Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh, Cambodia

07 – 09 May, 2024

Policy Recommendations
for Future Building Related Regulations and Policies

SATH Sitak, Chief of Office

Department of Green Economy
General Directorate of Policy and Strategy
Ministry of Environment
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sath Sitak holds a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of
Melbourne (Australia) in 2021, and a bachelor's in Environmental Science from
the Royal University of Phnom Penh. He has working experiences in green or
sustainable city development, green building, urban waste and plastic
pollution, strategic environmental assessment (SEA), eco-labelling in
construction and building sectors, project development and management, and
research since 2015. His areas of interest are urban spatial planning and
climate change, environmental assessment, and the sustainable built
environment.
Contact:
Email: sathsitak@gmail.com
Tel: +855 10 44 66 75
1 INTRODUCTION

2 INTRODUCTION TO BUILDING CODE

3 ANALYTICAL METHOD

4 A REVIEW OF NEIGHBOURING NATIONS

5 CAMGCGB SYSTEM STRUCTURE

6 LOCAL CONSTRUCTION REGULATORY

FRAMEWORK

7 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

8 CONCLUSION
 Ø Green building designs and standards are
developed to improve building operation
energy and embodied energy efficiencies,
and minimize energy and wastes. (Kwok et al. 2012)
Ø In 2019, global emission from building
(IPCC, 2022)
Ø GB contribution to GHGs reduction:
Indirect emission • In China, GB reduced CO2-eq of 10%
(electricity and heat) in residential building and 32% from
commercial buildings. (Wu et al. 2017)
• In the US, GB reduced CO2-eq of 34%.
(W.R. Meadows, n.d.)
Direct emission –
(onsite)

21% Ø Global green building market

(12 GtCO2-eq) accounts for USD 264.64 billion in
Embodied Emission
(cement and steel) 2019, and is projected to reach
USD 610.61 billion in 2027 (11.0%
CO2 based on the compound annual
(CH4 & N20 accounted
only 0.08%) growth rate). (Emergen Research, 2020)

4

Improved Indoor Environment:
Quality of Life
Saving Water:
Reduce, Reuse, Replenish
Enhanced Health:
Eco-Friendly for Life
Reduced Operational Cost and
Maintenance:
Traditional vs. Green
Energy-Efficient:
Non-renewable vs. Natural
Ressources
Reducing the Strain:
Shared Resources, Increased
Efficiency
Carbon Footprint Reduction:
Saving the Planet One Step at A
Time
Keep It Clean:
Protecting Our Ecosystem
Efficient & Sustainable Material:
Minimal Use for Maximum Impact
Durability For the Green
Homeowner:
Built to Last
 Development of CamGCGB
• Cambodia’s building sectors account for 45% of
the total energy demands, about 200,000 jobs in
2019, and around 9% of national GDP in 2017.
(GIZ, 2017; MLMUPC, 2022)

• Green building markets have been emerged in

Cambodia since 2009 due to market demands,
and certified by LEED for 9 commercial and
offices while other 8 buildings have been
registered. (GSSD, 2021)
• Cambodia Green Building Council (CamGBC) has
recently joint World Green Building Council
Network. (WGBC, 2022)

Objectives
To provide policy recommendations for
Cambodia’s sustainable constructions and
building sectors through the integration of green
building conception.
RATIONALES
v Reintroducing the sustainability
concepts and principles
v Supporting and accelerating
Cambodia’s pathways toward a
low carbon society
v Exercising CamGCGB systems
v Complementing the
contemporary gaps in current
construction and building
A building code or regulation sets the criteria for objects of the built
environment, such as buildings and non-building structures.

Building code components

ü Regulations for building volumes, sizes, opening
sizes, and positioning
ü Structural standards
ü Fire safety regulations and hazard resistance
requirements
ü Building entry and exit rules
ü Natural ventilation and lighting
ü Specifications on building components
ü Requirements for building technology
ü Energy supply, consumption, and efficiency
 Strategic Option 1: Recommendations
for complementary improvement
toward a more sustainable/greener
Local construction and building building environment through laws,
regulations CamGCGB assessment sub-degree, prakas/proclaim.
- Laws structure ( 6 dimensions and - Alternative or new creation
- Sub-decrees 25 criteria) - Identify gaps - Amendment
- Prakas/proclaims
- Normative alignment - Identify areas to improve
- Circulation/guidelines etc.

