ATSA eNewsletter #9

   eATSA #09/2013 The colour green is incorporated on to our logo to represents our efforts towards Green and sustainable design in all our projects and we aspire to become the exemplary Architecture firm that adopts to the \"2030 Challenge\". [read more] Greetings again. \"Malaysia has decided\" Syukur Alhamdulillah, that the election is behind us. It is now time for us to reconcile and put our differences aside. We have the greatest opportunity now to remake Malaysia and become the land of the promised from this day until May of 2018. Lets all join in to build this country of ours together without any animosity and anger and move towards our Vision 2020. Let us all work gently side by side towards a gentle and focus into transformation. \"Janji juga mesti di tepati!\"   \"Hargai. apa yang di berikan kepada kita, Be Grateful !\" :: Click to view :: Reject radicalism, extremism and racism , reject street Demonstration and to copy the Arab Spring. Do it for the love for country, joy of our family and of our children in an environment that is happy. Let's us all live peacefully,. Peace to all. \"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.\" - John F. Kennedy   Viewpoints Every three months, we hope to send out a newsletter generated from our office with the intention to share our thoughts and work. This would be our 9th issue and we hope to send out one every quarter of the month. This is probably the only avenue that is fast and economical for us to communicate with our acquaintances from over the past few years. Today's technological advancement has made communication for our generation much easier and faster. Like all newsletters, it must be concise and brief so that readers do not lose interest. However, sometimes, it can be a lengthy write up as one needs to elaborate further on a point or a story. In my case, I often wonder who reads it, but I am certain a least a handful. Furthermore, it helps me pen down some of my thoughts for future reference, hopefully. Enough said, and to not to make my viewpoint too long, I would like to share some of my observations both in Architecture and in life for this issue. :: read more ::   Green Matters GREEN INITIATIVES The purpose for this simple and straight forward document is to establish some  guidelines which can be used as a set of data or ideas when designing the next generation of houses in Malaysia. The eventual goal is to design sustainable dwellings using today’s and future technologies in our quest to build houses with zero or low energy, low carbon and using renewable energy entirely. Most importantly, it must be a conscious effort by all citizens of the world to reduce our carbon footprint to a level that will not damage further our environment.  We must also contribute to the rise of greenhouse gases or to reverse the rise to a more comfortable. With the world’s population growing rapidly, reaching 7 billion in October 2011, the rapid changing of the climate, which said to be the main cause of the depleting of food supply (to feed the world’s population), the rising price of fuel prices, the now scarce supply of raw materials and poor connectivity has caused us to rethink how mankind should live effectively in this 21st century. It is now the right time for us to start planning for a more sustainable lifestyle for  future generations to adopt.  The world population also needs to manage and share its resources with

each other   to avoid future unrest or wars. :: read more ::   Ideas & Sketches Ar. Zulqaisar's Residential Sketches   ATSA Updates Cyberjaya Green Mosque Design Approach. The Cyberjaya Mosque is designed to cater the growing population of Cyberjaya. Cyberjaya was initiated and founded by Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in 1997. The township was envisaged as the Silicon Valley of Malaysia to accommodate the rise of Information Technology and the Knowledge economy, better known as the K-Economy. 7,000 acres of plantation land were acquired by the government for the purpose-built township of the future. It was planned to be completed in 2020 with a daytime population of approximately 210,000 people. In 2013, it is only 15 years old and has a current daytime population of 52,000 people. It is currently only 40 percent developed and it is now estimated that the township will be completed within the next 10 to 15 years. It is also expected that by 2016, the daytime population will grow to approximately 64,000 people. The main approach in designing this mosque, while following the GBI standards to Gold, is to ensure that the mosque is designed according to the standards that will make the mosque a truly sustainable mosque so that it will become a true model for the building of future mosques in Malaysia. The goal or original design intent of the mosque is to design the mosque’s main ‘Prayer Hall’ to be air conditioned for two hours during Friday prayers and during prayers for special events based on the Islamic Calendar. During other hours of the day and night, it is expected that the use of fans and ventilators would be sufficient. The Mosque is designed and planned to have an average daytime temperature of 26 degrees Celsius. We hope to achieve this target. This will not only save energy and related running costs, but it will also maximise the use materials that are recyclable and will eventually help protect our environment. It is an opportunity for us to re-look and re-think the design of mosques in today's environmental concerns and awareness so that other architects may later build from our approach.

The purpose of this mosque is not only a place for prayers but also a place that revolves around the needs according to Islamic events, festivals and ceremonies. Like other similar Mosques in Malaysia, it is designed to accommodate a small dining and food preparation area for events like the Akad Nikah, the learning of the Quran, Hadith, Fardu Ain, Usrah, Kenduri Doa Selamat, Mandi Jenazah, Qurban and so on. :: Go to our website ::   Recent Travels (Courtesy from Azim) Kuching, Sarawak. The new state assembly building Riverbank suites; the first ATSA Architects project The banks of Sarawak river in 1992 (Concept Architect) The Astana The waterfront promenade An old Rain tree (Samanea Saman) by the court house   Events ATSA Activities Family day at Janda Baik, Pahang. On 28th March 2013, ATSA Architects Sport Club organised ATSA Architects Family day at Janda Baik, Pahang. ATSARIAN were divided to four (4) team by colour for the sport activites. Black Team was announced to be the winner.

