Mitigating climate change through retrofitting commercial building. A case study and analysis of the commercial office building located in Cyberjaya, Selangor.

Abstract

The world has entered a phase of dramatic changes in climate and weather patterns over the last few decades, almost definitely because of human activities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that worldwide surface air temperature has risen by an average of 0.6° Celsius over the last century. Climate change has led to more extreme droughts, withering of crops, changes in the ecosystem, rising sea levels, melting of Arctic Sea ice, glaciers and permafrost, and warmer temperatures affecting human health. As the challenges of climate change have become increasingly serious, most countries have been looking for ways to ameliorate the problem. Renewable energy, energy efficiency, and green technology initiatives have all been hailed as critical to reducing climate change. As for Malaysia, the government has voluntarily committed to a 45 percent reduction in carbon emissions intensity by 2030 compared to the 2005 baseline, as committed at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in December 2015. To support the Malaysian government in meeting its pledge to reduce carbon emissions, one of the strategies is the implementation of energy efficiency initiatives. One of the commercial office buildings located in Cyberjaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, was selected to be a case study. The main objective is to identify the reduction of carbon emissions and building energy consumption through the implementation of energy efficiency initiatives.