Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a ‘green’ building? Read on to find out more!
If you were a kid growing up in the 90s, you might be familiar with a certain iconic environmental superhero. That’s right; Captain Planet, whose M.O. is to take “pollution down to zero”. You might also remember classroom lessons on the three ‘R’s; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Fond as these memories might be, we are in a situation where these ‘green’ initiatives are no longer enough today.
That being said, ‘sustainability’ is probably one of the biggest buzz words these days. Once isolated efforts have now transformed into a global movement to reduce the strain on the environment. On a day-to-day basis, more people are now taking active steps to live sustainably. Be it cutting down on single-use plastics, or switching to eco-friendly or greener alternatives, sustainable efforts continue to grow.
At an industry level, many businesses are also changing their operations so that they are less harmful to the environment. For example, some companies have introduced carbon offsetting programmes. In turn, they channel resources into different initiatives involved in clean energy, reforestation, conservation, and more. In Singapore too, many of our housing estates now incorporate ‘green’ aspects.
but what is a ‘green’ building?
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that just painting the building green alone isn’t going to cut it. Far from it, there are many other ways in which a building can be made ‘green’. According to the World Green Building Council, a green building is one that, “in its design, construction or operation, reduces or eliminates negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate and natural environment”.
And, that’s not all. Green buildings also improve our quality of life without depleting already-scarce natural resources.
Now, that all sounds wonderful in theory, but how exactly are these features implemented?
right, so how are buildings ‘green’ in Singapore?
Thankfully, we don’t have a shortage of green buildings in Singapore that encompass a few different sustainable features.
renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Here’s a quick fun fact. The eight-storey Somerset@313 building is tricked out with all sorts of sustainable features. Skylights, solar panels, energy efficient lifts, escalators and air-conditioning, and even software to monitor the building’s carbon emissions! It’s not just any other mall along Orchard road anymore, is it?
These check the boxes on renewable energy use and energy efficiency, in addition to recycling bins located throughout the mall to help sort different types of waste.
heat reduction and good ventilation.
In Singapore, the heat and humidity can reach unforgiving levels. This can lead to an over-reliance on air-conditioning, which can work counter to any energy efficiency and sustainability goals. One workaround is to reduce the heat gained by the building. Both Oasia Hotel Downtown and Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) School of Art, Design and Media do just that.
Oasia Hotel Downtown is easily recognised as a stand-out red building amongst the CBD grey, covered in lush greenery. The building is divided into different strata, each with its own sky garden — an open space for good cross-ventilation.
The School of Art, Design and Media’s unique sloping roofs help lower both the inside temperature and ambient temperature. Dubbed ‘ADM’ by the NTU cohort past and present, the grassy sloping roofs are also popular stargazing spots for the Astronomy Club, making it a school building quite unlike any other.
can we get 50 shades greener?
Like many other sustainable initiatives, even green buildings are at risk of greenwashing. We spoke with Deb Noller, CEO of Switch Automation, who readily concurs.
“It takes a lot more work to genuinely address the energy footprint of a building and reduce the energy used to the absolute minimum without impacting safety and comfort,” she says. Beyond easy targets, building owners have to “look at equipment performance, peak loads and demand response, optimisation and minimisation” as the next steps in achieving ‘green’.
It’s a unique perspective that Switch Automation offers, as the company centres its focus around tenant experience and “harnesses building data, systems and equipment, and applies advanced fault detection and diagnostics (FDD)”. Among other things, these help uncover hidden inefficiencies, save energy and maintenance and repair costs. These cost-saving perks can cascade down from the building management to the tenant level.
Beyond government regulation and real estate owners’ commitment to sustainable buildings, tenants themselves too have to take ownership, Deb believes.
We need occupants and tenants to be more demanding of the footprint their buildings carve out.
Deb Noller, CEO, Switch Automation
“This can only be achieved with better visibility into performance of our buildings. More and more corporates are implementing their own ambitious [environmental, social and corporate governance] targets and much of that will be related to their corporate lodging. Tenants should be demanding more transparency from landlords.”
going beyond just ‘green’.
It’s easy to become obsessed with the idea of going green and living in a way that is environmentally sustainable. Even as we look for innovative ways to progress sustainably, other aspects of sustainability should also not be neglected.
Deb believes the next step from the green building movement is the “Healthy Building Movement”. The initiative looks not only at environmental sustainability, but also considers tenant wellbeing.
“This initiative can help buildings command a higher rent and achieve greater occupancy satisfaction. Buildings with such certifications can also attract occupants with the same environmental values and beliefs, creating a robust green-conscious community,” Deb adds, and we can’t help but agree.
After all, it is when you have a community working towards a common goal that results are achieved.
It might seem like a hard ask, given how daunting a situation we are in to overturn the damage that has already been done to our earth and environment. But, indication that the situation is improving is as good a sign as any for us to keep pressing on.
Enjoyed reading this article? Check out more green neighbourhoods in Singapore here.
