Question

Green Procurement (GP) involved the environmental friendly practices in the process of acquiring and purchasing of materials and resources that is needed for the construction works, starts from the extracted raw materials until the supply chain (Ezani et. Al, 2020).

As for Malaysia, the country is expected to become a high-income developed nation by the year 2020 and it is an ever-increasing need to cater for those, by using a green path. The 1st wave towards green movement in Malaysia has started from 1990, during 6th Malaysia Plan until present. This is a continous effort by the government of Malaysia in order to achieve sustainability in construction industry.

(a) Analyse current effort of Green Procurement that was developed by Malaysia government during 11th Malaysia Plan (2016 to 2020).
(20 marks)

(b) Propose other strategies that can be implemented by Malaysia government in order to support the application of Green Procurement in Malaysia.
(20 marks)

Answer 1

Solution 1:

Green Procurement (GP) outlines the sustainable practices involved in raw material acquisition right from the extraction of raw materials through the entire life cycle of the supply chain. Following is a brief analysis of the current GP effort undertaken by the Malaysian government as per the 11th Malaysian Plan (2016-2020):

1. The Government of Malaysia is encouraging sustainable practices in the construction sector through the implementation of programs such as Green Building Index (GBI) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Designs (LEED). Both GBI and LEED are tightly integrated into Malaysia's current regulatory framework.
2. The MYHIJAU Procurement has been recently launched by the government to expand environmental-friendly practices in procurement for the construction industry.
3. Adoption of the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) framework is the fundamental basis for the GP push in the 11th Malaysia Plan which also aims to address some of the current challenges such as higher cost, lack of awareness, and supply-demand mismatch.
4. The National Policy on Biological Diversity, 2016-2025 has been formulated to protect eco-sensitive areas and bio-diverse resources from any adverse impacts.
5. Set an aggressive Government Green Procurement target of at least 20% by 2020.
6. Set up 3 government committees to implement and monitor GP practices
7. Implementation of Malaysian Carbon Reduction and Environmental Sustainability Tool (MyCREST) to encourage the construction of green buildings.
8. 54 construction projects registered for green building certification under MyCREST
9. 50 qualified professionals have been certified by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) to monitor the construction of these buildings
10. 25 MyCREST assessors have been certified by CIDB to assess the ongoing projects against targets
11. Development of a dedicated website for MyCREST
12. Upgradation and expansion of MYHIJAU platform to enroll new green products, services, and partners

Solution 2:

In addition to the GP practices mentioned above, we recommend the Malaysian government to do the following:

1. Adopt the ISO 20400:2017 standards in construction which outlines clear processes, requirements, and benchmark for increasing GP.
2. Provide tax incentives to real-estate developers, companies, and individuals for choosing green products/services
3. Give a higher preference to suppliers engaged in GP practices
4. Increase general awareness among citizens so that they acknowledge the threat to the environment and can demand green products/services from sellers