Reviewing legal Mapping

Discussion Recommendations
frameworks Contemporary gaps

Reviewing green building

codes or relevant acts/laws in
neighboring nations
- Singapore Strategic Option 2: Recommendations
- Thailand for Cambodia’s future green building
- Vietnam code or building code.
- The Philippines

9
Thailand
Thailand's Building Control Act (BCA) was
introduced in 1979, issued as a guideline
and criterion for the construction of
buildings. There are no specific Green
Building ordinances to find nationwide
implementation, while some regulation and
guideline intends to meet green building
l (VGBC) developing LOTUS as a voluntary green building rating
interests such as EIA, Building Energy Code,
and TREES.
Singapore
Building Control Regulations have been in effect
since 1997, supported by separate building control
acts or regulations focusing on specific issues, e.g.
Building control (environmental sustainability).
New Buildings, building extensions, or renovations,
Singapore's minimum requirement of Green Mark is
set at 50 points.
Vietnam
The Building Code of Vietnam (BCV) is the legal constructed to
l regulate regional urban and rural residential planning regulations,
first released in 1997. It foresees compulsory compliance with
the Vietnam Building Energy Efficiency Code (VBEEC) concerning
l
Green Building strategies while Vietnam Green Building Council
system.
l Philippines
The National Building Code of the Philippines enforcing
uniform standards and requirements on building design,
construction, use, occupancy, and maintenance. The
Philippine Green Building Code seeks to improve building
performance efficiency.
10
Selected relevant construction laws and
Environment Economic Socio-cultural Technical Communication Site
regulation
Law on land management, urban planning and ENV5 -- -- -- COM1 SIT2
construction ENV6
Sub-degree on Construction Permit 1997 ENV5 -- -- -- COM2 SIT1
ENV6 SIT3
SIT4
Sub-degree on Borey Management -- -- -- -- -- SIT3
SIT4
Sub-degree on urbanization of City, towns ENV6 -- SOC4 -- -- SIT2
SIT3
Sub-degree on construction classification and fire -- -- -- TEC1 -- --
safety (prevention and firefighting measures) 2018
Prakas on the implementation of technical guideline -- -- SOC4 -- -- --
on infrastructure that provide ease for people with
disability 2018
Prakas on Construction site management ENV1 -- -- -- COM2 SIT3
Decision on the operation of architectural plan for -- -- SOC4 -- -- --
street scape, pedestrian paths, and cycling path for
the publics and people with disability
Law on construction ENV5 -- SOC4 -- COM1 --
ENV1 COM2 12
 Associating policies, strategies and
guidelines
Cambodia’s Updated Nationally Determined
Contribution 2020
Draft roadmap for low carbon and climate-resilient
buildings and construction in Cambodia vison 2050
Cambodia’s Roadmap for Sustainable Consumption
and Production (SCP) 2022-2035
Cambodia’s Long-Term Strategy for Carbon
Neutrality (2021)
National Energy Efficiency Policy
Energy Efficiency Design Guideline (BEEDG) in
Cambodia
Relevance
Energy efficiency, urban planning/green cities, lighting, cooling, building code, construction
materials etc. (for residential, commercial and industrial buildings).
Activities: urban planning and development, new buildings, building refurbishment
(existing buildings), building operations, appliances and systems, materials, resilience,
clean energy.
Different priority actions are proposed to enhance practical implementations of green or
sustainable building conceptions including the establishment of green building guideline
and certification.
This strategy highlights the potential integration of energy efficiency into building code
contributing to minimize emission from energy consumption in built environment sector.
It also proposes the development of “Building Energy Code” for residential and
commercial buildings, which need to layout energy efficient design, building envelope and
thermal transmittance, and energy label thresholds.
This guideline sets out five significant standards including overall thermal transfer value
(OTTV), roof thermal transfer value (RTTV), lighting power density (LPD), air conditioning
and ventilation.
Environment and Natural Resource Code (E & NR Code)

