Smart And Sustainable Buildings 2025 Key Drivers Greener Future
Singapore is on the cusp of significant transformation in its built environment, with the facilities management (FM) sector facing the challenge of adapting to evolving regulatory demands, cost pressures, and technological advancements as we approach 2025. To ensure the sustainability of FM, there are three key drivers that will shape its future: the mandatory energy improvement regime, the impact of rising temperatures on energy costs, and the growing trend towards adaptive reuse in construction.
The Mandatory Energy Improvement regime, set to begin in the third quarter of 2025, will require existing energy-intensive buildings in Singapore to undergo energy audits and implement energy-efficiency improvement measures. This mandate applies to various types of buildings with a gross floor area exceeding 5,000 sq m. In order to comply, buildings must reduce their energy usage intensity by 10% from pre-energy audit levels. This target is achievable with the right strategies in place.
Asset owners are encouraged to take a medium to long-term view on capital expenditure-heavy investments in energy-efficient systems. The energy audits will provide valuable data on energy consumption patterns and identify performance gaps, enabling asset owners to develop a strategy to prolong the lifespan of assets, reduce operating costs in the long run, and contribute to a more sustainable built environment. Building owners can also leverage grants to help cover the costs of energy efficiency upgrades.
Singapore’s first smart campus, Temasek Polytechnic, embarked on a bold ambition to digitize its campus operations in 2021. Through this experience, valuable insights have been gained into the future of smart and sustainable facilities management. At the core of Temasek Polytechnic’s smart campus is a suite of solutions that digitize campus operations, including facility booking, automating campus repair and maintenance work orders, crowd management, and temperature control measures. These systems are integrated into a common data environment that generates data, which is then visualized, tracked, and monitored at a control center on campus. This helps campus operations teams make informed decisions to keep the building operational systems healthy, maximize the return on investment in these assets, and reduce operational carbon levels.
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Another driver for the future of FM is the climate disclosure obligations for all listed and large non-listed companies with revenues of at least $1 billion and total assets of at least $500 million by 2027. This will push for greater energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment.
Rising temperatures and energy costs will also drive investments in proptech. With higher temperatures predicted for 2025, there will be a greater demand for cooling in buildings, resulting in more investments in predictive technology. Air conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV) systems are already a major contributor to operational costs, accounting for approximately 60% of total energy expenses. In order to mitigate rising energy costs, building owners can implement energy-efficient solutions such as energy recovery systems or thermal energy storage. Additionally, optimizing chiller plant operations to match changing weather conditions can reduce energy waste and costs.
Extreme weather events, such as flooding and urban heat, pose a threat to critical infrastructure, including drainage and plumbing systems, in cities and precincts. Therefore, a clearer understanding of climate change risks is increasingly being incorporated into building operations. With the help of advances in web-based geospatial IT, facilities and asset managers can identify flood-prone areas or spaces exposed to extreme heat. This enables them to develop a comprehensive operational plan that takes into account predicting extreme weather events to mitigate the risk of equipment failure and downtime, as well as optimizing chiller plant operations. This information is essential when building owners have to decide whether to redevelop or reuse existing structural elements, known as the adaptive reuse approach.
As construction costs continue to rise, there is a growing trend towards adaptive reuse in Singapore, with redevelopment rates accelerating over the past five years. In response to the increase in construction costs, there is a shift towards smart design and engineering practices, including the use of collaborative common data environments to benchmark construction and operational costs.
Adaptive reuse can be facilitated by platforms that support integrated digital delivery. These enable real estate developers and contractors to gain real-time insights into key performance indicators such as time, cost, quality, and safety. Platforms like Podium aim to provide a digital ecosystem that connects developers, designers, and the supply chain to deliver high construction productivity and promote sustainable building practices. By consolidating data from multiple sources, all stakeholders across the various stages of the building cycle can access valuable data, which informs decision-making to minimize embodied carbon levels. Post-construction, Podium can integrate with other operational platforms to track building performance metrics, such as energy, waste, water, indoor air quality, and occupancy trends, to drive operational carbon reduction goals.
Smart buildings can help mitigate further cost pressures by maximizing the life cycle of capital expenditure-heavy equipment, such as ACMVs, lifts, and air handling units. This is achieved through a data-driven long-term life cycle approach that prioritizes energy savings to offset energy tariffs and optimizing the investment in these assets. By deploying sensors to monitor and track the performance of each component in a piece of equipment, predictive maintenance can be implemented to reduce downtime and improve efficiency. For example, sensors can analyze the vibrations in chiller equipment to detect wear or impending failure, while thermographic testing can identify abnormal temperatures or heat buildup. AI-powered smart monitoring systems can also be used to analyze data from various components of a building’s M&E system, providing detailed information to assist decision-making on replacements or retrofits.
In summary, the future of FM in Singapore will be shaped by mandatory energy improvement regulations, rising temperatures and energy costs, and the trend towards adaptive reuse in construction. By embracing digitalization, data analytics, and sustainable practices, the sector can drive sustainability, reduce costs, and ensure long-term operational success.