The Commission building beat five other contenders to bag the first prize as the most energy efficient building in the 'new and existing building' category.

The other contenders in this category were the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Building of Singapore, Plaza Bank International Indonesia Tower II of Indonesia, Sutera Harbour Resort of Malaysia, Singapore Immigration and Registration Building of Singapore, and Hanoi Daewoo Hotel Building of Vietnam.

The Securities Commission building, which houses the commission and its training arm, the Securities Industry Development Centre, is located within the scenic surroundings of Bukit Kiara in Kuala Lumpur. It was completed in February 1999 and is an example of Malaysia's masterpiece of high-tech and energy-efficient buildings. The built-up area of the building is approximately 1 million sq. ft.

Among the innovative and energy-efficient features of the Commission building are the double-glazed thermal flue facade, atrium glass roof, energy-saving light fittings and underfloor air-conditioning system.

The thermal flue facade is a double-glazed facade with a 1.2 m air gap that serves as a multi-purpose maintenance walkway, ventilated air gap and an acoustic buffer zone. The walkway is installed with fixed louvered panels to provide horizontal solar shading to the offices.

The overhanging roof structure shades the building from direct sunlight. Automatic roller blinds are equipped with solar sensors which adjust their positions to strike a balance between solar heat gain and natural daylight for comfort and energy efficiency. The use of quality glass, thermal flue, roof overhangs, fixed vertical and horizontal louvres as well as automatic roller blinds have contributed to the excellent overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) of 35W/sq.m as compared to 45W/sq.m. in conventional glass buildings.

Inside the building, a spacious atrium acts as an internal courtyard that allows natural light to be filtered from its glass roof. Hence, daylight penetration into the office space is maximised from both sides of the office contributing to the energy efficiency objectives.

Surrounding the building footprint is a double-storey moat hardscape plaza bringing natural daylight to the basement floors that lie below the entrance ground floor.

The Securities Commission building is the first in Malaysia to use a ductless air-conditioning system, which has a raised floor plenum and ceiling plenum for the supply and return of air. Such a system allows for energy savings of up to 15%.

Additionally, for the atrium area, a low-level displacement air conditioning system was adopted whereby cold air is discharged at the ground level and recirculated on floor above. As a result, only the occupied zone is air-conditioned while hot air is allowed to stratify in the upper non-occupied zone. Thermostat-controlled fans are placed on top of the atrium to "bleed off" the hot air. Up to 40% of energy saving may be accomplished from this system as compared to the conventional system widely used to air condition similar atriums.

The AEA is a joint undertaking of the Energy Efficiency and Conversation-Sub-Sector Network of the ASEAN Energy Cooperation and the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) which aims to promote regional cooperation in the various fields of energy such as energy efficiency and conservation.

The competition was judged by a 10-member board comprising professional architects and electrical engineers appointed from all the ASEAN countries.