No insulation in buildings causes high energy bills

KUALA LUMPUR: The lack of insulation in most Malaysian buildings is the key cause of high energy bills for building owners, according to Malaysian Insulation Manufacturers Group (MIMG) chairman Soh Chin Teck.

He said one of the reasons for high electricity cost was due to the need for air-conditioning to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures.

“The benefits of insulation are manifold. It reduces heat flowing from outside into the building, keeps rooms cooler for longer period and cuts down the use of electricity for cooling,” Soh told Bernama.

“Therefore, insulation is one of the easiest and most effective ways to help buildings use less energy without sacrificing the comfort of the indoor environment,” he said in an interview.

“It also helps to reduce noise pollution,” he added.

“We are representing MIMG, a trade association formed under the auspices of Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers,” said vice-chairman Thomas Heldgaard.

“MIMG consists of three global manufacturers of thermal insulation, namely CSR Building Materials (M) Sdn Bhd (part of an Australian-based company), Poly Glass Fibre Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, a company based in Penang, and Roxul Asia Sdn Bhd (part of Denmark’s Roxul Group,” he said.

The group manufactures thermal insulation in Malaysia for Malaysian buildings and industrial plants. Thermal insulation is a product which prevents heat from flowing into the building.

“So, when you have a hot climate outside the building, and you want to maintain the coolness inside the room, you put this product into the walls or under your roof and that way you save on your air-conditioning bills,” Heldgaard said.

He said the product worked like a thermo flask where “you put your cold or hot drink inside and when you want to use it, it actually retains the temperature”.

It is an old technology normally associated with cold climate and MIMG plans to promote awareness in Malaysia due to its suitability for tropical climate, Heldgaard said.

“We are mainly focusing on energy consumption in buildings,” he said.

Amid depleting fossil fuel, it is timely to focus on the usage of insulation as Malaysia is projected to become an importer of energy in five years’ time.

“We would like to create awareness about the opportunities because the technology is improving and this product is produced locally in Malaysia and it fits well into the Malaysian buildings. You can easily put it into the buildings as it is built and put it under the roof or on the wall,” Heldgaard said.

He said MIMG had sponsored a study which looked into the benefits on the usage of insulation for Malaysia.

According to Heldgaard, the reason to create MIMG is to be able to move strongly rather than doing it through an individual company.

He called on all decision makers in the construction industry, from architects to developers as well as the government, to look into the matter seriously.

“Ultimately, we need the government to legislate on this and put it into the building by-laws,” Heldgaard said.

“But before that happens, opportunities can be linked to government incentives, tax incentives or investment incentives. It can be linked to cost structure on energy. For developers, we have to create a scenario for a value preposition for them. They have to see that it creates value for their house users,” he said.

According to Soh, the cost to insulate existing homes is not very expensive.

“For typical intermediate house the cost is about RM2.70 per square feet which is around RM2,000 to RM3,000 per house, depending on its size. It is not so expensive compared to cost of a house but the benefit is saving about 20 to 30 per cent of energy cost,” he said.

On the response from building owners, Soh said: “We have been doing this for eight years, promoting to developers and house owners.”