

and utilize green technology. Mainly companies from the sector biomass, hydro-power and solar

had been supported49 until now. Unfortunately, this scheme hasn’t met the expected success,

which is based on the following reasons:50 51

• Companies don’t make serious business/financial plans when they present their projectto the banks

• Banks are reluctant to provide money for green companies, because of

- Lack of knowledge about green development at the bank

- It is a new sector, not considered as save by the bank

• Only companies with at least 51% Malaysian equity are allowed to grant the fund

44www.greenbuildingindex.org453446RM 1.5 billion = 476.2 million USD11

47RM 50 million = 15.9 million USD11

48RM 10 million = 3.2 million USD11

49www.gtfs.my50T. Jacquemin, Report on the Green development in Malaysia with a focus on the Building sector , Page: 1251http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

http://www.greenbuildingindex.org/Resources/GBI%20Documents/20091023%20-%20GBI%20Incentives%20Announced%20in%20Budget%202010.pdfhttp://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/green-technology-finance-scheme-what-has-gone-wrong-the-green-ninja

Final Draft

Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing industry 18

2.5 Grants, Funds and Soft Loans

Besides the above described incentives, there are further grants, funds and soft loans available.

This part will only give an overview and description of the most relevant funds, grants or soft

loans for the manufacturing sector of EE-Building materials. These are provided by various

government ministries and agencies, as well as by developmental and commercial financial

institutions. In the following an overview about the most relevant grands and funds for the

manufacturing industry will be given. For more detailed information see document for policies,

incentives, programmes and financial assistance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)42.

• Grants for Business Start Ups

Matching grant of 80% of the approved project costs for companies of the manufacturing

sector / maximum RM 40,00052

• Grants for Product and Process Improvements

Matching grant of 50% of approved costs / maximum RM 500,00053

• Grants for Skills Upgrading

Matching grant of 50% of the costs for training

• Fund for Small And Medium Industries

Maximum finance rate 4% - 6% for maximum 5 years and minimum RM 50,00054/maximum

RM 5 million55

• New Entrepreneurs Fund

Maximum finance rate 4% - 6% for maximum 5 years and maximum RM 5 million55

• Soft Loans for SMEs

Minimum loan is RM 50,00054 and the maximum loan is 5 million RM55 for project fi-

nancing, RM 2.5 million56 for fixed assets financing and 1 million RM for working capital

financing. Qualified for this soft loan are manufacturing companies providing manufac-

turing related services. Further at least 60% of the equity must be held by Malaysians.

• Soft Loans for Factory Relocation

Minimum loan is RM 50,00054 and the total loan shall not exceed RM 1 million57 per

company. The interest rate is 4% by a repayment period of up to 12 years. This loan is

only given once to each company.

As well as at the incentives, there is a very small ability for companies of the manufacturing

sector for building materials to apply for these grants, funds or soft loans. The interviews

with the manufacturing companies34 showed that only one company is participating of these

financial supports. In that case the matching grant for Skills Upgrading was claimed.

52RM 40,000 = 12,698 USD11

53RM 500,000 = 158,730 USD11

54RM 50,000 = 15,873 USD11

55RM 5 million = 1.59 million USD11

56RM 2.5 million = 0.8 million USD11

57RM 1 million = 317,460 USD11

Final Draft

Macroeconomic conditions for the manufacturing industry 19

2.6 Standards, Testing of Materials and Certification

The Department of Standards Malaysia (DSM) is established to undertake the statutory roles

in national standardisation. Its functions are the following58:

• Carrying out the activities of standardisation and accreditation for organisations andcompanies

• Hence, it is National Standards Body, as well as National Accreditation Body

• Developing, promulgating and promoting the usage of MS 1525

In the development of MS, DSM is responsible for the policy and strategy. To undertake the

technical development of new standards and the implementation at the technical level, DSM

appointed SIRIM Berhad.

