Singapore – HarbourFront Centre, owned and managed by Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“Mapletree”), a leading Asia-focused real estate and capital management company was certified Green Mark Platinum under the “Existing Buildings” category by the Building & Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA).
Built in 1978, HarbourFront Centre, a mixed-use office and retail development which was formerly known as the World Trade Centre, is one of the oldest buildings which bagged the coveted Platinum Award, the highest rating for green buildings in Singapore since the launch of the BCA Green Mark Scheme.
Committed to be environmentally friendly in the development of its real estate spaces, Mapletree retrofitted the 33 year old, 13-storey complex with a more energy efficient central chiller plant in 2009. The change has seen a marked improvement in the efficiency of the air-conditioning system by almost 50%, saving approximately 1.3 million kWh of energy per year. This together with a more efficient lighting system and other green initiatives, have reduced electricity costs by more than 30%.
Among other efforts are the use of more water efficient cooling towers which brings water consumption down by 11,000 m3 per year, the provision of recycling bins to encourage tenants, visitors and shoppers to be more environmentally conscious as well as the improvement in indoor air quality.
The building which now resides 120 office and 160 retail tenants went through two refurbishment exercises in 2004 and 2008 to enhance the retail space and upgrade the office facilities. Today, it is an integral part of the HarbourFront Precinct conveniently located next to the HarbourFront MRT station and bus interchange and hosts a variety of fashion outlets, pharmacies, food and beverage outlets, a post office as well as banking, healthcare and other convenient services.
Delighted with the award, Ms Amy Ng, CEO (Singapore Investments) of Mapletree said: “We are very pleased that HarbourFront Centre, despite its age, has stood out with its exemplary green achievement. Our support for environmental sustainability not only reaps cost savings but will also benefit our tenants.”
Besides HarbourFront Centre, Mapletree has also attained the Green Mark Gold Award for its latest retail project, the Alexandra Retail Centre (ARC) which will take over the current retail space at the PSA Building. The ARC, which will span three floors of retail space with a net lettable floor area of about 87,400 square feet, is part of Mapletree’s master plan to rejuvenate the Alexandra vicinity.
Under the ARC’s blueprint, the retail centre will be equipped with energy and water efficiencies which could reap total cost savings of $170,000 annually. Besides an energy efficient chiller plant and light fittings that could conserve up to 760,000 KWhr of energy every year, its water efficient fittings and the effective use of NEWater for the cooling tower and landscape irrigation is expected to save about 33,000 m3 of potable water, equivalent to 13 Olympic-size pools annually.
Donned in new glass panels cladding the external façade with about 75 retail outlets sprawling the retail space, this new kid on the office block will soon enliven the Alexandra vicinity with a wider range of food and beverage options, a supermarket, fashion, hair and beauty outlets, bookstore, banking services and other convenient services.
The accolades bring the total number of Green Mark buildings owned by Mapletree to six today. Other Green Mark certifications which Mapletree had obtained include Green Mark Platinum Awards for Mapletree Anson, a grade A office building and Mapletree Business City, an integrated business development as well as Green Mark Gold Awards for Bank of America Merrill Lynch HarbourFront and Tata Communications Exchange, a build-to-suit data centre.
