Green drive fizzles out for some developers

by Gan Pei Ling / 12 December 2014 © Focus Malaysia

It’s increasingly common for developers to market their commercial or residential properties as “green” by stating their green building certification rating on advertisements.

But what do these ratings mean to potential buyers? And what happens when developers fail to deliver on property with “green” elements as advertised?

A check by FocusM with Green Building Index (GBI) Sdn Bhd reveals developers are free to advertise their GBI rating as soon as their projects have secured provisional certification.

However, the catch is there is no guarantee a property will be able to maintain its provisional rating after having gone through a completion and verification assessment (CVA) to receive the full award valid for three years.

Indeed, GBI general manager Herman Teo confirms there are cases in which “developers have dropped the rating [after the] CVA” though he declined to specify the number of such incidences.

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