The Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) launched a joint report on 13 April 2023 with SGBC Founding Member Schneider Electric, highlighting the critical challenges that need to be tackled as well as key recommendations to accelerate green building adoption in Singapore.

The report titled “Going Green from the Inside Out: Accelerating Green Building Adoption in Singapore”, presents and analyses the findings of a survey by Schneider Electric involving 500 business leaders across MNCs and SMEs in Singapore, as well as findings from a qualitative study conducted with members of the SGBC on the level of awareness, preparedness, understanding and views of business leaders on green buildings in Singapore. Field work was conducted between October 2022 and February 2023.

Most business leaders in Singapore have a general understanding of green buildings only

The report unveils that most business leaders (51%) in Singapore have a general understanding of green buildings, while only four in 10 (38%) have a comprehensive understanding. These findings highlight the crucial need for more business leaders to develop a deeper knowledge of green buildings so as to spur greater adoption and progress.

Low awareness may be holding back adoption, but momentum is expected to pick up

In line with the lack of understanding of green buildings, low awareness over its benefits may be holding back greater adoption of green buildings, as only 12% of respondents indicate that all their operations already utilise green buildings. Nevertheless, adoption of green buildings is expected to gain momentum, as over half (52%) say their organisation plans to increase investment in using green buildings in the next one to two years.

Sustainability goals and energy efficiency are the top drivers for adoption

In terms of the drivers for adoption, the report finds that “sustainability and ESG considerations” (41%), as well as “energy efficiency” (40%) are the top two factors for organisations looking to increase the use of green buildings.

“Cost and ROI” seen as the biggest barrier to increasing access to green buildings

As for barriers, 61% of survey respondents indicate that “cost and return on investment (ROI)” is the biggest barrier when looking to increase the use of green buildings in the next one to two years. This highlights the opportunity to convince more organisations to tap on the various support schemes available and reap its benefits.

Most business leaders are highly supportive of Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 targets

Business leaders are generally still highly supportive of Singapore’s green building targets, with 95% agreeing that 80% of Singapore’s buildings should be ‘green’ by 2030, and 98% agreeing that 80% of Singapore’s buildings should be ‘Super Low Energy’ from 2030. Of those who indicated support for the latter goal, 56% believe the target should be lower.

Recommendations

In light of these findings, Schneider Electric and SGBC have listed five recommendations in the report to accelerate the adoption of green buildings in Singapore:

1. Stakeholders, particularly developers and landlords, can take the lead to advance the green agenda: Within the private sector, developers and building owners especially play a critical role in ensuring that green features are accounted for from the onset in upcoming developments or by retrofitting existing buildings.
2. Promote greater awareness to leverage technology and tap on support schemes: To enable scalability of green buildings, upfront costs and doubts over subsequent potential cost savings reaped from green solutions must be tackled.
3. Grow pool and pipeline of green building professionals: Institutes of higher learning can work closely with the industry to groom the next generation of green building professionals.
4. Enabling greater access to green finance: Green financing must become more mainstream and accelerated to drive sustainable financing for the sector.
5. Forging impactful partnerships and co-innovating solutions: Stakeholders’ strengths can be leveraged to co-develop new innovative solutions and industry best practices.

“As we approach key national sustainability milestones, it is imperative that we continue accelerating efforts to reduce emissions and advance towards a net-zero future,” says Lee Ang Seng, President of the SGBC. “While it is heartening to see companies taking action, more can be done to improve the awareness and update of green building solutions towards a low-carbon future. We are very glad to work with SGBC Founding Member Schneider Electric on this meaningful report which will definitely help the industry to identify common challenges, outline actionable steps, and leverage collective effort to decarbonise the built environment.”

“With Singapore’s buildings accounting for over 20% of national carbon emissions, the case for greening its infrastructure has never been greater, and developers, building owners and business leaders play a critical role in helping to drive this agenda on sustainable development” says Yoon Young Kim, Cluster President, Schneider Electric Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei. “At Schneider Electric, we are deeply committed to this cause, and are constantly growing our capacity to help partners strategise, digitise and decarbonise. We are confident that by taking this first step towards understanding the opportunities and challenges of going green, we can better help companies navigate this complex but critical task and sustain stronger results in their decarbonisation journeys.”

Read the full report here.