Sitting at 16 Science Park Drive in western Singapore, multinational firm DNV GL’s brand new Asia Pacific headquarters recycles construction waste, boasts high energy efficiency and extensive greenery.
The facility houses more than 500 employees in Singapore and consolidates the firm’s operations aimed at meeting the growing demand for its services in Asia Pacific. In the past 10 years, the company’s presence in the region has grown tenfold from a staff strength of about 400 to 4,000.
In many ways, the new building - which replaced a 30-year-old one from when the company first set up in the city-state - represents the firm’s renewed commitment to sustainability, as it enters a new phase in its storied 150-year history with the recent merger of Norway’s Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and Germany’s classification society Germanischer Lloyd (GL).
DNV GL’s new headquarters at 16, Science Park Drive. Image: DNVGL.com
Speaking at the opening of the headquarters in February, DNV GL Group president and chief executive Henrik Madsen noted: “Designed to accommodate our growth over the next 20 years, the relocation of the Singapore office comes at the perfect time. The merger of DNV and GL last September has created a need to integrate the operations of both companies and the new office enables us to do that seamlessly in Singapore.”
Both DNV and GL are established companies in their own right, each with a 150-year legacy of providing classification, advisory and business assurance services.
Heritage brands under the DNV umbrella include DNV Maritime, Oil & Gas, DNV KEMA Energy & Sustainability and DNV Business Assurance. GL and its heritage brands – Garrad Hassan, GL Renewables and GL Noble Denton – specialise in marine advisory services, software, and business assurance.
The merger enhances DNV GL’s competitive edge, and the scope of its product offering in Singapore and the region, said the company’s senior management.
Ernst Meyer, DNV GL’s Regional Manager, Oil & Gas, Southeast Asia told Eco-Business: “We have complementary strengths and geographical spread. The new DNVGL can offer a broader set of services and also take responsibility for larger projects.”
“With our combined capabilities, more than 16,000 professionals are bridging technological and operational expertise to the greater goal of creating a safer and more sustainable society”, added Stefan Nerpin, Group Chief Communications Officer of DNV GL.
Sustainability at the heart of DNV GL’s operations and identity
In defining DNV GL’s new identity, Madsen said the firm’s vision of making a “global impact for a safe and sustainable future” has never been more relevant than it is today.
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All the services we render focus on safeguarding life, property and or the environment. We do not offer services that do not fall into one of these categories.
Steen Lund, DNV GL, Regional Manager, Maritime Southeast Asia & Pacific
“The new brand… reflects our broader service offering aimed at enabling our customers to make the world safer, smarter and greener… Unfortunately the world is on an unsustainable path. We use more of the earth’s resources than the earth can regenerate. Fortunately there are many things we can do to get on a more sustainable pathway,” he noted.
“We believe that technological developments will play an important role in bringing us back on a more sustainable track. Many brilliant mitigating technologies are developed, but too few reach the maturity and scale to have a real impact. We need to learn from the success stories to understand how to overcome the barriers for new transformative technologies to succeed,” he told staff and stakeholders at the opening ceremony of the new facility.
With its smart building infrastructure and green features, the new building is certified Green Mark Gold Plus under the national green building rating system, called the Green Mark Scheme, and reflects the firm’s attention to sustainability principles across its businesses.
Officially opened by S Iswaran, Singapore’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry, the premises are co-located with DNV GL’s Clean Technology and Deepwater Technology Centres. Iswaran noted that this co-location would “drive innovation in areas such as maritime safety and environment, as well as deep sea equipment and transportation”.
“Our new office in Singapore is Green Mark Gold Plus certified, with features that minimise our footprint. Smart printer systems leading to less paper consumption, smarter lighting and ventilation systems leading to lower electricity consumption and smarter waste systems are a few examples”, shared Meyer.
“All the services we render focus on safeguarding life, property and or the environment”, added Steen Lund, DNV GL’s Regional Manager, Maritime Southeast Asia & Pacific. “We do not offer services that do not fall into one of these categories,” he said, emphasising how fundamental sustainability is to DNV GL’s operations.
DNV GL’s new logo features three coloured stripes and the DNV GL wordmark. Image: DNVGL.com
New chapter, new look
The company’s visual identity also draws its inspiration from sustainability principles. “The logo represents our Broader View in its broad horizontal shape. The colours symbolise Sea, Land, Sky which are the elements which our customers utilise in their business and also the elements exposed. DNV GL offers services that provide safe, smart and green usage of our sea, our lands and our sky”, said Meyer.
In addition to a new facility and brand identity, DNV GL has launched six scientific reports on sustainability as part of their 150th anniversary celebrations. These reports, the result of a year-long initiative, explore themes such the future of shipping, energy alternatives for the future, and climate change adaptation, and aim to advance DNV GL’s vision of a safe and sustainable future, the company stated.
“I hope that we can use the findings of the themes, as well as the momentum of our 2014 celebrations, to engage a wide range of stakeholders in a forward-leaning discussion…We want to guide our customers in making the right choices for the business, the lives they touch and the communities in which they exist”, said Madsen.
DNV GL has also recently strengthened its research capabilities across its main business sectors. They signed a series of memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University for joint research and development activities in February.
DNV GL’s agreement with MPA, for example, will promote research and development in areas relating to Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and technology, green ports, and boosting fuel efficiency.
Mr Andrew Tan, MPA Chief Executive reflected that this would, “help position Singapore as a centre of excellence for maritime research”. He also expressed confidence that “this partnership will grow stronger and contribute to the overall growth of the maritime sector”.
Singapore has welcomed DNV GL’s strengthened presence here. Mr S Iswaran told DNV GL at the opening of its regional headquarters: “Your decision to base your regional headquarters in Singapore is a strong vote of confidence in our people and our industry”.
DNV GL echoes this optimism. Bjørn K. Haugland, DNV GL’s chief sustainability officer noted the company’s keenness “to promote collaboration among all partners and stakeholders, which is key to solving the systems challenge that a safe and sustainable future represents”.
“It’s an exciting road ahead, a road paved with opportunities”, he said.
