ST : Budding ideas on greening buildings, keeping heritage alive

May 7, 2010

Budding ideas on greening buildings, keeping heritage alive

By Jessica Cheam & Lee Yen Nee

IDEAS on how to ensure Singapore becomes a green and endearing home for its residents were unveiled by a focus group yesterday at a public forum.

Key recommendations by the 30-member group included an emphasis on greening buildings from the design stage right through the building's 'life cycle', to creating a heritage charter on activities allowed in heritage areas.

The members are from various local communities and were appointed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Yesterday's forum was part of the URA's review of the Concept Plan 2011, which maps out directions for Singapore's land use and transport for the next 40 to 50 years.

Co-chair ambassador Ong Keng Yong of the Institute of Policy Studies said Singapore needed to further green its infrastructure to ensure sustainability.

One key idea to emerge from the four months of discussions was to adopt a 'life cycle' approach to buildings, starting from the design stage, he said.

The group suggested that Singapore implement more policies and incentives to encourage the 'greening' of buildings, including considering sustainability as a criterion for the award of land tenders.

Other ideas included encouraging owners to retrofit existing buildings with green features.

'It's important we have a mindset change to these activities,' Mr Ong told the 200-strong forum at the URA Centre in Maxwell Road.

The other co-chair, Mr Lee Tzu Yang, chairman of Shell Companies in Singapore, emphasised that keeping the nation's heritage alive was key to fostering a feeling of belonging.

'Everyone wants a place they belong to, that's no argument. The tensions during discussions was on the pace of change, and whether in the process, we lose the things we have,' he said.

The group suggested keeping certain key areas 'relevant for the young and old'. For example, the proposed heritage charter would be jointly created by the public, private and community sectors to guide the types of activities and uses allowed in heritage areas, he said.

Other recommendations included keeping significant buildings, iconic structures and spaces in housing estates as 'physical anchors of our collective social memories'.

People at the forum generally agreed with the focus group's recommendations but suggested various improvements. One idea thrown up called for the Green Mark scheme for green buildings to be enhanced to assess the life cycle impact of buildings.