Sirim Berhad is the national standards development agency. In spite of standard development

for DSM it is also an institution for testing and certification of material and products, accredited

by DSM. This is done by the subsidy SIRIM QAS International Sdn Bhd which is offering the

following services59:

• Accredited third party testing and certification

• Member of International Certification Network

• Certification under SIRIM Eco-Label and Malaysian Brand

• Certification for ISO, MS

• Quality audits, import/export inspections

Beside these services, SIRIM is specialist for global standards. It does consultancy for pro-

duction process improvements to meet global regulatory and voluntary requirements, quality

process assurance or continuous improvements (5S, Kaizen). Further it is partner for product

development. They are able to do prototype production, lab scale studies or research in mate-

rials or engineering.

In general material testing can be done by other institutions as well, since they have an accred-

itation by DSM.

58www.mygov.malaysia.gov.my59SIRIM Berhad, Portfolio of services

http://mygov.malaysia.gov.my/EN/Relevant%20Topics/MakeaBusiness/Business/ManagingYourBusiness/StandardandAccreditation/DepartmentofStandardMalaysia/Pages/DepartmentofStandardMalaysia.aspx

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 20

3 Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer

3.1 Climate conditions and requirements for EE buildings

The climate in Malaysia is described as tropical climate in general. It is a hot and humid

climate and there are no seasons as known in Europe, because they have wet- and dry season.

Temperatures are fairly consistent throughout the year as well as the length of days, which only

varies for around 25 minutes through the year60.

Sun-path is generally from East to West since Malaysia is near the equator. During Summer

solstice the sun is approximately 25◦ to the North and during Winter solstice 25◦ to the South61.

So because of this, solar intensity and other climatic features are nearly consistent throughout

the year. Solar intensity itself can be rather high if there is no cloud cover, because the

angle of incidence of solar radiation is nearly 90◦. The figures in 3.5 illustrate the described

circumstances of angle of incidence (a) and sunpath (b).

(a) www.wikipedia.org (b) www.gaisma.com

Figure 3.1: a) Angle of incidence, b) Sun path diagram

Cloud cover is generally high in Malaysia, what is typical for a tropical climate. The average

cloud cover has an Oktas62 of 6.861 and on the average, Malaysia receives about 6 hours of

sunshine per day63

Horizontal global radiation(HGR), which composes of diffuse solar radiation and direct

solar radiation, has following values shown in Table 3.161 64 65. For comparison the German

value for annual average intensity of HGR is 900 − 1200 kWhm2 .60www.gaisma.com61CK Tang, Nic Chin, Passive Design: Building Energy Efficiency Technical Guideline, p.29-4662Oktas: value to measure the amount of sky that is covered by clouds63www.met.gov.my64Horiz. Global Rad: APEC, Peer Review on Low Carbon Energy Polocies in Malaysia: Final Report p.71

http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/kuala-lumpur.html

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 21

Radiation Malaysia

Horizontal Global Radiation Annual average intensity 1, 400 − 1, 900 kWhm2Horizontal Global Radiation Average peak of a day 636 Wm2

Horizontal Global Radiation absolute peak of a day 1077 Wm2

Diffuse solar radiation Average peak of a day 456 Wm2

Diffuse solar radiation Absolute peak of a day 460 Wm2

Direct solar radiation Average peak of a day 297 Wm2

Direct solar radiation Absolute peak of a day 865 Wm2

Table 3.1: Horizontal global radiation

The average dry-bulb temperature(DBT) in Malaysia of the whole year, day and night is

26,9◦C61 65. Average DBT is nearly consistent throughout the whole year and is around 24◦C

in the nighttime and around 30◦C in the daytime 61 65 as seen in Figure 3.2.

12:00AM

3:00AM

6:00AM

9:00AM

12:00PM

3:00PM

6:00PM

9:00PM

12:00AM

20C

22C

24C

26C

28C

30C

32C

34C

36C

Figure 3.2: Dry-Bulb Temperature, Passive Design guide61

Blue: Average DBT, Red: Minimum DBT, Green: Maximum DBT

Moisture content is fairly consistent day and night with around 18 gkg . Related to this,

relative humidity varies from around 90% in the morning hours to around 65% during the

daytime and depends on the dry bulb temperature61 65.

