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  Straits Times 23 Mar 07
Going green: First steps taken on a long journey
By Jessica Cheam

FOR the longest time, facilities manager Robert Ng was getting complaints that temperatures in his buildings at Alexandra Technopark were arctic. And with electricity bills headed only north, he and his management team at property developer Frasers Centrepoint (FCL) decided to do something about the two buildings there.

An energy audit and some building modifications later, FCL is counting almost $500,000 in savings from having made their buildings more energy efficient, more 'green'. To achieve that, they spent $260,000 to refit some air-conditioning units and cooling towers, and to implement energy-efficient measures into their operations. The technopark's buildings, previously only 28- to 40-per-cent efficient, are now humming at 100-per-cent efficiency.

The group is now planning to make its seven shopping malls - including Centrepoint, Causeway Point and Robertson Walk - energy efficient. Soon, it also hopes to win the Green Mark Award given out by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) under a scheme which rates buildings for their environmental impact and performance.

Only a few years ago, green buildings were an alien concept. Now, it is fashionable to live or work in buildings that do their bit for the environment, whether by consuming less electricity, or recycling precious resources such as water.

And such buildings are better for their occupants' health too. Efficient air-conditioning ensures temperatures are comfortable, and better ventilation systems improve the quality of indoor air.

Soon, the law will require all buildings to qualify for the basic Green Mark, as BCA announced early this week. Singapore's big green push has gathered pace with a slew of measures announced in the last three months.

These have ranged from incentives and research funds to the launch of online portal www.greenmark.sg for public education. But even as government policy has clearly shifted in that direction, the rest of Singapore society still has some catching up to do.

Developed countries such as Britain have been using environment-friendly buildings for more than 30 years, but the momentum has gathered here only in recent years, notes Associate Professor Lee Siew Eang of the Department of Building at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

And it has come at the right time, say industry players. Prof Lee says he hopes that, with the National Environment Agency (NEA) now taking the lead to coordinate the 'go-green' push across government departments and agencies, the demand generated for equipment and technology will cut down the private sector's costs of going green.

Prof Lee adds: 'I think it's time the industry here started developing in tandem with our policymakers.' Still, the road ahead is fraught with challenges. Parochial mindsets, company disputes, industry cowboys, and growing a 'green culture' present just some obstacles ahead.

The task of converting thousands of existing buildings to make them green is a big one - and one that involves their owners spending money upfront to achieve green status.

Executive director Howard Shaw of the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) notes that going green is still not a high priority for managers, and old-school companies that are resistant will eventually be forced to get with the programme.

Mr Shaw cites Nanyang Polytechnic and Hyatt Hotel as examples of buildings who now save at least $500,000 just from becoming more energy-efficient.

And if building owners want to take that first step, the NEA helps companies to pay for the cost of energy audits on their buildings. For example, $70,000 of FCL's upfront costs were funded by the NEA. To date, a total of $1.6 million in subsidies for such audits have been given out for modifications to 54 buildings.

However, Mr Lee Eng Lock, who has championed energy efficiency since the 90s, says that although the take-up rate has risen over the years, some companies are not following through on the recommendations thrown up by the audits.

Mr Lee, a general manager of energy solutions company Trane Singapore, adds that it does not help that this is 'an industry with a lot of cowboys'. Some mavericks have duped people into buying 'magic black boxes' that purport to trim energy bills if installed, so people are wary now.

Disputes can also flare up between companies about the performance of buildings, with some having been fought all the way to the high court.

Says Prof Lee: 'It is tricky to measure results and hard to equate performance because factors change constantly. Therefore, a large part of research goes into developing performance measurement and verification methods.'

Office-building owners - and in the future, hotel owners too - can get the energy efficiency of their buildings gauged for free by using the Energy Smart Building Scheme, an online engine developed by NUS and NEA.

So is Singapore moving fast enough - and in the right direction? The outlook is positive, says Mr Lee, but he stresses that measures taken should be monitored to ensure that the best possible use is being made of limited funds set aside for the cause.

Mr Lee says being green is 'much more than just sticking one solar panel on the roof', which he calls 'greenwash'.

The way forward lies in coming up with accurate measurements of each aspect of the building. Mr Shaw would also like to see more collaboration between government ministries to ensure that green initiatives and strategies are quickly adopted, the right infrastructure put in place, and the right directives given to those who manage buildings.

At the end of the day, real change will come only when Singapore lives and breathes a 'green culture', said Dr Teo Ho Pin, the coordinating chairman of PAP town councils.

He says: 'In the US and Europe, people are passionate about the environment. Here, there's still a mindset that being green is inconvenient.'

Most crucially, Mr Lee pointed out, Singapore should observe the best to shortcut the learning process. 'Being a small country with limited resources, we cannot afford to make the same mistakes. We should learn from the best in the world, and leapfrog in that direction.'
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