Gunung Agong and Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia Expedition; on 7th – 14th May 2013 Mr. Murshid Alaidin one of our ATSA Technical Team had participated in the Gunung Agong and Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia, expedition organised by Persatuan Mendaki Kuala Lumpur.   45 A Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 3, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel : 03-7727 1877 Fax : 03-7727 1875 E-mail : [email protected] | www.atsa.com.my Subscribe | Unsubscribe

  45 A Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 3, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel : 03-7727 1877 Fax : 03-7727 1875 E-mail : [email protected] | www.atsa.com.my Subscribe | Unsubscribe

    eATSA #09/2013 Viewpoints The colour green is incorporated on to our logo to represents our efforts towards Green and sustainable design in all our projects and we aspire to become the exemplary Architecture firm that adopts to the \"2030 Challenge\". [read more] Every three months, we hope to send out a newsletter generated from our office with the intention to share our thoughts and work. This would be our 9th issue and we hope to send out one every quarter of the month. This is probably the only avenue that is fast and economical for us to communicate with our acquaintances from over the past few years. Today's technological advancement has made communication for our generation much easier and faster. Like all newsletters, it must be concise and brief so that readers do not lose interest. However, sometimes, it can be a lengthy write up as one needs to elaborate further on a point or a story. In my case, I often wonder who reads it, but I am certain a least a handful. Furthermore, it helps me pen down some of my thoughts for future reference, hopefully. Enough said, and to not to make my viewpoint too long, I would like to share some of my observations both in Architecture and in life for this issue. 1) BIM ( Building Information Modeling) is coming. For those who may not know much about BIM, it will be the next big thing in building industry. It is \"the all-in-one information\" needed to build a building. There will probably be the need to only have one set of drawings from all consultants to be drawn by all consultants of a project that is needed to construct a building. Preferably, it should be drawn by one person in order to avoid discrepancies. To me, it is a great advantage as it will help coordinate all drawings before construction begins and give an alert if there is a \"clash\". We simply call it \"clash detection\".  With many consultants not actually coordinating their drawings, this software will help. The significance would be similar from the time Manual drafting drawings were changed to Computer Aided Drawings. It may be used widely in the next 3 to 5 years and most of us Architects will not be ready to simply do so because of the cost factor of renewing licenses and the retraining would also be too costly. At RM 4,000, it would be too expensive for many Architectural firms to bear. Furthermore, the staff would be asking for a raise in income after only gone through the course, and there is also the probability that they may jump ship to work for other firms that need immediate expertise. The present method devise by those supported by Auto desk, cost of purchase of the software including training is much too expensive for many Architectural companies at present to bear. At approximately RM 8,000, yearly mandatory renewal for a license is too costly. Just imagine if we have 10 licenses, amongst other things, every year we have to fork out RM 80,000 for renewals alone. This does not include the cost of retraining people (although it is said to be claimable through the Government) and also the increase in their salary. As architects or professionals in this industry, we would not be able to claim extra costs from our clients. Many choose to wait until it is absolutely necessary, until the price is made much more affordable or when the new generation of Architects or draughtsmen are already trained in school. 2) Green building design is here to stay. Newly designed buildings, including future ones, must now incorporate some form of Green Elements; Energy Efficiency, the use of sustainable materials and suitable materials to reduce our BEI. We are in the near future following the MS 1525 guide lines towards building energy efficient buildings. It is said that MS 1525 will be part of our Uniform Building Bye Law in the near future. Buildings in Malaysia on average have a Building Energy Index  (BEI)  of 250 Kwp/hr/m2/yr  or above which is considered high.  Our future buildings BEI should be designed to go down to 200 or lower, and should over time move towards Zero. Soon all buildings are expected to be Green and Sustainable, using less energy and emitting less C02. In our office, we encourage our Architects to enrol in GBI facilitator's course to learn about Green building to calculate OTTV, RTTV and BEI. All of our architects are expected to calculate the above and to be familiar with materials U values. We are also developing a Virtual Library on Green materials and matters. We also encouraged our Architects to learn about the many different Mechanical Systems, especially Air Condition system, to be more familiarized with the different systems and not to rely on the M&E consultants. At the same time, we are collaborating with Energy and Sustainability consultants, Terri Verdis, to offer our clients the various complex service in ensuring building are designed towards a specific performance specifications required in ensuring our buildings are designed to meet expectations towards Low Energy or Zero Carbon buildings by the year 2030.   45 A Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad 3, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel : 03-7727 1877 Fax : 03-7727 1875 E-mail : [email protected] | www.atsa.com.my Subscribe | Unsubscribe