Dew-point temperature is fairly consistent day and night throughout the whole year with

an average of 23.4◦C61 65 as seen in Figure 3.3. Since the dew-point temperature is linked to

the moisture content in the air, designers have to concern about this especially in areas with

water features, greenery or where cooking is done.

65Test Reference Year (TRY of Malaysia)

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 22

12:00AM

3:00AM

6:00AM

9:00AM

12:00PM

3:00PM

6:00PM

9:00PM

12:00AM

16C

18C

20C

22C

24C

26C

18C

Figure 3.3: Dew Point Temperature, Passive Design guide61

Blue: Average DPT, Red: Minimum DPT, Green: Maximum DPT

Effective sky temperature describes the temperature of the sky and defines the effectiveness

of radiation heat exchange between objects on the ground surface with the sky. The average

effective sky temperature of the whole day is 18◦C, during day time hours (8am-7pm) it is 20◦C

and during night-time hours (8pm-7am) it is 16◦C.

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 23

3.2 Definition of Relevant Building Materials

Since this thesis is not about energy efficient building designs, there will only be a general

description of basic design requirements an energy efficient building should fulfil.

The determination of these requirements is based on and adjusted to the climatic situation in

Malaysia as described in 3.1. In the end there should result clear arguments for the chosen

building materials that are considered in the following. Due to the consistent hot climate

and the high humidity, air-conditioning and ventilation for dehumidifying and cooling has a

high amount on average energy consumption. For this reason it is important to find solutions

to prevent the heating of a building by the several environmental influences. In figure 3.4 a

breakdown of electricity consumption for residential sector66 and office buildings (commercial)67

in Malaysia is displayed.

Air

con

dit

ion

an

d

ven

ttilati

on

Ref

riger

ato

r

Cookin

g

Lig

hti

ng

(res

.)

Wate

rh

eate

r

Oth

ers

Ente

rtain

men

t

Wash

ing

Air

con

dit

ion

ing

Lig

hti

ng

(com

m.)

Gen

eral

equ

ipm

ent

0

20

40

60

29.7

15.7 14.1 13.38.6 7.6 7.5

3.5

57

1924%

Figure 3.4: Electricity consumption breakdown, residential = yellow, commercial = blue

Orientation/Shading

To save electricity, the right orientation of the building to the path of the sun can contribute

to savings for cooling devices. Therefore, the orientation should be from East to West with less

glazing on the East and West façade68 to prevent heat gain through direct radiation. Further,

the roof should have an over hang to provide shading to the North and South façade. Because

of the small deviation of the sun, an effective shading to the north and south façades of the

building can be provided by an over hanging roof design.

In spite of these design measures, external shadings can also contribute to reduction of solar

heat gain. Nevertheless it is already possible to build an EE building with a low solar heat

gain coefficient without any shadings. This can be realized by using high performance Low-E

double glazing for protection against solar heat gain61. But since material decisions are mainly

done by the price, shading devices can provide a more cost effective solution for the protection

from solar heat gain.

66Kubota, Energy Consumption and Air Conditioning Usage: in Residential Buildings of Malaysia, Page: 6567R. Saidur, “Energy and Associated Emission Analysis in Office Buildings”, Page: 9468CK Tang, Nic Chin, Passive Design: Building Energy Efficiency Technical Guideline, Page: 111

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 24

S N

(a) Shading north/south façade

E W

(b) Sunpath east/west

Figure 3.5: Shading depending on sun path

Building Design

For the building design in general there are two main principles:

• Ventilated Building Design • Air Tight Building Design

In a ventilated building design, the process

Figure 3.6: Ventilation concept of Kampung house

of supplying and removing air through an

indoor space by natural means is ensured69.

An example for this design is the tradi-

tional Malaysian Kampung house16 which

is based on an ventilated building design as

seen in Figure 3.670. With such a design,

air is always flowing through the house and

transports the warm air away, respectively

prevents standing air to heat up by solar ra-

diation for example. An air tight building

prevents leakages and thus uncontrolled flow of air through gaps and cracks in the construction.

