Speech by 2M Indranee Rajah at International Green Building Conference
Jun 26, 2023
Good morning. I’m delighted to join you this morning for the International Green Building Conference.
a. It is heartening to see stakeholders from across the Built Environment value chain here – from developers and architects to engineers and solution providers.
b. All of you play a critical role in our efforts to transition to a more sustainable built environment and achieve our target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Urgency to tackle climate change
The impacts of climate change are here today.
c. Just about a month ago, we experienced the hottest day in 40 years where temperatures climbed to 37 degrees Celsius in Ang Mo Kio. This is not an isolated spike. In fact, 2022 was Singapore’s tenth warmest year on record, tied with several other years.
d. The Meteorological Service Singapore (or MSS) has also reported that temperatures in Singapore have been rising consistently since 1984, with an increase of 0.24 degrees Celsius on average per decade. This is due to global warming and the Urban Heat Island effect.
These severe weather events, both at home and abroad, underscore the urgency of this climate crisis.
The actions we take this decade – 2020 to 2030 – are critical to set us on the right path towards our net-zero target. The IPCC has reported that without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, our goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be beyond reach.
Climate efforts in the Built Environment sector
Singapore is committed to doing our part in this global effort to tackle climate change. Just last year, we stepped up our climate ambitions to peak our emissions earlier and reduce our emissions to around 60 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030. This enhanced 2030 target will put us in good stead to achieve net-zero by 2050.
To meet these targets and advance our national agenda on sustainable development, we launched the Singapore Green Plan in 2021.
e. The Singapore Green Plan is a whole-of-nation movement which charts out concrete targets we will achieve in this decade across various sectors, from energy to transportation and the built environment.
f. It is also a plan to mobilise and empower the public, private and people sectors to co-create solutions for sustainability to achieve these goals.
As part of the Singapore Green Plan, BCA and the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) led the development of the latest edition of the Singapore Green Building Masterplan (or SGBMP) that was launched in 2021.
g. With buildings accounting for over 20 percent of our carbon emissions and more than a third of electricity consumption, reducing a building’s carbon emissions can go a long way in enabling us to meet our net-zero by 2050 target.
The SGBMP has set out three ambitious targets, or “80-80-80 in 2030”. Through close cooperation between the Government and industry stakeholders, we have made promising progress.
On our first target to green 80% of buildings by Gross Floor Area (or GFA) by 2030, we have greened close to 55% of our buildings. This is a significant milestone and we must continue to sustain this momentum.
h. The remaining buildings that we need to decarbonise rapidly are older buildings that may not have been designed with sustainability in mind. They are the most energy intensive and lag far behind prevailing energy efficiency standards.
i. As some of you might have heard at the Committee of Supply debates this year, we will be introducing the Mandatory Energy Improvement regime, or MEI for short, by the end of next year to help these buildings decarbonise.
j. The MEI regime will require owners of buildings with poor energy performance to conduct an energy audit to identify where energy consumption can be reduced.
k. Thereafter, they will be required to implement energy efficiency improvement measures to improve their energy performance and reduce their emissions.
On our second target for 80% of new developments to meet Super Low Energy (or SLE) standards from 2030, about 20% of our buildings have achieved this in the past year. This is a sizeable jump from under 7% last year.
l. There is still some way to go to reach 80%, so we must continue to press on to make SLE standards the norm. The Government has taken the lead with public buildings, and I hope to see more private developers pursue SLE standards too.
m. Beyond the environmental case for pursuing SLE standards, there is also a strong business case as it can help building owners reap significant cost savings over the building’s lifecycle. This is certainly not a one-time benefit, but rather a long-term investment that will continue to pay dividends, in years to come.
i. For example, developers and building owners can expect to recoup their investment in a new commercial building with the highest Green Mark SLE standard in about 4 to 6 years. And the building will continue to reap energy cost savings over its lifetime.
ii. I strongly encourage developers to adopt SLE standards for your new developments.
Moving on, our third target is for our best-in-class buildings to achieve 80% improvement in energy efficiency from 2005 levels by 2030. Today, our best-in-class buildings have achieved an improvement of over 70%.
n. This is promising, and we will continue to invest in R&D to develop innovative solutions that push the boundaries of building energy efficiency.
