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Greening Buildings To Breathe New Life Into Singapore’s Construction Industry

Source: Government of Singapore
Posted on: 26th October 2009

Minister Mah said that the retrofitting of existing buildings for greater energy efficiency will involve three steps: firstly, auditing the buildings to identify the key inefficient areas; secondly, upgrading to newer, more energy-efficient equipment; and thirdly, ensuring that the buildings are managed in an energy-effiecient manner.

Speech by Mr. Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development at the launch of the Singapore Green Building Week and the opening of the Zero-Energy Building on, 26 OCTOBER 2009, BCA Academy Function Hall

Mr Quek See Tiat
Chairman
Building and Construction Authority

Dr John Keung
Chief Executive Officer
Building and Construction Authority

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to be here this morning to launch the inaugural Singapore Green Building Week. This week marks an important milestone for the building and construction industry in Singapore as we further our journey towards long-term sustainable development and a better quality of life for our people.

Sustainable development for Singapore
There is now global recognition of the importance of sustainable development, especially in the light of continued population growth and the adverse effects of climate change.  For both developed and developing countries, sustainable development means that economic growth and social development should be undertaken in a manner that safeguards the needs of our future generations.

In Singapore, sustainable development is not a new concept.  We had embarked on this path more than four decades ago when we gained independence from the British. As a small city-state with no natural resources, we knew that we had to optimise the use of our scarce resources and keep our environment clean and green, as we stepped up our industrialisation and economic development.  Hence, we carried out our land use planning judiciously, implemented strict pollution control measures to maintain clean air and water quality, and started greening our nation into a Garden City.

For the Building sector, our focus is on achieving resource efficiency through the “greening” of our buildings, both new and existing buildings.  The Building sector accounts for up to 40% of total energy use and solid waste generation worldwide.  In Singapore, it is the second largest consumer of electricity after the Industry sector, and accounts for 31% of our total electricity consumption.

In the Singapore Sustainable Blueprint launched in April this year, we have set a target of 80% of all buildings in Singapore, new and old, to achieve at least the basic Green Mark Certification by 2030.  In about 20 years’ time, at least 8 out of every 10 buildings in Singapore will be energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

The greening of buildings provides a new growth opportunity for our building industry.  We have an existing stock of over 210 million square metres of building floor area.  The retrofitting of existing buildings for greater energy efficiency will involve several steps: firstly, auditing the buildings to identify the key inefficient areas; secondly, upgrading to newer and more energy-efficient equipment; and thirdly, ensuring that the building operations are run in an energy-efficient manner.

Therefore, besides investment in new technologies, there is also an excellent opportunity to invest in new manpower capabilities.  We will need to build up a “green collar” workforce in Singapore of between 18,000 and 20,000 specialists to contribute to the development, design, construction, operation and maintenance of green buildings within the next decade.

Singapore Green Building Week
The inaugural Singapore Green Building Week is part of the Building and Construction Authority’s roadmap to expand and share our green building initiatives with overseas experts and industry leaders.

The Singapore Green Building Week provides a platform for the exchange of ideas on sustainable buildings and development with the international community. BCA has also attracted participants from international agencies such as the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Green Building Council, as well as the world’s leading green building experts.  Leveraging on this platform, we hope to share with the region and the world, Singapore’s commitment and capabilities in green building and sustainable development, particularly for the Tropics.

Anchoring the Singapore Green Building Week will be the inaugural three-day International Green Building Conference, or IGBC, which will be opened by Mr Teo Chee Hean, our Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Defence, this coming Wednesday.  Several leading experts will be speaking on diverse areas and addressing the latest developments in green building technology and sustainable development.  Complementing the Conference will be the BEX Asia exhibition, where the latest green building designs, materials and technologies will be displayed. BEX Asia provides an excellent platform for industry players to interact and network with their counterparts from the region and around the world, which is crucial for businesses to succeed in the global economy.

It will be an exciting week and I would like to encourage both local and overseas industry players and companies, as well as the academia to actively participate in the many activities lined up at the inaugural Singapore Green Building Week.

Zero-Energy Building
This morning, we will have the opportunity to tour the new, or rather, retrofitted Zero-Energy Building, or Z-E-B in short.  The ZEB is one of the projects supported by the $50 million Research Fund under the Ministry of National Development (MND). It is part of our efforts to develop and showcase viable and cost-effective green building solutions for commercialisation and implementation across the industry.  It also demonstrates how an existing building can be retrofitted to become a net zero energy building within a construction period of 11 months.1

BCA told me that the ZEB retrofitting includes a re-design of the roof and façade, the M&E system and other building components to drastically cut down its energy needs.  The building also harnesses as much renewable energy as possible from the sun for its electricity needs.  Initial data gathered has shown that the ZEB is likely to be 40% to 50% more efficient than a comparable non-green office building of a similar layout.  The experience and lessons acquired in constructing and operating the ZEB will therefore be extremely relevant and valuable for the building industry.

The opening of ZEB marks a key milestone in Singapore’s building and construction history.  It will also help our sustainable development initiative in the Building sector.  We will press on to build up our capabilities to be more energy-efficient, explore new technologies and innovative solutions in our quest to achieve greater energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Second World Cities Summit
To reaffirm Singapore’s role as the regional hub for sustainable development and green buildings for the Tropics, Singapore will be hosting the second World Cities Summit from 28 to 30 June next year.  The Summit with the theme “Liveable and Sustainable Cities for the Future” will focus on leadership and governance, and pressing global urban challenges.

I would like to encourage policy makers, leaders, mayors, governors, business leaders and experts to join us at next year’s World Cities Summit to exchange ideas and share innovative urban solutions to build liveable and sustainable communities.

Conclusion
It is now my pleasure to launch the inaugural Singapore Green Building Week 2009 and to declare the Zero Energy Building open.

Thank you.

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