Architect U Kyaw Htun presents a model of a low-cost (K45 million) home he designed for the Shwe Bon Thar housing project in Hlaing Tharyar township, at his office in Yangon on August 1. An executive member of the Association of Myanmar Architects, U Kyaw Htun has called for the Myanmar construction industry to adopt more environmentally friendly practices, which he sees as the future of building trends worldwide. Pic: Hein Latt Aung

IN a push towards more environmentally friendly building practices, the Association of Myanmar Architects (AMA) hosted a seminar on July 28 that highlighted waste as well as opportunities in the construction industry.

Presenting a paper entitled “Green Architecture”, AMA executive member U Kyaw Htun said money and resources could be saved by adopting a more sustainable approach to construction and design, which in turn could help protect the planet from the ravages of global warming.

“Trends in building are leading towards sustainable architecture because global warming, scarcity of natural resources and fossil fuels are key concerns of ‘green’ architecture,” said U Kyaw Htun, who is also managing director of Yangon-based design firm Kyaw Htun & Associates Co., Ltd.

“In the global building industry, about 3000 billion tonnes of raw construction materials are used annually, 35 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions come from building, 25pc of the world’s timber consumption is for building and 210 billion tonnes of waste are created by the construction sector each year,” U Kyaw Htun said, citing data compiled by researchers at Stanford University in California.

The aim of “green architecture” is to construct affordable housing using a minimal amount of energy and few “carbon-emission materials”, he added. To this end, architects could play a key role through their designs, U Kyaw Htun told about 100 AMA-registered architects from around Myanmar that attended the seminar at the Myanmar Info-tech compound in Yangon.

However, he stressed that consultation between designers, developers and engineers was required if the industry was to leave the smallest possible environ-mental footprint.

“Architects should advise their clients. Even if the client has strong financial backing and wants a building made entirely of teak, the architect should point out that this is not a good way to save on expenses,” U Kyaw Htun said.

He added that to minimise power consumption, buildings should be oriented so that they get as much natural light as possible, which cuts down on the need for electrical lighting.

“Efficient use of rain water should also be incorporated into big projects to reduce water consumption and prevent wastage of natural water resources, which contributes to shortages over summer,” U Kyaw Htun said.

He suggested drain water could be used to water gardens and highlighted the use of water-treatment facilities overseas that recycle even toilet water into tap water.

Solar power, meanwhile, was encouraged as an alternative to fossil fuel-burning generators that are commonly used during blackouts.

Builders could also save on new material expenses by recycling construction items from demolished projects, U Kyaw Htun said, although he warned against the use of materials with high levels of “volatile organic compounds” – found in some carpet backing, wood preservatives and paint thinner, and commonly cited as a cause of “sick building syndrome”.

The AMA seminar on July 28 included a reading by association head U Tun Than from a paper called “Architecture as I understand it”.

The association plans to hold a seminar on wooden architecture in Myanmar this September, followed by a seminar in December on housing trends and the standard of architecture in Myanmar.

At December last year, 225 architects were registered with the AMA out of about 800 nationwide .