In Brief
A. Repeal of law
On November 12, 2020, Government Gazette announced “Ministerial Regulation Prescribing Type or Size of Building and Standard, Criteria and Procedure in Designing Building for Energy Conservation B.E. 2563 (2020).” The regulation repeals previous regulation published in 2009, and mandates an energy-efficient design for building with a total area in all stories of 2,000 square meters or more.
B. Effective date of current law
This Ministerial Regulation shall be enforced after the lapse of one hundred and twenty days from the date of their publication in the Government Gazette onwards, which is on March 12, 2021.
Key Takeaways
A. Categories of buildings
For the construction or modification of the following buildings, if the total area of all floors within the same building is from 2,000 square meters upwards, such buildings must be designed for energy conservation under these Ministerial Regulations:
| No. | Type of buildings |
|---|---|
| (1) | Entertainment service buildings |
| (2) | Hotels |
| (3) | Services facilities and related buildings for services |
| (4) | Nursing premises and hospitals |
| (5) | Educational institutions |
| (6) | Office buildings |
| (7) | Shopping malls and department stores |
| (8) | Condominiums |
| (9) | Meeting halls |
B. Standards and Bases Respecting Designing of Building
| Matters | Details |
|---|---|
Building Frame System
|
The overall thermal transfer value prescribed by the Notification of the Minister.
important”>Building with multiple descriptions of area usage, each area must use the requirements of the building frame system according to the description of usage of such area. |
| Lighting System | The electrical equipments for lighting system within building must use highest electrical power in each building category prescribed by the Minister.
Use of electrical lighting within the building, excluding car park area must be of a sufficient luminance level for each category of work, and must also be in line with the law governing building control or the specific law governing such. |
| Air-Conditioning System | The air-conditioning system, the categories and the sizes of air-conditioned system installed within a building must be of the minimum coefficient competency ratio, seasonal energy efficiency ratio, and the electrical power per ton of cooling as prescribed by the Minister. |
| Water Heating Equipment | The water heating equipment installed within the building must be of the minimum coefficient competency value and minimum efficiency value as prescribed by the Minister. |
| The design of building for energy conservation | The building design shall have evaluation of construction and modification and minimum value of each system prescribed by the Minister. |
| The building which contains renewable energy inside. | Shall be taken into consideration for the calculation of renewable energy ratio and decreasing the total energy performance, prescribed by the Minister. |
| The evaluation of building | The building design shall be audited by a qualified engineer, a qualified architecture, or a person who achieved the certificate by Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency. |
| The approval of building evaluation | The building owner must prepare building evaluation report and shall recruit a qualified auditor mentioned above and apply for building construction license or building modification request under Building Controls Act. |
Transitory Provisions
On a grace period, this ministerial regulation shall not be executed for such buildings:
| No. | Type of buildings | Period of Exemption |
|---|---|---|
| (1) | Building with a total area in all stories of 5,000 squares meters, and less than 10,000 squares meters | 1 year |
| (2) | Building with a total area in all stories of 2,000 squares meters, and less than 5,000 squares meters | 2 year |
The construction or building modification that already filed for permission or reported for the construction, modification or change of usage under the law governing building control, or as permitted by the specific law governing such, or filed for environment impact assessment by promotion and conservation of national environmental quality law, prior to the effective date of these Ministerial Regulations, shall be exempted from compliance under these Ministerial Regulations.
Reference
Ministerial Regulation Prescribing Type or Size of Building and Standard, Criteria and Procedure in Designing Building for Energy Conservation B.E. 2563 (2020) can be accessed at this link.
Should you have any further inquiries or require any assistance, please let us know.
Yours sincerely,
Somphob Rodboon
Managing Partner
Somphob.R@ilawasia.com
ILAWASIA Co., Ltd.
Vanisha Chaidee
Associate
Vanisha.C@ilawasia.com
ILAWASIA Co., Ltd.
