Green Environmental Rating system for Lanka soon

by L. S. Ananda WEDAARACHCHI

A Green Environmental Rating system for Sri Lanka will be introduced soon, said Executive Director, Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) Lionel Nawagamuwa.

A team comprising Sri Lankan academics, architects civil and environmental engineers and eminent professionals is giving the final touches to the document on the Green environmental rating system. It will be launched on December 21 at the Cinamen Grand under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he said.

Environment Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, Mass Madia Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, Housing, Construction Engineering Services Minister Wimal Weerawansa and several leading Sri Lankan and Foreign Green Environmental experts along with academics from Australia, USA, UK, Malaysia, China and India will participate in the launching ceremony and working sessions, he said. USA, UK, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, China and India where the Green Environmental Rating Systems are practised have shown a keen interest in issues relating to climate and natural and man-made hazards to the environment, he said.

He said that the construction sector consumes one-third of the total energy produced in the country. The Real Estate developers and construction industry are committed to mitigate the impact of climate change. Seventy-four percent of the workers in developing countries are employed in the building sector, he said.

The Green Building Council of Sri Lanka was set up in November last year with the participation of leading architects, engineers, university academics and construction industry leaders in Sri Lanka and overseas. The prime aim of the council is to incorporate green building practices into Sri Lanka's construction industry and adopt sustainability.

Prof. Priyan Mendis, an eminent Sri Lankan Green Environmentalist of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Melbourne, Australia was elected Chairman of - GBCSL. Architect Chandana Edirisuriya President, Sri Lanka Institute of Architects, Engineer W.J.B. Shiromal Fernando, Institute of Structural Engineers Sri Lanka, Dr. L.N. Senaweera, Director General, Sri Lanka Standards Institute, Prof. A.K.W. Jayawardena, President, Institution of Engineers of Sri Lanka and Madura Wijeyewickrama CEO National Construction Association of Sri Lanka were elected Vice Chairmen of GBSCL.