Tag Archives: Housing Development Board

More buildings going green

Posted on 18 May 2011 | Comments Off on More buildings going green

More buildings are going green.

This year, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is giving out a record number of BCA Green Mark awards to 164 winners, up from 102 last year.

Singapore is a step closer to the national target of “greening” 80 per cent of buildings by 2030.

The Green Mark Scheme was introduced in 2005 to recognise water and energy efficient buildings. And as of 2008, all new buildings are required by law to meet a basic Green Mark standard.

BCA said a series of green incentive schemes has encouraged many developers to go beyond the mandatory.

Incentives include additional floor area, which could translate to higher profit, as well as reimbursements for engaging environmental experts, who can help in achieving an energy-efficient design for buildings.

Organisations that voluntarily go the extra mile are given the Green Mark Gold, Gold Plus and Platinum awards.

Among them is private developer City Developments Limited (CDL).

It clinched more than 50 Green Mark Gold & Above awards, of which 16 are Platinum awards.

For this track record, CDL earned the inaugural BCA Green Mark Platinum Champion Award this year.

Apart from installing green features like water-efficient taps and energy-saving light bulbs, CDL said green development is about managing resources and harnessing Mother Nature.

And it can be cost-effective too.

Allen Ang, Deputy GM of Projects Division with CDL said: “Using green technology such as pre-fabrication, pre-fab bathrooms actually helps us reduce a lot of natural resources; not just materials, but manpower. And as you know, manpower is expensive.

“If the environment is sited such that we can orientate the building towards the north-south orientation, it also helps us to reduce air-con capacity in cooling our apartments. And in so doing, reduce the treatment cost for the glass of the facade.”

The BCA Green Mark Champion Award went to the Housing and Development Board (HDB), the first public sector agency to receive the award.

HDB has completed 14 projects that attained at least Green Mark Gold status, five of which were rated Platinum.

Some of the award-winning green projects include Treelodge@Punggol, Waterway Terraces and SkyTerrace@Dawson.

With this year’s winners, there are more than 750 Green Mark building projects in Singapore, amounting to 11 per cent of the total gross floor area.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 17 May 2011

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Posted in Construction, General

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Bring back rental flats in big way

Posted on 17 May 2011 | Comments Off on Bring back rental flats in big way

May I suggest that the Government consider restoring the HDB rental system in a big way. During the early days of this nation, this was how many Singaporeans were adequately housed when they were resettled from kampungs. One-, two- and three-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats were rented out to those who could not buy.

Why is it that these smaller flats were subsequently either perceived by the HDB as lacking a demand, or was it a matter of policy? What is wrong with living in a small flat even on rental if it means affordability and having more disposable income for other uses?

The Japanese people are known to live in “rabbit hutches”, as a former Prime Minister of theirs said. But still they can make their small living environment nice and liveable.

In any case, HDB flats on purchase have a 99-year lease. Owners are really lessees only, according to the HDB agreement.

If the monthly rental of a three-room HDB flat is only half the amount needed for purchase – say S$500 instead of a S$1,000 monthly instalment – one can save S$500 in cash or in CPF which ensures a bigger nest egg for retirement. One can also use the savings to invest in low-risk types of investment like international government bonds with a return starting from 4 per cent annually.

Under the current situation, much of the CPF savings of a HDB lessee can be used up in paying for a new HDB flat whose value may start depreciating 50 years into the lease – which, incidentally, would be at the point of one’s retirement age.

And one’s HDB flat cannot be easily liquidated as cash for use because one will always need housing. Indeed, the Government has proposed that an eligible lessee sell it back to the HDB for a monthly payment that can be used for living expenditures in his/her old age.

The Government should seriously consider restoring the rental system for HDB flats. This is on top of the urgent need to quickly build more flats to house new families.

Letter from Chia Hern Keng

Source : Today – 17 May 2011

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Posted in HDB

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