Speech by SMS Tan Kiat How at the HDB PEAK Forum 2022

Oct 13, 2022

A very good afternoon to all. I am very happy to join you at the HDB PEAK Forum 2022.

The theme for this year’s Forum is “Designing for Life: Green Towns, Green Living”. “Green” is not a new concept to all of us.

Even in the early days of our nation’s development when we needed to house large numbers of people and to build up our economic infrastructure quickly, we had already placed great emphasis on sustainability. 

We cleaned up the Singapore River, significantly reducing pollution and improving hygiene and sanitation for many Singaporeans.  We planted trees around Singapore, creating a Garden City that provided an attractive vista to tourists and importantly, give Singaporeans access to parks and greenery near their homes and workplaces. We recycled almost every drop of water that we collect so as to enhance our water security.

Today, we are one of the most liveable cities in the world, and are actively working towards becoming a ‘City in Nature’. There is much to be done. Like many island states, we are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea level, higher temperatures and more extreme weather. Our limited land also makes developing sustainably and responsibly a more acute challenge.

Despite our many constraints, we have been taking steady strides towards sustainability and making good progress on the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

Whole of Nation Effort – HDB Supporting as The Largest Developer in Singapore

As Singapore’s largest developer with over 10,000 HDB blocks across the island, HDB is keenly aware of its responsibility to be at the forefront of sustainability. There is a lot that HDB can do.

The built environment, which includes public housing, accounts for over 20% of Singapore’s carbon emissions. What HDB does to implement eco-friendly and sustainable approaches in our towns, can move the needle for Singapore.

In 2010, HDB announced Punggol as an eco-town to test new ideas and technologies in sustainable development.

Since then, HDB has test-bedded several sustainable solutions in Punggol, such as biophilic design that has created a more comfortable and pleasant living environment for residents.

Successful pilots have been scaled up in other towns and can be found in all BTO projects launched after 2014. This includes eco features such as separate chutes for recyclable waste, regenerative lifts to reduce energy consumption, and parking spaces to facilitate future provision of electric vehicle charging stations.

Green living is not just for new developments. In 2012, HDB initiated the Greenprint programme to create greener and cleaner homes in existing, older estates like Yuhua and Teck Ghee. Under the programme, residents could enjoy greater energy, water, and waste efficiency with features such as sensor-controlled LED lightings, pneumatic waste conveyance systems, and enhanced pedestrian networks.

This laid the foundation for the HDB Green Towns Programme. Announced in March 2020, it is a 10-year plan to bring sustainable living to all existing HDB towns. The programme focuses on 5 areas: reducing energy consumption, recycling rainwater, cooling HDB towns, promoting green commute and reducing waste. A key target would be to reduce energy consumption in HDB towns by 15% from 2020 levels by 2030 – a very ambitious target.

Most recently, in October 2020, HDB launched its ‘Designing for Life’ roadmap, which will guide HDB in building even better homes in the face of challenges such as an ageing population, climate change, and technological disruption. HDB’s newest town, Tengah, will be the first town planned with smart technologies right from the start. Tengah’s residents can look forward to various smart and sustainable features such as a Centralised Cooling System and Electric Vehicle charging points. Extensive use of solar panels will help to support these features as well as power common areas in the precinct.

HDB Sustainability Blueprint

We have come a long way in our journey of integrating sustainability in our developments. HDB is taking the next step in its commitment to placing sustainability as a core tenet in its mission to build quality homes. 

Benefitting from the insights and learning points over the years, HDB is organising itself with the new HDB Sustainability Blueprint. The Blueprint will map out HDB’s future and current efforts to advance sustainability within our built environment, our communities, and organisation.

Planning with Sustainability in Mind

HDB will continue to design new housing areas sensitively to minimise impact on the environment, and even looking for opportunities to leverage nature to improve HDB residents’ way of living. One such example is Ulu Pandan. Many of you might recall that in early 2021, a stretch of greenery in Ulu Pandan had generated robust discussions after HDB sought feedback on its development plans for housing in the area.

After hearing feedback from different key stakeholders, HDB has refined its planning and design strategies, taking a holistic and science-based approach to balance development and nature conservation. The revised plans were announced last year in July, and the eastern half of Ulu Pandan will be developed for public housing, to meet the strong housing demand in mature estates, including from young families who want to live near their parents in the area for better mutual care and support.

Today, we will share more details on the development plans for the eastern half of Ulu Pandan estate.

The developments at Ulu Pandan will weave in green and blue elements such as nature and waterbodies into the housing landscape, including retaining a natural stream. These new homes, amenities, and recreational spaces will be nestled in greenery, to create a conducive, sustainable living environment that focuses on residents’ well-being. Residents can look forward to health and wellness trails that enhance their well-being, as well as plans to encourage and support green commuting. Ulu Pandan will be part of the new generation of HDB homes, supporting and enabling the aspirations of the next generation of Singaporeans.

Building Strong Partnerships

Working with the Industry

While the public sector has bold plans, we are also looking to work closely with the private sector—adapting best practices and collaborating with them in the delivery of these programmes. As HDB CEO Mr Tan Meng Dui said in his speech earlier, it is only by working together and learning from each other that we can achieve this vision of ‘Green Towns, Green Living’, and build future homes for Singaporeans together.

HDB recently awarded its seventh SolarNova tender, and is on track to meet its target of 540 MWp of solar capacity by 2030. Through the SolarNova programme, HDB has had the chance to work closely with industry partners, to test-bed innovative energy solutions – such as a Virtual Power Plant, which can store excess solar energy and redistribute it where it is most needed; as well as Building Applied Photovoltaics, or vertical PV, where HDB is studying the feasibility of installing solar panels on its building facades, to further stretch its solar potential.

Working with Residents

Similarly, partnering residents will continue to be a key priority for HDB as it plans and designs homes for Singaporeans, with Singaporeans. HDB has over the years, as an experienced developer, brought together many good ideas in improving the living environment for the residents. But often times, residents themselves would know better on what works for them!

So I was heartened to find out that residents and schools had contributed ideas for the upgrading of selected neighbourhood parks in Toa Payoh, Woodlands and Pasir Ris under the Remaking Our Heartland 3 programme.

Whether it is pet parks, community gardens, or even a lawn for movie screening, we encourage everyone to share your feedback so you can work with us to shape the best possible living environment for your needs. As part of the co-creation for the parks, residents will also be invited to contribute artwork forming sculptures or art panels, and take part in tree planting activities as part of the upgrading works.

Forward Singapore

All the issues I laid out and discussed today – our society’s changing priorities, how we need to think about the future, how Government must continue to work together with the whole of society – these pertain to the social compact between Government and people, between our generation, and past, current, and future generations.

Public housing is a key part of this social compact, and we have started the Forward Singapore exercise, as a way to continue our conversations with Singaporeans on the society that they wish to live in and contribute to. I welcome everyone to participate actively and share your views with us.

Let me end off where I started my speech today. The homes and spaces we have today are the hard work of past generations. They strove to house their generation, but even in doing so, they considered how these improvements for themselves must be sustainable for future generations. Even as we develop land to meet today’s needs – affordable housing, continuous economic development – we also have a duty as stewards of our environment, to ensure that sufficient green capital remains for future generations of Singaporeans, so they can make their own choices.

Conclusion

I will leave you with a short video summarising HDB’s innovative efforts to drive sustainable development.  On this note, I wish all of you a pleasant afternoon and a fruitful and productive HDB PEAK Forum.  Thank you.