Green Township Index: Malaysia’s sustainable township rating tool

Abstract

Relatively few tools have explored beyond the boundaries of buildings to consider also the sustainability of a township or its surrounding communities. This paper focuses on introducing the Green Township Index (GTI), developed by a leading Malaysian property development company. GTI is an amalgamation of a few other frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative, Green Building Index, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Green Mark and Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. GTI consists of a total of 86 indicators across three main dimensions: people, planet and prosperity. Based on the percentage scores obtained from the assessment of townships, three award levels are proposed: platinum, gold and silver. GTI was tested across three different townships and the findings from the results are documented through a case study approach. From the feedback obtained through the township managers, this index is a reliable tool for evaluating the sustainability of Malaysian townships. It is also well aligned with the requirements set out by the Construction Industry Development Board. Although the GTI has been developed to evaluate the sustainability of built townships, it can also be used to guide the design and planning stage of a township.