Imagine a world where your home is built with the well-being of the environment in mind. Picture a future where buildings are designed intelligently to be green and energy efficient.
Thousands of eager minds stepped into this vision of a greener tomorrow at the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) first public green building exhibition held from 10 to 13 December 2009 at City Square Mall, Singapore’s first eco-mall.
Launched by Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education, Ms Grace Fu on 10 December, the exhibition gives Singaporeans an overview of the green building movement and a better appreciation of how the built environment is gearing up towards a greener Singapore by 2030.
Themed “Let’s Build a Green Future”, the exhibition takes the green building movement a step further by helping consumers better understand what a green building or a green home actually means.
The exhibition, which will rove for two years at malls and other public areas, aims to empower consumers into making intelligent, informed decisions on green buildings, and inspire Singaporeans with the message that everyone plays an important part in the green building movement.
Showcasing the green building profession and technology
At the exhibition, visitors got up close with the faces behind green buildings and were provided with insights into the careers of green building professionals across the whole value chain. An estimated 18,000 to 20,000 of such professionals will need to be trained to achieve the target of greening 80% of all our buildings in Singapore by 2030.
One such advanced technology, the 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) system, was on display at the exhibition. The system allows “green” building professionals to design, build and manage buildings seamlessly, as well as analyse building energy needs and consumption to improve energy efficiency.
To further advance the development of green buildings in Singapore, BCA will introduce an electronic platform for the industry to submit building plans based on Building Information Modelling from January 2010.
Green building fun for the whole family
Unlike previous industry driven exhibitions, BCA’s first public green building exhibition uses a more fun approach to educate visitors on green buildings and homes.
Upon entry, visitors were given a game card with fun puzzles to solve. The mission? Find and fill in all the answers hidden in the green building exhibition.
Visitors went all out to find the answers, and interacted with the many exhibits through their quest for green building knowledge.
After submitting their game cards and receiving a gift, visitors lined up to play the other fun games at the exhibition.
Visitors were also introduced for the first time to Green Building Mascots “Greco” and “Beco”. With tall “Greco” representing green buildings and small “Beco” championing green homes. The public can now better access the idea of green buildings through these cute, loveable characters.
In the lead up to the exhibition, BCA also organised its first green building painting competition, “My Green City, My Green Home”, which was open to all secondary school students.
The 16 winners of the competition received an award from SMS Fu at the exhibition’s official launch ceremony. The winning paintings which were put on display at the exhibition, depict our youths’ visions of a greener world.
Commenting on these efforts, BCA CEO Dr John Keung said, “We hope that this exhibition will challenge our youths’ traditional perceptions about the built environment and encourage them to join us in greening the built environment in Singapore, the region and the world.”
The exhibition’s next stop will be at Suntec City in March 2010. Login to Facebook and be a fan of “BCA Green Buildings” to follow the exhibition’s progress!