Guest speaker for ASEAN Sustainable Energy Week

It was a pleasure and privilege for us to be a guest speaker for the ASEAN Sustainable Energy Week on last Wednesday.

Our presentation entitled “An integrated design approach to sustainable buildings in Asia” explored how rapid and massive urbanization in the region coupled with climate change leads to environmental and social challenges which need to be addressed at both city and building levels.

Today, out of the world’s 35 megacities, 21 are located in Asia with populations exceeding 10 million people. Meanwhile, many of these cities are not equipped for mega populations and the adversity of climate change. They are subject to frequent flooding, drastic temperature hikes and exceed by as much as four times the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for air quality.

During her speech, Armelle highlighted the importance to adress cities and buildings to not only minimize these consequences but to propose a more prosper, resilient and liveable alternative. Buildings when conceived, designed, built and operated sustainably minimize their impact on the environment while promoting the health and wellbeing of its users.

She introduced the integrative design process and bioclimatic approach upon which she conceives high performance buildings with people and the planet in mind and showcased how this was applied in the conception of the Olympic Leisure Center in Mongolia.

“Urbanization is an opportunity for the ASEAN region but could also be a threat if it is not managed properly, if we do not put the necessary, policies systems and infrastructure in place. There is an urgent need to prioritize sustainable policies, technologies as part of urban planning if we want the region to accommodate for such a population growth in a way which is both humanly and environmentally viable.” - Armelle Le Bihan

We would like to extend our thanks to the organizers and partners JGSEE, KMUTT, UBM, CEE Perdo, and specially Robert Himmler for the instructive event and the great opportunity to share experiences and insights with our peers.

About the conference:

ASEAN Sustainable Energy Week is ASEAN’s largest & most comprehensive renewable energy, environmental & energy efficiency exhibition. The exhibition consists of: Renewable Energy Asia, Entech Pollutec Asia and Energy Efficiency Expo. ASEAN Sustainable Energy Week and is held from 6-9 JUNE 2018 at BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand. Renewable Energy Asia follows Thailand’s promotion of renewable energy as a national agenda which is supported by a Master Plan called "Alternative Energy Development Plan (2012-2021)." The goal is to increase the share of renewable energy to 25% of the country's energy demand by the year 2021.

- Conference website