Tangerang, 9 September 2026 – The ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), through the Asia Low Carbon Buildings Transition (ALCBT) Project, together with the ASHRAE Indonesia Chapter (AIC), convened a seminar “The Role of Cooling Systems in Low-Carbon Buildings: Retrofit for Resilience” during RHVAC Indonesia Expo 2026 at the Nusantara International Convention Exhibition (NICE) PIK 2.
The seminar brought together 121 participants, comprising 80% male and 20% female participants, including government representatives, building professionals, industry stakeholders, development partners, academia, and technical experts, to explore how Indonesia can advance low-carbon and resilient buildings at scale. The programme addressed two complementary approaches from reducing embodied carbon through improved building material data and carbon calculation, to reducing operational carbon by improving the performance of existing buildings through retrofit.
Photo 1. Seminar on “The Role of Cooling Systems in Low-Carbon Buildings: Retrofit for Resilience” at RHVAC Indonesia Expo 2026
Opening remarks were delivered by Febryan Paramitha, President of AIC; Retno Setianingsih, Energy Lead at GGGI Indonesia; and Naing Naing Linn, Head of the Energy Efficiency & Conservation (EE&C) Department at ACE, highlighting the importance of collaboration among government, industry, technical professionals, and development partners in translating low-carbon building ambitions into practical implementation.
Photo 2. Opening remarks from Febryan Paramitha (top-left), President of ASHRAE Indonesia Chapter; Retno Setianingsih (top-right), Energy Lead of GGGI Indonesia; Naing Naing Linn (bottom), Head of EE&C at ACE
Kuswara, S.T., M.A., Director of Building Engineering and Environmental Health, delivered a keynote speech on “Retrofit for Resilience, Low-Carbon Buildings”, highlighting the importance of building-specific data, energy audits, technical planning, and competent professionals, while stressing that retrofit should be viewed as a long-term investment supported by stronger collaboration among government, financial institutions, building owners, technology providers, and ESCOs.
The keynote speech was followed by the presentation “Building a Baseline: Building Materials for Low-Carbon Building Quantification” by Ambolas Manuel Junio Manalu, ALCBT Project Manager at GGGI Indonesia and Totok Sulistiyanto of Narama Mandiri, setting the stage for embodied carbon discussion which highlighted the importance of credible baseline data on various building typologies to support the quantification and reduction of embodied carbon.
Photo 3. Keynote speech on “Retrofit for Resilience, Low-Carbon Building”
The morning session concluded with the panel discussion “Building a Low-Carbon and Energy-Efficient Building Ecosystem in Indonesia” moderated by Dr. Djunaedy from PT Sigmatech Tatakarsa, featuring Fajar Santoso Hutahaean, Head of the Facilitation Team, Green Building Secretariat, the Ministry of Public Works; Totok Sulistiyanto of Narama Mandiri; and Irwan Sendjaja of Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Indonesia, highlighting the significant decarbonization opportunities in buildings by developing a robust building-material database for embodied carbon assessment and strengthening Bangunan Gedung Hijau (BGH) framework and institutions.
Photo 4. Panel Discussion on “Building a Low-Carbon and Energy-Efficient Building Ecosystem in Indonesia”
Shifting towards operation carbon performance enhancement, Rana Yusuf Nasir of AIC and Prof. Fu Jen Wang of ASHRAE Region XIII set the technical context through presentations on the role of retrofit and replication in supporting Indonesia’s Bangunan Gedung Hijau framework and on energy-performance and decarbonisation evaluation through a positive-energy building case using solar PV.
Photo 5. Presentation by Rana Yusuf Nasir of AIC (left) and Prof. Fu Jen Wang of ASHRAE Region XIII (right)
In the panel discussion “Accelerating Low-Carbon Building Retrofit”, Ardian Marta Kusuma, Coordinator for Energy Conservation Programme Development at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR), outlined the government’s strengthened energy-management framework under Government Regulation No. 33 of 2023, as well as MEMR’s efforts to create an enabling ecosystem for energy-efficiency projects through energy audits, ESCO development, and an incubator mechanism connecting project owners with service providers.
From the regional perspective, Rizky Aditya Putra, ALCBT Project Manager at ACE, emphasised the significant savings potential of cooling retrofits and showcased regional best practices for replication in Indonesia. He further highlighted ALCBT technical assistance initiative to turn prospective retrofit opportunities into bankable pilot projects. Support includes energy audits, investment and savings analysis, retrofit scoping, and implementation planning. ACE also helps connect project owners with ESCOs, green finance providers, and de-risking instruments to facilitate financing and implementation of viable projects.
The discussion also highlighted the role of innovative financing, turning retrofit potential into investable projects. Irvan Farasatha, Chief Executive Officer of Powerbrain, and Ismu Rijal Fahmi, Head of Business Development at HIJAU illustrated how this approach is evolving through models Cooling-as-a-Service and performance-guaranteed service, which can reduce upfront investment requirements while shifting part of the technical and performance risk from building owners to service providers.
Photo 6. Panel Discussion on “Accelerating Low-Carbon Building Retrofit”
The seminar marked another important milestone under the ALCBT Project in strengthening stakeholder engagement and advancing Pathways for low-carbon buildings in Indonesia. By connecting embodied-carbon measurement with operational-energy improvement, and linking technical solutions with policy and financing mechanisms, the activity demonstrated that building decarbonisation requires an integrated pathway to enable building owners in measuring, identifying, financing, implementing, and verifying low-carbon interventions. Ultimately, leading to successful replications across Indonesia’s building stock.
About the ALCBT Project
The Asia Low Carbon Buildings Transition (ALCBT) Project is a five-year multi-stakeholder project that seeks to reduce GHG emissions by catalysing nationwide transition towards Low Carbon Buildings in five Asian countries, namely Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
The ALCBT project is being implemented by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in partnership with the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), and HEAT International. This project is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Government of Germany. Within the Federal Government, the IKI is anchored in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).
