City Developments Limited (CDL) continues to lead the sustainability drive as the most awarded private developer at the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Awards 2014 Ceremony, which will be held at Resorts World Sentosa on 22 May 2014.
CDL is conferred a total of 30 accolades, up from the 23 it won last year. For two years in a row, CDL has also been accorded the top honours Quality Excellence Award – Quality Champion (Platinum) for its sustained leadership and commitment in delivering quality homes. It is the only developer to have achieved this highest tier.
Mr Kwek Leng Joo, CDL Deputy Chairman, said, “In Singapore, the building sector is the third largest contributor of carbon dioxide. There is an urgent need to mitigate the impact of our activities on the environment. As the leading green developer, CDL firmly believes in building developments with innovative designs, quality workmanship and buildability that enhance productivity, construction excellence and most importantly, environmental sustainability.”
Mr Kwek added, “The BCA Awards attest to CDL’s long standing commitment and track record in conserving as we construct and spur us to set new benchmarks, initiate best practices and inspire more stakeholders in the value chain to create a greener and better tomorrow.”
For over a decade, CDL has been investing 2% to 5% of the construction cost of a new development on eco-friendly features and the adoption of sustainable construction through buildable designs and extensive use of prefabrication such as precast concrete, drywalls and Prefabricated Bathroom Units (PBUs).
CDL has adopted drywalls for internal partition walls and PBUs in most of its new condominium developments, including the Lush Acres Executive Condominium which is a Green Mark Platinum winner this year. Using prefab technology cuts down the amount of manpower required onsite by more than 50% as the components are manufactured in the factory before assembly onsite.
Stringent quality control in factories ensures uniform and superior quality of prefab components and reduces wastage of materials on site. Adopting PBUs at CDL’s projects can yield productivity improvements of up to 80% compared to the conventional way of constructing bathroom on-site using bricks, depending on the scale of the project.
Located in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the CDL Green Gallery is another Green Mark Platinum winner in 2014. It is Singapore’s first zero energy Green Gallery and was built using several eco-friendly technologies. These include two innovative features introduced in Singapore for the first time – a biomaterial known asb Hempcrete (largely made from the hemp plant) and a prefabricated modular system known as the Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) concept. PPVC enables the building to be constructed in a simpler, faster and better way.
The external wall cladding of the Gallery is mostly made of Hempcrete which has excellent thermal properties, making it ideal for Singapore’s humid climate as it creates good indoor air quality. Hempcrete is also highly durable, and naturally pest, mould, mildew and fire resistant.
The structure of the Gallery was precast into sections at an external site using the PPVC system and then brought to the Gardens for installation. This helped eliminate the massive wet works usually required in building developments and resulted in faster construction time, thus achieving higher productivity and minimising the impact on the Gardens’ environment.
In addition, roof solar photovoltaic panels were installed to harness clean energy for use in the Gallery’s daily operations. The solar panels are expected to generate an annual energy yield of over 31,000 kWh, which exceeds the Gallery’s estimated annual energy consumption of about 30,000 kWh/year – making it self-sufficient.
CDL has also set the pace for ‘greening’ existing buildings. Of the 11 Green Mark Platinum Awards CDL received this year, seven are for existing buildings. Significant efforts have been dedicated to consciously implement green property and facilities management. CDL retrofitted several of its existing commercial buildings by upgrading chiller plants, introducing motion sensors, energy-efficient lighting and recladding facades. On average, this yielded annual energy savings of over 14 million kWh which is equivalent to more than S$3.6 million.
Mr Kwek said, “There is a strong business case for retrofitting existing buildings to make them green. In doing so, building owners and tenants can improve energy efficiency and lower operating expenses. Looking ahead, we will also continue to challenge ourselves to initiate cost-effective and efficient design and construction with game-changing technologies and sustainable lifestyle solutions that will enhance our capabilities, optimise resources and transform our built environment. This is crucial as labour and productivity continue to be key issues underlying the built environment sector.”
Dr John Keung, CEO of BCA, said, “For over a decade, CDL has demonstrated a strong and unwavering leadership commitment towards high quality and sustainable buildings. Its developments have consistently achieved high standards in BCA Construction Quality Assessment System, Quality Mark, Green Mark and Universal Design Mark, while also showcasing innovation and best practices in productivity and safety. CDL has not only paved the way forward in developing a sustainable built environment, but also influenced fellow industry players to embark on their own green building journeys. It has also taken the lead to embrace quality workmanship and deliver high quality projects consistently, by committing all its residential developments to the Quality Mark for Good Workmanship Scheme. CDL has indeed achieved the hallmark of excellence as a Built Environment Platinum Leader, Green Mark Platinum Champion and Quality Platinum Champion.”
For media queries, please contact:
Tan Hock Lee
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
City Developments Limited
Email: hocklee@cdl.com.sg
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