Beyond efforts to reduce the operational carbon from buildings, we are also looking at embodied carbon or carbon emissions associated with materials and construction of buildings. The World Green Building Council estimates that embodied carbon accounts for over 10% of global emissions today, and this can be expected to grow as urbanisation accelerates and more buildings are built.
o. BCA has been working closely with private sector firms and research institutions to develop sustainable building materials, which can be commercialised and exported.
p. For example, under the Built Environment Technology Alliance (or BETA) programme, Woh Hup and Alliance Concrete, in collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Technology have developed a manufacturing process for low-carbon concrete.
q. If successful, this technology could position Woh Hup and Alliance Concrete to secure overseas construction projects that are subject to higher environmental sustainability and green financing standards.
I’m also glad to learn that the SGBC has done much work to raise awareness around embodied carbon.
r. It launched the Singapore Built Environment Embodied Carbon Pledge in 2021, which now has almost 100 signatories across the BE sector value chain who have committed to use low-carbon building materials, minimise materials usage and waste, and transform construction processes to be more energy-efficient.
s. I’m also pleased to share that JTC, in collaboration with SGBC and BCA, will be launching the Singapore Building Carbon Calculator today on SGBC’s website.
i. This is a user-friendly tool that will enable industry players like Environmental Sustainability Consultants to account for the carbon embodied in construction materials, and is also the recommended calculator for BCA Green Mark application submissions. The tool also enables project team members to collaborate and share carbon information, to help them make more informed decisions on the choice of materials to reduce the carbon footprint of their projects.
ii. I encourage you to speak with SGBC or JTC today to learn more about it.
Green jobs in Built Environment sector
The push towards greening our buildings will create new job opportunities within the sector and raise demand for qualified green professionals.
t. To capture these emerging opportunities, we are recognising, upskilling and reskilling more BE professionals through accreditation, continuing professional development and career conversion programmes.
The Green Mark Accredited Professionals (or G-M-A-P) scheme is one example. The GMAP scheme recognises BE professionals who have experience and the necessary green building competencies to submit Green Mark applications.
u. Today, we have over 1,000 such professionals behind the design, construction and maintenance of our green buildings.
Apart from the GMAP scheme, which is targeted at more experienced BE professionals, SGBC has also introduced the Green Mark Associate scheme.
v. Green Mark Associate is a foundation-level accreditation scheme designed for new industry entrants or existing non-technical BE professionals who are interested in pursuing a career in sustainability. The accreditation scheme also supports these individuals to build basic competencies in built environment sustainability so that they can make meaningful contributions to greening our sector.
w. SGBC has recently welcomed their first batch of Green Mark Associates in April this year who undertook a certification course covering a wide range of topics in green building fundamentals.
x. We hope that accreditation as a Green Mark Associate will continue to open doors to a growing pool of job opportunities in built environment sustainability.
To ensure that these qualified green professionals stay abreast of industry trends and regulatory developments, SGBC and BCA also work closely with industry and academic partners to organise courses, seminars and conferences to support continuing professional development.
For mid-career entrants and existing employees, I’m delighted to announce that Workforce Singapore has collaborated with SGBC, BCA, Singapore Polytechnic and industry players to tailor the Career Conversion Programme (or CCP) for Sustainability Professionals to the BE sector.
y. This CCP will support individuals to reskill and take on sustainability business functions such as carbon management and sustainability reporting which are growing in demand.
z. It will also support BE companies to hire in new sustainability job roles to support their green transition.
I’m happy to share that Exceltec Property Management Pte Ltd, a facilities management company, has had great success tapping on the CCP to grow their sustainability functions.
i. Their recent hiring of Sustainability Executive, Mr Stevyn Zeng is a testament to that. Stevyn came from a business development and procurement background, and did not have prior experience in sustainability.
ii. As part of the CCP, Stevyn has taken BE-related courses on environmental sustainability and reporting to build up skills to support Exceltec’s sustainability efforts. He also benefited from the guidance of an industry mentor to support his transition into his new role.
This green wave will bring tremendous opportunities. I encourage workers and firms to tap on these programmes so that you can equip yourselves with the skillsets and resources to capture these opportunities.
Conclusion
To conclude, climate change requires collective effort. The built environment has a key role to play, and all of us have a shared responsibility as stewards of our environment to reduce our emissions and pursue greener growth.
I would like to thank SGBC for organising this conference and providing a platform to exchange ideas and knowledge, and build partnerships for our planet.
I wish everyone a fruitful conference, and I look forward to a lively discussion with you at the fireside chat later.
Thank you.