By assuring air tightness it is ensured, cold air stays inside, respectively hot air cannot infiltrate

the building. To realise this, several constructive points have to be realized, such as:

• Airtight window technology

• Airtight wall construction

• Connections and fittings of the roof , window and door frames have to be done precisely

• Sealing of constructive connections, especially on the roof

Due to the high use of air-conditioning in Malaysia and the requirements and domination of

western architecture, the principle of an air tight building will be considered in the following

69www.gbtech.gov.hk70The Traditional Malay House, Page: 80

http://gbtech.emsd.gov.hk/english/utilize/natural.htmlhttp://tcdc2.undp.org/gssdacademy/sie/docs/vol4/malay_house.pdf

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 25

chapters. This design is also recommended by BSEEP71

Construction

The Constructive design of a building is depending on the type of use, e.g. if it is a residential

or commercial building. The main principles concerning constructive design are:

• Heavy construction • Lightweight construction

Heavy construction means the use of heavy materials like concrete or clay bricks. These have

high ability to store thermal energy but react very slow and fairly inertially on changes of the

temperature. Lightweight construction means the use of light materials that have small ability

to store thermal energy and react fast on changes of the temperature. The advantage of this

construction method is that it cools down faster in the night time.

Due to the consistent hot climate in Malaysia there have to be done individual adjustments

of these two principles concerning insulation and specific design. As discussed with green con-

sultant and CEO of IEN Consulting, Gregers Reiman34, the choice of construction method

depends on the use and the characterisation of the building. For this reason a statement for

or against one of these designs is not possible because this decision always depends on further

parameters. To find out more detailed design solutions concerning this topic is not part of this

thesis and have to be investigated in another study.

Technical Equipment

Due to the hot temperatures in Malaysia, there is a high use of air-conditioning systems in

the building sector. With 29.7% in residential and 57%72 of average electricity consumption in

office buildings, these systems are the biggest consumers in Malaysian buildings. Therefore, it

is important to reduce the cooling Load of a building by a proper design on the one hand side

and by an efficient air-conditioning system on the other hand side. Concerning Air conditioning

systems it is also recommended to conduct a study that investigates weather these systems are

correctly dimensioned, installed and adjusted. This recommendation is based on statements

done by technical experts and consultants while the stay in Malaysia. They told these systems

are still dimensioned by rule of thumb instead of a professional calculation. If this is correct,

such a study could contribute to development of effective solutions for retrofitting measures to

save electricity. For heating, energy can be saved by using solar water heaters. Because of the

high amount of solar radiation in Malaysia, these systems as well as PV panels can contribute

to saving of energy in the Malaysian building sector.

Windows and Glazing (Facade)

In Malaysia an indoor temperature of 23◦C - 26◦C is recommended by MS152573. The average

daily temperature is 30◦C74, varying only for around 6◦C to the night time. For the reason of

small temperature differences, need for low U-Values is apparently not that high in Malaysia

71CK Tang & Nic Chin, Detailed Study and Report on the Current Building Designs and EE Building

Applications, Page: 972See Figure 3.473Department of Standards Malaysia, MS1525: 2014 , Page: 3974See Figure 3.2

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 26

than in Germany for example. But this statement only counts if the recommendation of an

indoor temperature of 23◦C - 26◦C is adhered. Government already declared that they will

follow this value in all their buildings. But while the two month stay for research for this thesis,

in many official buildings and even in the governmental office of JKR temperatures of around

18◦C have been measured. Related to this, it is recommended to conduct a further qualified

study to find out about the real average operated indoor temperatures in Malaysian buildings.

This is rated as an important topic, because if there is a systematically difference between real

operated and recommended temperatures, this can further cause structural damages because of

outfall of condensation. Such a study could also help to get data for developing retrofitting mea-

sures. Apart of this it is more important in the climate zone of Malaysia to concern about Solar

Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC), Visible Light Transmission (VLT) and Light to Solar Gain ratio

(LSG)75 for glazings. To achieve this, use of double glazing technology is recommended.75 76

As already described in the point orientation/shading, a propper window technology can highly

contribute to reduction of SHGC and even replace other measures like shadings.

