The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Ministry of National Development (MND) have jointly awarded funding for nine projects in a pilot green building grant call to encourage research and greater adoption of green building technologies.
Launched in April 2011, the grant call is the first of its kind structured to foster Public-Private Collaboration (PPC) in green building research.
The green building joint grant call fosters collaboration between public research institutions and companies through joint Research & Development (R&D) projects.
Under the PPC arrangement, public research institutions partner at least one related industry organisation as co-investigator.
This creates synergies as public research institutions are able to tap on the industry’s experience and network, while companies leverage on the research expertise and cutting edge infrastructure within public research institutes, to develop deployable green building technologies.
The nine projects will support the development of technologies in two key areas - energy efficiency and building facade materials.
This will include ways to reduce the amount of heat penetration into buildings and innovative air-conditioning technologies that require less energy for cooling, helping to optimise energy management in buildings.
This project hopes to bring about substantial savings for building operators and dwellers through greater energy efficiency.
Mr Tay Kim Poh, Deputy Secretary (Development) of MND, and Chairman of the MND R&D Steering Committee, said “This is the first such initiative involving both the Government and the private sector for green building research. We hope to see more of such collaborative efforts when the second call grant is launched later this year, so that more ideas can be translated into innovations to meet urbanisation challenges.”
Following the success of the pilot green building joint grant call, the second green building joint grant call is projected to open in the third quarter of 2012.
