It was an honour for Wayne to host the comeback edition of the International Green Building Conference (IGBC) organised by the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) on 26-27 June 2023 at the Raffles City Convention Centre.
First launched in 2009 along with the founding of SGBC, the IGBC platform showcases Singapore’s efforts and achievements in developing a sustainable city in the tropics and highlights the latest trends, developments and technology in built environment sustainability.
More decarbonisation initiatives, including a carbon calculator and a revised carbon services certification scheme, have also been rolled out for the building and construction sector as Singapore works towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The initiatives were announced at IGBC 2023.
Engineers and developers in the sector can now access the free Web-based Singapore Building Carbon Calculator to measure the invisible emissions behind the construction of buildings and urban structures.
Such emissions are known as embodied carbon – greenhouse gases that result from the extraction, creation and transportation of building materials, as well as the construction of buildings.
Embodied carbon contributes 11 per cent to global emissions and is about 30 per cent of emissions for buildings.
In Singapore, embodied carbon can account for up to 40 per cent of emissions over a building’s lifetime, since the life cycle of buildings tends to be shorter with urban renewal.
Officiating the conference last Monday, Second Minister for National Development Indranee Rajah announced a career conversion programme for sustainability professionals for the built environment.
This collaboration between Workforce Singapore, SGBC, BCA, Singapore Polytechnic and industry players will support individuals to reskill and take on sustainability reporting, which is growing in demand.
In addition, a certification scheme for environmental sustainability services and energy performance contracting services, when existing buildings are retrofitted for greater energy efficiency, will be revised to four tiers indicating levels of capability.
The Singapore Green Building Services certification, under the SGBC since 2012, allows property developers to identify the correct expertise to steer their projects towards getting a green building certification.
SGBC has come full circle with IGBC 2023, delivering two days of insightful discussions, tabletop exhibitions and networking opportunities.
Wayne had a fruitful time learning from some 800 real estate developers, asset owners and managers, architects, engineers, consultants, contractors, government agencies, solution providers and the academia on the latest in green building and built environment sustainability at the carbon neutral conference.
Thanks you so much SGBC for having Emcee Wayne Chan!
More about this event in The Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/decarbonising-initiatives-for-s-pore-s-built-environment-sector-in-move-towards-net-zero-by-2050
And also in Channel NewsAsia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B9wvLj0PPo