Opening Address by SMS Desmond Lee at Opening of ArchXpo 2016

Sep 28, 2016

A very good morning to all of you. 

It is my pleasure to be here with you today at the opening of ArchXpo 2016. This is one of the most comprehensive building events covering the spectrum of architecture and building services in Singapore.

It demonstrates the close partnership among the different professions in the built environment sector. 

Multiple conferences organised by SIA, our architects, REDAS, our developers and SECA, our electrical contractors, amongst many others, will be taking place here over the next three days. 

These conferences not only demonstrate close industry partnership among our developers, architects, engineers and contractors, they also aim to address some of the pressing challenges facing our built environment sector today. 

These include reliance on foreign manpower, and the impact of climate change. 

So, this morning, I will speak about the need for us to change the way we build, including how we design and develop buildings and infrastructure: Building productively, and building it green. 

And in so doing, in building productively and building green, we have the opportunity to create new niches and career opportunities for Singaporeans, especially younger Singaporeans. 

Embracing Technology to Increase Productivity

Let me start first by talking about building productively and efficiently. To reduce our reliance on foreign manpower, we need to fundamentally change the way we build and adapt high impact productive technologies upfront. 

In particular, we should make a big push to adopt DfMA, or Design for Manufacturing and Assembly. 

This new approach can help us to achieve a quantum leap in construction productivity by moving as much of the on-site construction work to off-site prefabrication as possible. This not only makes it more efficient and allows you to apply technology. There is also a level of quality assurance and less disamenity to the people living around the site, particularly so for Singapore, where many of our projects are infill and you always find that when you build, your site is surrounded almost on all fours by housing, by schools, by facilities and keeping disamenity low is critical. 

Also, by embracing and realising the full potential of BIM (or Building Information Modelling), we open up the exciting frontier of Virtual Design and Construction (VDC). Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) allows us to build virtually first before building for real. And for those of us who have visited the VDC laboratory we set up at BCA Academy, you will see the use of technology, 3D models and graphics to allow different professionals working on a project, especially a complex project, to be able to visualise and literally walk through the building as if it was completed and iron out all the kinks along the way. I think this will translate into significant improvements in the way we build and significant enhancements to the quality of what we build. 

BIM software is critical in supporting VDC by providing that basic technological platform for our architects, our engineers and our contractors to work together more closely and seamlessly. To realise virtual design and construction, which is building in a futuristic way, we must first embrace BIM because BIM enables you to do that. As I said earlier, using BIM helps us to anticipate issues and fix problems before actual construction. This is quite sensible - improving productivity, improving quality and improving safety.

In our outreach and dialogue sessions, we sometimes hear feedback from some firms that they have difficulties adopting BIM, or they may adopt BIM but their partners upstream and downstream may have some adjustment issues and they find that the interaction is not so smooth. They also have to work with regulators who are also coming onto the BIM platform. Some can’t quite see the value of BIM at this point in time.

Over the last few years that I have been in MND, the number of such feedback has gone down. I think more and more people are beginning to see that BIM is really the way to go. 

We totally understand that adopting new technology is not easy. It often involves overcoming a steep learning curve. Not only does it require a mindset change, it also means that firms and individual professionals need to re-learn processes that they have been doing for many decades and to pick up new skills. 

As I said earlier, it’s not just your firm or you that is making the adjustment to this new technology, but also the other firms in other industry sectors, both up and down the building value chain, who also need to make adjustments and work together as an entire built environment eco-system using the BIM platform.

In short, for BIM to realise its full potential, and for VDC to become the norm, it needs an entire industry as complex as the built environment sector to make that change.

We all know it is one thing for you to get your workers to adopt a machine, to learn how to use it and to apply it onsite. We know how much more challenging it is for a whole industry with different sectors and different players, including regulators, to come in and adopt this basic platform. It will change the way we do things and it will be so. 

