SINGAPORE: DBS financial institution on Monday (Jul 18) officially opened its net-zero constructing in Newton : a first in Singapore by a bank.
The four-storey, 30-year-old building continues to be retrofitted to include over 1, 000 square metres of solar power panels on its roof, self-powered solar a/c systems, exhaust enthusiasts and lamp-posts, plus a slatted exterior made from bamboo to shade the building.
Additionally , 10 per cent of the floor area that was previously air-conditioned continues to be converted to naturally aired spaces.
A net-zero building any which consumes only as much energy as it produces.
Retrofitting works for DBS Newton Green, which houses more than 400 employees, started in mid-2021 and cost more compared to S$5 million, stated the bank in a news release.
A portion of the cost was covered by the grant awarded simply by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) under the national Green Buildings Innovation Cluster (GBIC) Programme to support the integration of green innovations through the development.
Before retrofitting works began, the old building consumed about 845, 1000 kWh annually, said the bank.
This really is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of about 200 four-room HDB homes in Singapore.
“We need to retrofit many more of our older structures to improve their sustainability standards. This is more challenging than designing a new green building from scratch. The original development may not have been designed with durability in mind, making retrofitting more complex and potentially costly, ” said Minister for National Development Desmond Shelter.
Mr Lee was present in a ceremony to officially open the building upon Monday.
“I congratulate DBS as well as partners on transforming this building straight into Singapore’s first internet zero building with a bank. Such teamwork between the private, open public and people sectors is crucial, as we strive to develop a more sustainable City in Nature. ”
DBS Newton Green has been certified by BCA like a Green Mark Platinum eagle Zero Energy advancement. It was also awarded the Singapore Great Design Mark 2022 for Sustainable Style by the Design Company Chamber of Singapore.
DBS CEO Piyush Gupta stated that the choice to retrofit the building into a net zero development in order to redevelop something through ground up has been an “easy plus obvious one”.
“We see DBS Newton Green as a beacon for what the office of tomorrow must be. It is a living testbed for innovative eco friendly technologies which can be scaled up not only towards the rest of our offices, but also other companies looking to green their own footprint, ” he noted.
“This we believe will certainly contribute positively in order to Singapore’s ambition to become a leading regional hub for developing durability solutions as a brand new engine for economic growth. ”