Since an airtight building design was suggested above, a proper window technology is required

as well. Same counts for Facades. Concerning U-Values of Windows and Facades it is the same

as for glazing as described above. But since high surface temperatures of glazings and façade

elements had been measured while the stay in Malaysia, it is suggested to conduct a further

study. This could investigates amount of heat gain from thermal conduction of façade elements

heated up by solar radiation.

Wall Insulation

The benefit of an insulated wall depends on the use and the design of the building once more.

In general insulated walls can provide a peak cooling load reduction. This reduces the chiller

peak capacity and helps to reduce capital costs for an air conditioning system77.

Roofing and Roof Insulation

Due to the fully exposure of a roof to the sky dome, it is strongly bonded by solar radiation

in the daytime. This means there is a high amount of heat transferred into the building if

there is no proper insulation installed. In the night time this effect is the opposite, because the

temperature of the sky in the night time is low with approximately 15◦C78. This circumstance

can be used to cool down the roof and thus the indoor temperature, but only if the roof is a

lightweight construction and not insulated. So there are different construction methods sensible

for different types of use79 and as well as for wall insulation, the necessary roof design depends

on the design and use of the building.

75CK Tang, Nic Chin, Passive Design: Building Energy Efficiency Technical Guideline p.9876CK Tang & Nic Chin, Detailed Study and Report on the Current Building Designs and EE Building

Applications, Page: 877CK Tang, Nic Chin, Passive Design: Building Energy Efficiency Technical Guideline p.13878CK Tang, Nic Chin, Passive Design: Building Energy Efficiency Technical Guideline, Page: 4179CK Tang, Nic Chin, Passive Design: Building Energy Efficiency Technical Guideline, Page: 141-152

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 27

3.3 Conclusion: Choice of Material

Concerning orientation and design of a building, this thesis will not give a statement. That is

because these topics depend on decisions done by architects and not on the choice of materials.

For an airtight building it is important to have elements like windows and doors that ensure

there is no heat entering the building from outside, respectively no cool air is disappearing

from the inside. Since the experience from the two month stay in Malaysia showed that mainly

simple, very leaky windows made from aluminium u-profiles are used in buildings, the available

window technologies are important to investigate. Figure 3.7a and 3.7b show a typical window

as it was recognized in Malaysia.

(a) Front View (b) Detailed View (obove)

Figure 3.7: Conventional windows as experienced in Malaysia

For technical equipment manufacturer of air-conditionings and lighting technology will be con-

sidered as well as PV manufacturers. Since in both, residential and commercial buildings,

air-conditioning has biggest amount on total electricity consumption, it is important to con-

sider these devices. Same counts for lighting. Due to the high potential of electricity saving

from use of LED, this industry is important to have a view onto. PV panels are considered,

because the huge amount of solar radiation realises high gains of electricity.

As described in point 3.1 Climate conditions weather and length of the days is nearly consis-

tent throughout the year. For this reason there will be no particular focus on automation and

controlling devices for technical equipment. As discussed with Green Consultant and CEO of

IEN Consulting Gregers Reimann34, the requirements for building automation and individual

adjustments is not that high in Malaysia as it is in Europe. Related to the rampant western

architecture and the preference of glazing as a design attribute, a particular focus will be set

on manufacturer of glazings. Concerning the described conditions it is important to find out

about the state of the art of glazing industry.

Since the construction with heavy wall materials such as clay bricks or concrete constructions

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 28

is widely spread in Malaysia, focus will be on lightweight materials. Especially AAC materials

will be considered. In combination with this it will further be investigated, if materials as

vapour barriers or sealing foils are available. Application of such foils can also contribute to

airtightness of a building especially in roof constructions. For Insulation of walls and roofs

against heat or sound protection, insulation materials will be investigated as well.

