Singapore should focus on green buildings

Business Times 9 Sep 08;

SINGAPORE should move towards constructing more green buildings, as buildings tend to be energy guzzlers, said Ray Anderson, chairman of Interface, a carpet manufacturer known for promoting sustainability since the early 90s.

'The place to start is with buildings,' said Mr Anderson, who was in Singapore yesterday for a seminar.

'Energy efficiency in buildings is a big payoff. Buildings are huge consumers of energy and materials.'

'The whole green building movement, as far as I can tell, has not really come to Singapore yet but it has all the potential to do so,' he added.

Singapore is currently re-designing the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Academy along Braddell Road into the country's first zero energy building.

The government has also launched programmes such as the Green Mark incentive scheme under BCA, which pays out cash grants of up to $3 million to developers that construct buildings of high environmental standards.

Interface pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2020 and has reduced its gas emissions by about 80 per cent thus far.

The Nasdaq-listed company said it has saved more than US$350 million through waste reduction and has seven facilities operating fully with renewable energy from solar, wind and biomass projects.

Mr Anderson said the company plans to open a new factory in China to tap on the rising demand for carpeted flooring among corporations and institutions such as universities.