Global climate action continues to gain momentum as nations and corporates alike intensify partnerships and action towards climate change mitigation. In November 2022, COP27 will convene political, business and non-government sector leaders from over 200 nations in Egypt to accelerate efforts in emissions reduction, scaled-up adaptation efforts and enhanced flows of appropriate finance.
Singapore is placing sustainable development at the forefront of its long-term plans with the recently announced target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
This whole-of-nation endeavour requires the meaningful contribution of sectors across the economy, including real estate. During the International Built Environment Week in September 2022, the Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) updated the Built Environment Industry Transformation Map (BE ITM) to crystallise the collective vision and strategies to transform the island-nation’s built environments.
An Industry Transformation Map and a Purpose
With the building and construction sector accounting for almost 40% of global carbon emissions, Frasers Property recognises the importance of partnering like-minded stakeholders to reduce our carbon footprint. Aligned with our Purpose – Inspiring experiences, creating places for good – we are committed to pursuing sustainable innovation across our property value chain to build a more resilient and future-ready business.
As a leading multinational developer-manager-investor, Frasers Property’s portfolio of assets continues to be recognised for its strong sustainability features by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB).
Supporting global efforts to tackle climate change, we announced our sustainability roadmap in 2020, outlining our Group-wide sustainability goals, which include the commitment to achieving net-zero carbon status by 2050. In Singapore, our initiatives also align with the three broad pillars of the refreshed BE ITM – Integrated Planning and Design, Advanced Manufacturing and Assembly, and Sustainable Urban Systems – to shape a safe, liveable, and smart built environment.
Adapting to Deliver
To enable better planning and optimise building designs for downstream construction and maintenance, Frasers Property has embarked on game-changing methods to remain agile and innovative amidst supply chain disruptions and challenges. Residential developments such as Rivière and Parc Greenwich are supported by key innovative solutions which include the Design For Manufacturing & Assembly (DFMA) methodology and adoption of Integrated Design & Delivery (IDD) to achieve productivity improvement and re-engineering of work processes.
Frasers Property was an early adopter of IDD in the industry, alongside our main contractor Woh Hup (Private) Limited. As a testament to our strengthening of IDD capabilities over the years, luxury residential development Rivière garnered a Gold PLUS in the Project Category at BCA’s IDD Awards in 2021. Furthermore, the digitalisation of workflow processes also allowed a more effective management of the construction life cycle, bringing greater productivity and facilitating greater collaboration among stakeholders.
Rivière, Frasers Property’s luxury residential development located along the iconic Singapore River.
The Right Concepts and Tools
Parc Greenwich is also the first executive condominium development to use Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) with a flexible wall system. This is achieved by using free-standing 3D modules constructed and completed with internal finishes, fixtures, and fittings in an off-site fabrication facility before being delivered and installed on-site.
Parc Greenwich, Frasers Property’s residential launch overseeing Singapore’s prime Seletar Hills landed enclave.
The residential development also adopted Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) concepts in the early design stages, where it maps out the entire virtual building process before actual construction commences. Working together with industry partners such as AirSquire to adopt this digital tool not only enabled us to reduce rework, enhance productivity, and enjoy cost and time efficiency; it also facilitated improved collaboration and communication across different stakeholders in the ecosystem. In recognition of its outstanding achievements in sustainability in the built environment, Parc Greenwich obtained the prestigious BCA Green Mark Gold Plus award.
A Progressive Journey with Cool Partnerships
We continue to explore sustainable innovation and tap on renewable energy sources to reduce our carbon footprint. Since August 2020, Frasers Property Retail has worked with SP Group and Temasek Group on a feasibility study to explore a Distributed District Cooling (DDC) network. Two of our malls Tampines 1 and Century Square will be part of Singapore’s first brownfield DDC network. We aim to leverage on our experience at Central Park Sydney where we have developed competence in District Cooling Systems to produce low-carbon thermal and electrical energy.
On 18 April 2022, Frasers Property Retail participated in a supply signing ceremony, witnessed by Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Singapore Minister for Social and Family Development, Second Minister for Health & Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs and Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC, for the Tampines Distributed District Cooling network. (Photo credit: SP Group)
Tackling climate change is a progressive journey and at Frasers Property, we will continue to harness the strengths of collaboration and innovation to build resilient and sustainable spaces for our people and community.