China-Singapore Building Materials and Construction Cooperation Conference

From 2005 to 2022 (17 years), Singapore promoted Green Building Development and drew up a series of development blueprints. I would like to briefly introduce you to explore opportunities for cooperation and development between Singapore and China in building and developing Green Buildings.

Singapore is a tropical developed country with a higher standard of living compared to other tropical countries. Hence, with greater resource consumption, I am afraid no country like Singapore can turn on air-conditioners all year round.

Singapore is in great demand for resources and relies heavily on imported resources such as water, electricity, and gas. Electricity comes from three main sources : Firstly, waste incineration (5 percent). Secondly, natural gas imports from other countries, and lastly, electricity imports from Malaysia. Only 5 percent of the electricity generated from waste is owned by oneself. Besides collecting some fresh water, Singapore’s water supply is completely constrained by Malaysia. If Malaysia does not provide water, or if the weather is dry and there is a shortage of water, Singapore can only suffer.

Hence, in terms of resources, the Singapore Government has always attached great importance to raising revenue and cutting expenditure. Found Prime Minister (PM) Lee Kuan Yew once said, “On the day Singapore separated from Malaysia, we knew that the other party would put pressure on water supply, so we had to systematically use every drop of rain that fell from heaven.”

Buildings in Singapore account for 40 percent of the country’s total electricity consumption and more than 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. This high electricity consumption has enabled the Government to actively improve energy efficiency in buildings. From 2005, the BCA released the green building certification scheme, setting the target of “80-80” by 2023.

• 80% of buildings meet green building standards.
• 80% of new buildings meet the ultra-low energy consumption requirement.
• 80% improvement in energy efficiency for all buildings.

Green buildings are not just about growing plants and plants, BCA’s five key indicators are energy efficiency, water conservation, environmental protection, indoor environmental quality, and green features and innovation.

Milestones of green buildings in Singapore :

2005 – Launch of BCA Green Mark Certification in Singapore

2006 – Launch of the First Green Building Masterplan

2007 – Launch of Sustainable Construction Masterplan

2008 – Amendments to Building Control Act to enforce minimum environmental standards for new buildings

2009 – Building and Construction Authority Zero-Energy Building to be a role model Launch of the Second Green Building Masterplan

2012 – Meets the targets of the 1000 Green Mark and 100 Platinum Awards revision of the Control Act of Parliament / Introduction of minimum environmental sustainability standards requirepments for existing buildings / Submission of energy consumption and related data by utilities and consturction companies / Periodic review of air-conditioning system efficiency.

2014 – 3rd Green Building Masterplan Launch :
As green buildings advance from 17 in 2005 to 2,100 in 2014 (16 million m2, equivalent to 25% of total building area).

3 Strategic Objectives:

• Continue to lead green buildings
• Expand collaborations & engage
• Practise sustainable performance

2017 – Mid-term review of the 3rd Green Building Masterplan

Achievements and targets of the Singapore Green Building Masterplan : 2005 (0.1%), 2010 (3%), 2020 (43%), 2030 (80%).

Singapore is a leader in Green Building development in ASEAN and Asia. It is the first green building rating system specially designed for tropical climate and has won International Recognition.

Nevertheless, Singapore still has a long way to go to meet the target of 80 percent of green buildings. The huge demand for green building materials, including building structural materials, interior and exterior decorative materials, air-conditioning, lighting, lighting and innovative solutions for green buildings, will provide excellent business opportunities for local and Chinese enterprises.

With a population of 5.6 million and a land area of 720 square kilometres, Singapore is a major financial and port hub in the world. With its excellent geographical location and political stability, it is still the largest investor country in China. Apart from the Singapore market, we hope that Chinese enterprises will work with Singapore to open a third-party market. Both sides complement each other in terms of resources, capital, technology and management, and tap on ASEAN’s huge market to achieve the goal.