A slew of winners were recognised for their efforts in green buildings, inclusive design and building quality at the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Awards 2014 ceremony yesterday.
A new award category – Green Facilities Manager of the Year – was introduced to the BCA-Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) Green Building Individual Award for their role in advocating green building management.
The winners of this new category are Anthony Goh, Senior Vice President of Property and Facilities Management at City Developments Limited (CDL) and Lim Tow Fok, General Manager at Keppel Land International Limited.
CDL received 30 awards, the most number awarded to a private developer and it was also awarded the Quality Excellence Award – Quality Champion (Platinum) for the second year running.
Kwek Leng Joo, CDL Deputy Chairman, said, "The BCA Awards attest to CDL’s long standing commitment and track record in conserving as we construct and spur us to set new benchmarks, initiate best practices and inspire more stakeholders in the value chain to create a greener and better tomorrow."
CDL also received 11 Green Mark Platinum Awards this year, seven of which are for existing buildings. The Venue Residences is one of the projects awarded and it is expected to produce around 1.47 million kWh of energy savings per year and total water savings of about 51,509 m3 per year, thanks to its green infrastructure. On top of green features such as apartment designed with good natural ventilation and greenery at the condo’s facilities deck and sky terraces, the developer also conserved two matured Angsana trees at the project.
Besides honouring environmental sustainability, the BCA Awards also emphasises on inclusiveness through Universal Design, referring to designs that promotes accessibility for a wide range of people including the elderly and people with disabilities.
Gardens by the Bay and The Interlace (pictured) by CapitaLand Limited topped the ratings by clinching the Universal Design Mark Platinum.
To date, the CapitaLand has bagged 11 Universal Design Mark awards for its developments in Singapore and the region. Besides ensuring accessibility to people of different age groups and varying mobility, the developer’s Universal Design criteria also includes connectivity to public transport, roads and between buildings.
Tan Seng Chai, Group Chief Corporate Officer, CapitaLand Limited and Chairman, CapitaLand Sustainability Steering Committee, said: “We understand how buildings would touch the lives of home owners, shoppers, tenants and serviced residence guests, and members of the public. We are therefore committed to build them to be green, accessible, to the highest quality and ensure the safety of our stakeholders.”
In his speech at the awards ceremony, Senior Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan encouraged firms to establish their own in-house awards to spur excellence.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
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