Speech by SMS Desmond Lee at BCA's BiG Day Out 2016 Carnival
Jun 24, 2016
A very good afternoon everyone.
I’m glad to see so many of you here at the Build it Green carnival, or “BiG Day Out”.
Everyone Has a Part In Our Sustainable Singapore
But we should ask ourselves why it is important to Build it Green. We all know that climate change will affect all of us – we might be feeling it, it is getting warmer, the climate is getting more unpredictable. Singapore is small but we have a role to play. We are part of a global agreement on climate change, so we have to play our part.
One way that we can contribute to reducing emissions and mitigating climate change is to make sure our buildings are green. What is a green building? It is one that uses fewer materials to build, and less water and less energy to operate. But greening our hardware in our buildings alone is not enough. Studies have shown that people living and working in our buildings use up to half of the energy it takes to run the building – so it is really human behaviour.
So each and every one of us here has a part to play in keeping Singapore green, and in keeping our environment safe. But this is actually the difficult part – changing attitudes and our behaviour, not just ourselves, our families, our colleagues, our friends.
Starting the Green Movement from Young
Engaging young people, young Singaporeans, is an important part to our green movement. Young people can make a difference and lead the way. Our children are naturally curious about the world we live in. By explaining how the actions we take in our daily lives can have an impact on the environment and for climate change, we can inspire our children to adopt sustainable and green living habits from an early age, and turn them into lifelong habits.
Some examples are very simple – just turning off appliances and our lights when we leave our rooms or when we go for lunch, or relying on natural lighting and ventilation whenever possible to use less energy. Singapore is a tropical climate, if indoors we have to wear a jacket because it is cold, then we are wasting a lot of energy on air-conditioning.
So to reach out to young children, we launched our first storybook “The Adventures of Greco and Beco: the Glass House” last year to teach the young about the importance of building green and living sustainably.
Today, the setting in the storybook, Kampong Hijau, comes to life. Our children can try their hand at the kampong games while learning about the importance of green buildings. I hope parents and grandparents who are here, even as you enjoy the games with your children and grandchildren, take the chance to make it a learning opportunity. Have fun, but have fun learning too. Learning about good green habits within your homes, within your households.
Beyond this, I am happy to announce that BCA has recently revamped our programme known as Greenovate to allow our young people to play an even bigger role in our green movement. Now, Republic Polytechnic students can get a first-hand experience managing energy audits for our secondary schools – so polytechnic students from RP helping our secondary schools conduct green audits. They will be mentored closely by industry experts.
Secondary school students will then use these findings by their older brothers and sisters in RP to propose ways to green their own schools. These enhancements are made possible by the efforts of Johnson Controls, the Singapore Green Building Council and Republic Polytechnic’s School of Engineering.
Our Industry Partners Play a Big Part
Our industry partners have a big role to play. We are thankful that more and more companies recognise the value of going green, and have partnered BCA in their green efforts.
I am happy to announce the launch of the BCA-Keppel Land Partnership. The aim of this partnership is to enlist our schools and corporate organisations as champions for a green built environment. The partnership is already blossoming. BCA and Keppel Land have committed $450,000 in their outreach sponsorship fund to encourage corporations and schools to do their part to raise awareness about green buildings. I urge companies and schools to actively tap on this fund.
Conclusion
Let me reiterate in closing that all of us can play a part in our green movement. An individual is never too small, a small country is never too unimportant to play a part. What we do today will chart the path for our sustainable future. Our young people are part of this journey and I’m also glad to see companies like Johnson Controls and Keppel Land stepping forward and hope that more friends from the industry will step forward.
It gives me great pleasure now to open the carnival for all our children, parents and grandparents. Thank you and have a fun day ahead before school starts.