KOTA BHARU: Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) has introduced thermal insulation paint using rice husks in a bid to reflect heat from sunlight on Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) under the agency’s supervision.
SPNB chairman Datuk Husam Musa said the use of the material was also able to reduce the use of air conditioning and fans at high speeds, thus saving electricity consumption.
He said the paint was used on an RMR house in Pasir Mas in 2022.
“SPNB has responded to the government’s recommendations under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) to reduce biomass waste through recycling and replace it with more useful materials by utilising these products in agriculture,” he said.
He told reporters this after a working visit to the RMR construction site (Ketereh parliamentary constituency) in Kampung Tukor, Pangkal Pisang Peringat, here, today.
Husam said the technology used for the paint was a combination of Universiti Putra Malaysia’s collaboration with a science and technology agency in Spain.
Meanwhile, he said SPNB has launched RMR 2.0 in the last two months, where the original specifications have been maintained and the buyer only has to pay RM55,000 in cash to SPNB and the house is expected to be completed within three months.
He said that under the RMR 2.0 programme, SPNB customers will continue to enjoy a government subsidy of RM20,000 for each RMR residential unit priced at RM75,000, which is accessible to eligible low-income earners (B40) with an income of RM5,000 and below.