Spite of these building materials there will also be a short part investigating companies with new

and innovative building constructions. This is done because such constructions can combine

several materials and help to increase EE by implementing innovative solutions. Concluding,

the following research and investigation of companies will be focused on these topics/branches:

• Window, Facade and Shading

• Glazing

• Roofing

• Bricks

• Insulation Materials

• Technical Equipment

• New Building Systems

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 29

3.4 Determination of Manufacturer for Chosen Building Materials

As described in 1.6 Methodology, manufacturers of the chosen material groups are first deter-

mined and analysed by an desk research. For this desk research the right companies have to

be located first. On the one side, they have been found by research on the Internet. On the

other side colleagues from the office space at JKR provided companies and contacts. Related

to the research via Internet, the website of Malaysian Green Building Council80 (MGBC) as

well as their Green Pages81 have been a useful tool. Since the Green Pages also list products

that are rated green because of minimised wastage in the production process or the use of

renewable raw materials, a detailed choice had to be done. For this choice, the main criterion

for Materials considered in this thesis was the ability to reduce electricity consumption of an

operating building. Materials such as curtains made from renewable fibres or ceiling panels

produced from recycled steal can contribute to an reduction of waste and production energy,

but not to the reduction of electricity use of an operating building. So for this reason such

materials are not considered in this Thesis and the focus is on products that have the ability

to reduce electricity consumption because of their advanced specifications.

List of Malaysian/Foreign Owned Manufacture Companies

Window, Facade and Shading

- Elegance Window - Golden Horse Windor - TT UPVC

- Fascina - Vincatropicale - YM Aluminium

- Facade Treatment Eng. - DML Products - Uniwall Arch Products

- Central Glass and Metal Works

Glazing

- Ajiya Safety Glass - Eco Glass - Kien Safety Glass

- Malaysian Safety Glass - Topline Glazing

Roofing

- Ajiya Roofing - Monier - United Seasons

- swissma - Superdaya

Bricks

- Acotec - Alamcon AAC - Henner AAC

- Strken AAC - LRC Inside - Greencon

- Duralite

80www.mgbc.org.my81Annual published book with an Index of companies producing green labeled products

Final Draft

Choice of relevant Materials and Manufacturer 30

Insulation Materials

- Ecopanel - Ecowool - InsulRef

- Kingspan Insulation - Wilhams Insulation - Rockwool

Technical Equipment

- Al-Co Hybrid Solutions - Daikin - Dunham Bush

- Effective Cooling - Solar District Cooling - System Air

- Osram - Malaysian Solar - First Solar

- MY Solar - Grundfos Punps - Q-Cell

- LED Vision - SGL Group

New Building Systems

- Superdaya - Cornerstone

Final Draft

Desk Research 31

4 Desk Research

4.1 Methodology and Conduction

This Analysis is based on data available on the internet or in product brochures. To collect data

and to draw a comparable picture of all the companies, profiles of the listed manufacturers have

been made. The collection of these profiles will form an Index of Manufacturing Companies of

Building Materials for Energy Efficient Buildings. This index will be provided to both of the

projects, the BSEEP and the RoCABT. By standardising these profiles the index can expand

with ongoing time of the projects. In the attachment of this report, an example of these profiles

is shown82. This section further describes the structure of the profiles which yield standardised

information for the Analysis. The results are summarized in 4.3.

The profiles contain the following Information:

• Company - Name and logo

• Branch - Referring to the defined cathegories in section 3.3

• Location - Headquarters and/or subsidies in Malaysia

• Contact - Official contact and direct contact if available

• Products - Overview about the produced products

• Specification - Depending on the available specifications and the scope either all thespecifications or just the basic ones are listed

• Comment - Information about certifications or accorded standards as well as about theorigin if it is a foreign company

The categorisation in branches is similar to the categories implemented in 3.3. With the infor-

mation from the location of the companies, a map was created to illustrate the distribution of

manufacturers throughout Malaysia. This gives information about agglomeration areas. As far

as it is possible to investigate, direct contacts to the companies are also provided. By listing the

products and their specifications, a statement about the state of the art of the products and the

completeness of the product line-up was made. In addition to a statement for each company,

it is also possible to identify products that are not available on the market in general in this

way. In comments, individual information about the company as well as about certifica