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This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 5, 2018 - November 11, 2018

Winner |  EPIC | Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of Cenviro Sdn Bhd)

 

There was an air of curiosity and excitement at Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd’s Environmental Preservation and Innovation Centre (EPIC) in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. During a visit to the centre in August, a specially trained team was seen delivering hazardous waste to the sleek, lofty building, causing a stir among the reporters and visitors present.

 

Since opening its doors in April, such activities have become an integral part of EPIC’s purpose — to act as an integrated training centre for sustainable waste management.

During a meeting at its headquarters in KL Sentral, Cenviro Sdn Bhd general manager of technical Mohd Norsuradi Man, says, “When EPIC was first unveiled in April this year, we conducted a few training programmes such as scheduled waste management control and handling for waste handlers among staff and the public. The feedback has been excellent.

“Apart from the training programmes, we invited visitors from various authorities, the government, industry players, the media, universities and schools, and they were impressed with the building’s design, sustainability and the facilities,” he says.

Norsuradi tells City & Country that the company plans to capitalise on EPIC’s design for its future growth.

Designed by renowned architecture firm Hijjas Kasturi Associates Sdn Bhd, EPIC has a sharp, refined façade. From a distance, it emerges like a sculpture, a floating structure that overlooks a plantation site.

Sprawled on top of a hill at the 100-acre Cenviro Eco Park, the centre was built in two parts — one is submerged in the terrain, while the second part is cantilevered above it, appearing to float. Spanning across a 5.4-acre site, it comprises three levels with 2,263 sq m of gross floor area. Developed and owned by Kualiti Alam, it has a construction cost of RM27 million. It includes a multipurpose hall, exhibition space, outdoor cafeteria, training room, observation deck, library, pump room, meeting rooms and offices.

Right off the bat, EPIC is not like your stereotypical waste management centre. It is a sophisticated, modern workspace with carefully designated spaces. The interiors are furnished with stylish recycled items. But EPIC is much more than its handsome aesthetic.

Its sustainability and overall functionality have made it the winner of The Edge Malaysia PAM Green Excellence Award. “We are pleasantly surprised by the win,” says Norsuradi.

The award is based on the product’s design, sustainability, implementation, cost efficiency, green building standards and contributions to the community. The judging panel comprised representatives from The Edge Malaysia and The Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM).

 

A step up in waste management design

Also present during the interview was the Hijjas Kasturi Associates team. “EPIC was inspired by the terrain it was built upon. That is one of the reasons we came up with the overall design, which is partly submerged and also cantilevered,” says Hijjas Kasturi Associates Sdn Bhd director Serina Hijjas on EPIC’s design rationale.

She says the firm is thoughtful in striking a balance between design aesthetic and nature. “Our aim was to design a building that was the least impactful on its surroundings, and for it to passively harvest light, water and air,” she says.

“We wanted a sustainable design to reflect a low-carbon building that comprises work, lifestyle and innovation,” says Norsuradi.

Judging from their banter and the sharing of ideas, it is evident that both parties have worked together closely on the project and have built a good rapport. “It has been a good collaboration for us,” notes Norsuradi.

Meanwhile, one of the unusual design aspects of EPIC is its hovering, multipurpose hall with glass panels. “The multipurpose hall cantilevers outwards. It is quite special as it opens up to allow a panoramic and telescopic view of the centre’s natural surroundings,” says Serina.

Due to the natural terrain of the site, the firm decided to partially embed the building into the ground. “This design feature reduces heat gain, and hence, requires less energy to cool the building mechanically,” says Serina.

She says the firm believes in adapting to the surroundings with the building orientation and careful selection of materials to create a building that is the least destructive to the environment and can serve the community.

Last year, EPIC was awarded the Green Building Index (GBI) platinum certification. Its concept and design was first approved in April 2015. EPIC is north-south oriented and is designed with minimal east-west direct solar penetration and minimal thermal transfer into the building. The centre incorporates appropriate insulation to its roof.

