Singapore – At the International Built Environment Week 2022, the Singapore Green Building Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with three Malaysian built environment organisations to strengthen collaborative efforts for green building solutions, innovations and best practices between both countries.
The four-party MOU between GreenRE Sdn Bhd, the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (REHDA), the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS) and the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC), was inked in the witness of Singapore Minister for National Development & Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration, Mr. Desmond Lee, as well as Mr Kelvin Wong, CEO of the Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) on 6 September 2022.
The MOU will deepen collaboration between organisations from both sides of the Causeway and is anchored on information exchange, organising of joint learning, research and development activities, facilitating of Singapore-Malaysia business collaborations as well as promoting products certified by the Singapore Green Building Product (SGBP) certification scheme and GreenRE building certification for developments in Malaysia.
Datuk Mustaza Mohamad, Head of the GreenRE Management Committee, said, “GreenRE was set up to drive sustainability in Malaysia’s real estate sector through a topical centric rating system. As a collaborative organisation, GreenRE aims to synergise efforts to advance the green building agenda in Malaysia. I am confident that this MOU will foster a productive exchange of ideas that will guide us to emulate the Singapore model for driving the green building agenda.”
“REHDA Malaysia, along with our members, recognise our important nation-building role and we strive to provide quality, affordable homes to all Malaysians,” said Datuk Tong Nguen Khoong, President of REHDA. “We are committed to adopt environmentally-friendly and green features that are sustainable for the benefit of our future generations. It is with this spirit in mind that we welcome the signing of the MOU today. We believe that the collaboration between all four entities will further enrich the progress of the housing and property industry in the respective nations, and we look forward to mutual learning and sharing with our MOU partners.”
Mr Chia Ngiang Hong, President of REDAS, said: “Demand for environmentally sustainable practices and green real estate solutions is expected to grow rapidly. The path to carbon neutrality is a long-haul process and green solutions are generally capital intensive. It is encouraging to see major green real estate players from Malaysia and Singapore coming together to make the commitment and pivot to business practices of adopting green building solutions and innovations to address sustainability challenges. This MOU is a step in the right direction to connect cross-border stakeholders and strengthen collaborative efforts towards this end. I am confident that this significant milestone will also open up new opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration.”
“The threat of climate change cuts across national and geographic boundaries, which is why we must all work closer together to effect positive climate action,” said Ar. Tang Kok Thye, President of the SGBC. “With this collaborative framework in place, green building expertise from both countries can be more meaningfully exchanged to achieve greater sustainable outcomes for Singapore’s and Malaysia’s built environment sectors. The MOU will also create greater business opportunity for local enterprises, strengthening business ties with our Malaysian counterparts.”
Besides firming the ties between Singapore and Malaysia’s green real estate players, the MOU will also facilitate Singapore developers with projects in Malaysia to leverage the Singapore green building ecosystem of proven and certified green building solutions for their Malaysian developments, specifically products certified by the SGBP certification scheme.
As an industry-recognised certification scheme that assesses products and materials on their sustainability performance, the SGBP advances the built environment to one that is greener and more carbon-efficient while facilitating sustainable procurement. A new logo for the SGBP was also unveiled during the MOU signing event, which will be progressively used by the 4200 SGBP-certified products as affirmative visualisation of their certified environmental performance. The SGBP will continue to be the go-to industry benchmark for readily identifying proven green building solutions to meet built environment ambitions.
The SGBC Pavilion at BEX Asia 2022, the tradeshow component of IBEW 2022, showcased a specially-curated selection of green building solutions by SGBC Members, many of which are SGBP-certified. These innovations include architectural products to mechanical & engineering solutions as well as smart technology, materials that are able to help advance the building and construction sector towards greater environmental sustainability.
