NParks launches subsidy scheme to help develop more greenery on local skyscrapers
Jessica Cheam Straits Times 25 Mar 11;
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SINGAPORE'S tall buildings are going green.
The National Parks Board (NParks) will subsidise up to half the cost of sprucing up these structures with plants - on rooftops or vertically on walls.
The scheme, which applies only to existing buildings, was announced yesterday by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development.
She said there was 'strong support from developers to integrate greenery with their skyrise developments', adding: 'Skyrise greenery not only enhances the buildings aesthetically, but also brings about many other tangible benefits.'
Such greenery helps to reduce the urban heat island effect - where a built-up metropolitan area is significantly warmer than its surrounding area - and enhances Singapore's biodiversity, she said.
In 2009, the Government set a target for Singapore to have an extra 50ha of skyrise greenery by 2030. It launched the Green Roof Incentive Scheme to encourage developing green roofs on existing buildings. It has helped 14 organisations since.
The scheme is now being upgraded to the new Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme, which will help existing buildings across Singapore set up green roofs as well as green walls.
Installing a green wall typically costs between $1,000 and $1,500 per sq m.
Ms Fu was speaking yesterday at the opening of the Central Business District's (CBD) first indoor roof garden at Six Battery Road. The 2,000 sq ft vertical garden, which cost $750,000 to build and contains 120 plant species, was designed by award-winning French botanist Patrick Blanc.
The building is the first existing office building in the CBD to win the Green Mark Platinum Award. The Green Mark award is Singapore's green building rating system.
Ms Lynette Leong, chief executive of the firm which manages Six Battery Road's owner CapitaCommercial Trust, said yesterday that the building also features energy-saving light fittings and efficient chiller plants. It is also piloting a renewable energy project using a vertical wind turbine.
These measures will help cut its energy consumption by a quarter.
NParks said yesterday that it is raising the value of the prizes for the annual Skyrise Greenery Awards, now into their fourth year and jointly organised with the Singapore Institute of Architects.
The changes include increasing the prize money for the top gong from US$5,000 (S$6,300) to US$8,000. Entries opened yesterday.