 

Sustainable features

According to Cenviro, the centre has a minimum of 45% energy reduction compared with the typical base building as defined by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers standards. Its building energy intensity is estimated at 87.9kWh/m2/year.

A quick tour around the centre reveals that it has many sustainable features, such as electric charging stations, native/adaptive vegetation, low-emission glass, high ceilings, efficient light fittings and ceiling fans in most spaces.

The main feature of EPIC is its grid solar photovoltaic system that provides up to 41.62 kWp of electricity to the building continuously during the daytime. Another unique feature is that its greywater and rainwater harvesting systems are chanelled through a multimedia filtration ultrafiltration system and ultraviolet disinfection treatment before being used for irrigation.

In addition, EPIC features a fast-draining concrete hydromedia pavement that encompasses the upper driveway and drop-off areas. This not only supports vehicles, but also directs and drains storm water.

“The building has a bio-climatic (passive) design. For example, all glazed areas have been provided with sufficient shading to prevent heat from direct sunlight,” says Serina. Passive design allows natural ventilation in areas such as office corridors and so on.

A number of recycled materials have been utilised in the building structure, including regional material, refrigerants and cleansing agents, reuse and selection materials, recycled content materials such as fly ash, sustainable timber, and construction waste that is diverted from the landfill.

“We have surmounted some obstacles in building EPIC. One of them was the tight deadline, and with stakeholders adding more things to the project scope to enhance its lifecycle, it made it more difficult,” says Norsuradi.

“Apart from that, the appointed contractor was inexperienced in the construction of the non-orthogonal building design and the ‘hanging structure’ for the large cantilever, which resulted in more time and cost,” adds Serina.

However, they appear to be satisfied with the end result. “It was definitely a learning curve,” they concur.

 

A tenable future

Kualiti Alam is a subsidiary of Cenviro Sdn Bhd, which is an abbreviation of “clean environment”. Cenviro forms part of Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s investment in sustainable development. Cenviro’s other subsidiaries are Kuality Khidmat Alam Sdn Bhd, Kualiti Kitar Alam Sdn Bhd, Cenviro Special Builders Sdn Bhd and Kualiti Alam (Lahat) Sdn Bhd. The group is responsible for operating the country’s first and largest integrated waste management centre in Negeri Sembilan since 1998. EPIC, also known as the country’s first centre of excellence is located adjacent to the WMC in Cenviro Eco Park.

Says Norsuradi, “EPIC’s mandate is to fulfil four development pillars in line with Khazanah’s capacity building agenda for the nation and also to support the national transformation agenda,” says Norsuradi. “The four pillars are human capital and content development; innovation and advanced technology development; green economy and eco-park facilitation; and environmental awareness and social responsibility.”

In terms of the calibre of waste management in Malaysia, Norsuradi believes there is still room for improvement and awareness. “The policies and legislation are in place. Perhaps, there could be improvement in terms of execution and in managing cost to revolutionise waste management and propel it forward.”

According to Norsuradi, there are a number of opportunities. “We hope that EPIC will complement Sendayan Tech Valley’s development and Malaysian Vision Valley 2.0. We also believe that the centre will expedite the development of local resources in meeting market demand in waste to energy.”

EPIC also serves as an opportunity to build smart partnerships and collaboration, according to Norsuradi. “A memorandum of understanding was signed in July last year with the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, a professional body for the waste management industry in the UK, to establish a Chartered Institute of Waste Managers programme in Malaysia. EPIC was also accredited by Pearson (Edexcel) to conduct Business, Technology and Education Council courses last year,” says Norsuradi.

“Our hope is that EPIC continues to grow and becomes a regional waste management training and R&D centre. We also hope that EPIC will produce more Malaysian accredited and certified professionals in the area. We hope to attract more investors in advanced recycling, recovery and related R&D,” says Norsuradi.

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