But there is urgency for us to push ahead on this front, especially for our firms in Singapore that compete regionally or globally. Overseas firms, and there are many in the US, in the UK and in China, that are quickly ramping up their VDC capabilities and competing in BIM projects across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

So, REDAS' effort to promote greater use of BIM is extremely timely. It is also very encouraging to see nearly half of our larger architectural firms embarking on BIM collaboration in their projects today. More firms are seeing the benefits and embarking on BIM collaboration for their projects. But collectively we can and have to do more.

On its part, the Government is helping our industry during this transition phase. 

In addition to BIM funding assistance, and BIM training funding assistance, we have also put in good practice guides and training programmes. I strongly encourage our local firms to take advantage of these.

Government agencies have also started to require BIM collaboration in more of their own projects. We hope that architects, engineers and contractors in the built environment sector can take this opportunity to build up VDC expertise so that they can offer it as a value-added service to their clients, both locally and overseas, and create more business opportunities for the industry as a whole.

But do speak to us, share with us your ideas, tell us what difficulties you face in this transition, and we will walk this journey more productively together. 

Need for More Sustainable and Future Ready Buildings

Let me move on to my other point, which is about building it green. 

The theme for SIA’s conference this year is slowCITY, which focuses on the concept of “Slow City, Design and Architecture” 

This concept encompasses sustainable principles and values, and seeks a more balanced approach towards design and development. It also looks into people-centric concepts such as liveability and productive ecologies, looking at building design from the point of view of the individual and of the community. 

For example, this may mean spending effort to design and build more meaningful contextual responses to our living environment, such as the celebration of local produce, culture and craft, making the building a living space.

Or designing sustainable communities with low carbon footprint by promoting green mobility or greater walkability. 

Such a call for a more balanced and sustainable approach to the way we design and develop is extremely relevant to another challenge that is facing us today – climate change. In Singapore, the sea level rise will make an impact. We are preparing for it, and we have to be prepared for it. In fact, it is a global problem that requires action by all countries, big or small. 

The building sector, as a whole, contributes about one-third of Singapore’s electricity consumption and a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. With the ever changing environmental challenges, we cannot ignore the significant role that our building sector can play in our collective efforts to deal with climate change.

Good urban planning and building designs look at how we can improve people’s daily lives and minimise the impact on the environment. 

For instance, good use of passive design strategies in terms of building orientation, building envelope and shading, natural lighting and ventilation, can help improve the energy efficiency of our buildings and make the indoor environment more comfortable. 

In addition, the ASEAN Federation of Electrical Engineering Contractors & The Federation of Asian and Pacific Electrical Contractors Associations Conference 2016 which looks at addressing SMART – which stands for Sustainability, Maintainability, Alternative and Renewable Technologies. This is very relevant to the initiative to minimise the impact of our buildings on our environment.

BCA has also recently launched the new Green Mark for Residential Buildings 2016. This new Green Mark was issued for piloting, to encourage our architects to place greater emphasis on good passive design, façade performance, and effective natural ventilation to enhance the well-being of occupants and users of buildings. 

Our local architects have also been doing good work not just locally, but also globally in this area. 

I met Mr Tai Lee Siang about a fortnight ago. He is our Singapore Green Building Champion and has been appointed Chair of the World Green Building Council’s Board of Directors – an influential group of global leaders on green building and sustainability in the building and construction industry. 

Conclusion 

Our built environment sector is a mature one. Our local architectural firms have also made their mark on the global stage. Our firms such as DP Architects and RSP have many projects in Asia and the Middle East.

But the sector needs to constantly evolve to address new needs and challenges. 

With greater collaboration among all stakeholders across the entire construction value chain, we are in a much better position to take on new challenges that come our way and create more opportunities for our firms in the built environment sector. This will not only help our firms thrive locally, but to also venture abroad given our strengths in green building expertise, and capabilities in architectural design and innovation. 

On this note, I wish all our trade partners and associations, and respective Presidents every success in this year’s expo. Thank you.