Congratulations to Bosch for the first DGNB Platinum certified factory in Southeast Asia! The DGNB certification system is provided by the German Sustainable Building Council and is one of the most comprehensive and developed green building certification systems worldwide.
The building is located in Penang, Malaysia and has a floor area of 13,500 m2. The building consists of a testing facility for...
» read moreCongratulations to Bosch for the first DGNB Platinum certified factory in Southeast Asia! The DGNB certification system is provided by the German Sustainable Building Council and is one of the most comprehensive and developed green building certification systems worldwide.
The building is located in Penang, Malaysia and has a floor area of 13,500 m2. The building consists of a testing facility for electronic components, offices and a big welcoming canopy with various dining and communication areas.
Bosch is dedicated to improving the sustainability of the company not only through their products but also through environmentally friendly production facilities. Therefore, Bosch has contracted EGS-plan to design a sustainability concept for the building and supervise the implementation from concept to commissioning. The concept considers environmental, economic, and human qualities of the building and tries to balance them.
This was achieved by implementing passive design features such as increased thermal insulation, external shading, double glazing, and natural ventilation (canopy area). The technical services such as air-handling units, fans and pumps are of the highest energy efficiency standard IE4. Also, the chiller plant fulfils highest energy efficiency requirements and uses a refrigerant with ultra-low GWP (Global Warming Potential). Furthermore, a significant part of the energy demand is covered by a 2.1 MWp photovoltaic system on the roof and partly at the façade of the building.
The offices are air conditioned by the most energy efficient and comfortable system currently available: a combination of radiant panels and displacement ventilation. The system is providing cooling energy primarily by long wave radiation and not moving air and hence doesn’t cause any problems with draft. Furthermore, the temperature and humidity in the offices can be controlled independently. There are not only no noise emissions from the system, but it even improves the acoustic comfort due to the acoustic perforation of the radiant panels.
To protect the local environment, the construction works and the employees, only non-toxic and environmentally friendly construction products were used. EGS-plan checked a total of 375 products and materials prior to being installed at the construction site regarding VOCs (volatile organic compounds), heavy metals and asbestos. For this a quality management system was established which included the design, construction, and commissioning phase of the building. Eventually air quality tests were conducted to prove that the air quality in the building is fulfilling the highest quality requirements of DGNB. Furthermore, the fresh air ventilation system of the building is designed to provide around 30 % more fresh air than required by international standards.
EGS-plan conducts a full Life-Cycle-Assessment (LCA) of the environmental impact of the construction materials to support design decisions. A Life-Cycle Calculation (LCC) including initial construction and future operation costs (energy, water, cleaning) was done to also include the economic component into design decisions.
The interior design of the office part of the building considers biophilic design elements and encourages communication and creativity in the workspaces. A biotope at the northern border of the land plot increases biodiversity at the location and re-introduces native species to the site.
Congratulations to Bosch Global Real Estate, M.E.I. Architects & Engineers and IAQ Solutions Sdn Bhd for this great achievement and thank you for the fruitful cooperation.