Content 9 Chapter 1 Article 116 - 120

Objective:
This content intend to determine guidelines and certification for green
buildings, and manage the assessment and certification process for new
construction buildings and existing buildings with an assurance of
effectiveness, transparency and social equity.
Article 118 MOE in collaboration with MLMUPC and MEF to establish Royal Kram. No. NS/RKM/0623/007
incentive systems for green building.
Article 120 MOE in collaboration with MLMUPC develop green building
guideline.
- Criteria set, indicators, and assessment process
- Mechanism and institutional arrangement
- Symbols, logos and awards
- License for auditor and constants
 A gap in the amount and type of ordinances
suitable for CamGCGB criteria integration
Not finding possible representation are the
following 14 criteria:
ENV2, ENV3, ENV4, ECO1, ECO2, SOC1,
SOC2, SOC3, TEC2, TEC3, TEC4, COM3,
COM4, COM5
While some aligned criteria may be redundant,
some unaligned criteria may have high significance
for successful green building realization. New
regulations are also required to complement the
integration of all essential criteria
A gap in criteria significance
A gap in the readiness to implement criteria
01 03 Some criteria require data collection to verify current
benchmarks settings or a critical amount of practical
experience to guarantee realistic application results.
The lack of an endorsed national building code,
which is a key regulatory framework for the
building and construction sector, is to be seen
as problematic. An independent approach
capable of taking leadership in addressing
02 04 building standards and guidelines should be
considered instead.
A gap in terms of existing building code
regulations
Amendment of the existing construction and building regulations
• Integrating existing regulations by amending them can accelerate
integration and avoid the repetition, misinterpretation, or
inconsistency with existing laws.
Introduce new technical Prakas or sub-degrees (or inter-ministerial
Prakas or sub-degrees) under sectoral ministries/public institutions
SUPPLEMENT
• These regulatory documents are able to be complement of the
existing construction and building regulations, where the
contemporary gaps identified.
Mainstreaming green building conceptions into a future building codes
The development guidelines for implementing the building code appear
difficult to achieve, considering that, as of now, no official national
building code exists.
A new development of green building code
It should be considered how a separate green building ordinance or ALTERNATIVE
CamGCGB schemes could achieved. This way, other ordinances, such as
the building code, could find necessary references and integrate them
into its code when ready.
Considerations for green building guideline integration into or as a separate addition to existing
ordinances should thus focus on the following aspects:
• Fast track realization
• Coherence, integration, or supplementation to existing laws and ordinances
• Establishment of ordinances for significant yet currently unaligned criteria
• Ability to steadily update and improve ordinances in the future
• Clarification of current and future authority and responsibilities
As of advisable, considering local governance and legislation, the proposed option 1 is more
likely feasible.
The complementary Prakas or sub-degrees could be more realistic and possible to fill the gaps of
construction and building controls in Cambodia, and the emerging CamGCGB principle would be
effectively introduced as a reference or guidance.
The Pentagonal Strategy – Phase 1

Pentagon 4 (Resilient, sustainable and inclusive development)

Side 4 (Strengthening of urban management and modernization)
Priority action 5 – advise to amending related urban planning
and construction law to align with Cambodia’s contemporary
social, economic, cultural and environmental context.
Emergen Research. (2020). Green Construction Market By Product (Exterior Products, Interior Products, Solar Products, Building
Systems, Others), By Application (Residential Buildings, Non-Residential Buildings, Others), and By Region, Forecasts to 2027.
Retrieved on July 05, 2022 from https://www.emergenresearch.com/industry-report/green-construction-market
General Secretariat of the National Council for Sustainable Development (GSSD). (2021). Stocktaking and Analytical Options for
Green Buildings in Cambodia, Ministry of Environment, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Kwok, K. Y. G. Statz, C., Oswald Chong, W.K. (2012). Carbon Emission Modeling for Green Building: A Comprehensive Study of
Methodologies. International Conference on Sustainable Design and Construction (ICSDC) 2011.
https://doi.org/10.1061/41204(426)2.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (2022). Climate change 2022, Mitigation of climate change. IPCC AR6 WGIII.
MLMUPC. (2022). Roadmap for low-carbon and climate-resilient building and construction in Cambodia Vision 2050 (Draft).
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Royal Government of Cambodia. (2023). The Pentagonal Strategy – Phase 1. Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Royal Kram on Environment and Natural Resource Code. No. NS/RKM/0623/007.
https://data.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/en/laws_record/royal-kram-no-0623-007-on-environment-and-natural-
resources-code/resource/cf717a49-0fe2-4d69-b55f-f5012c55017d
W.R. Meadows. (n.d.). How Green Buildings Fight Climate Change. Retrieved on July 04, 2022 from
https://www.wrmeadows.com/how-green-buildings-fight-climate-
change/#:~:text=So%20far%2C%20green%20buildings%20cut,This%20is%20just%20the%20beginning.
Wu, X. Peng, B. & Lin, B. (2017). A dynamic life cycle carbon emission assessment on green and non-green building in China.
Energy and Building. 149. 272-281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.05.041