Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has made history by being the largest single building in Singapore to be awarded the prestigious Green Mark Gold award for its sustainability efforts.
This national recognition - awarded by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) - is MBS’ first green accolade here since opening its doors nearly two years ago.
The BCA’s Green Mark scheme was launched seven years ago as an initiative to drive Singapore’s construction industry towards more environment-friendly buildings. There are a thousand BCA-certified green buildings to date.
MBS’ director of sustainability Kevin Teng said that energy conservation and efficient water usage were high on the agenda even during the integrated resort’s design and construction phase.
‘We knew that we were going to have to deal with all these higher operating costs later on if we didn’t invest the capital at the design and procurement stage of the building,’ said the 32-year-old in an interview with BT.
Most other developers, he added, are ‘not accountable’ for the buildings they construct because they lease it out upon completion, leaving the tenant to worry about the energy bills.
The reasons for MBS clinching the award are plentiful, said Mr Teng.
He shared how about two out of every three lights installed at MBS are energy-efficient. While these lights may cost two or three times more than traditional ones, they consume only a seventh of the energy and can last at least twice as long.
‘We have the most guest rooms of any property in Singapore and we have made them as environmentally friendly as possible. From the beginning, we knew we had to get it right because the impact is multiplied by 2,560 rooms - which is about five times the number of a standard hotel,’ he said.
Mr Teng was formerly the director of corporate development and sustainability at Las Vegas Sands (LVS) - MBS’ parent company in the US. There, he helped drive LVS’ landmark Eco 360 programme, an initiative that ensures all of its properties worldwide are as ‘green’ as possible.
The efforts are bearing much fruit so far. At MBS, the self-closing taps and constant flow regulators in public area bathrooms have helped bring down water consumption by more than 350 million litres a year. Recycling is also a large part of the culture at the IR, with 160,000 kg worth of materials recycled every month.
MBS also invested $25 million in a high-tech system that allows it to control lighting, heating and water supplies from more than 60,000 control points.
But while there is plenty of buy-in from the management, one of the biggest challenges is to get the support and attention from the 9,000-plus staff at MBS to make the green movement a success.
‘We have all these internal activities to promote sustainability among our team members and we try to make them trendy, but we are also very aware that these cannot be facetious. They can’t be silly,’ said Mr Teng.
‘In the end, going green is a very serious issue. Our messaging to staff isn’t about doing this for fun. Do it because it drives environmental savings, cost savings and more importantly, it’s the right thing to do.’
