Standard Chartered @ Changi Awarded Environmental Platinum Green Mark Certification

May 27, 2009 by Eugene Tay
Filed under Operations and Culture

This is a press release from Standard Chartered Bank.

Standard Chartered @ Changi awarded Environmental Platinum Green Mark Certification

Features first-of-its-kind endangered species educational garden in commercial buildings

27 May 2009, Singapore – Standard Chartered announced today that its new office building, Standard Chartered @ Changi at Changi Business Park, has been awarded the Platinum Green Mark Certification by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (“BCA”).

The built-to-suit office building integrates energy and water efficient features and is expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 36 percent compared to conventional buildings in Singapore. The building will also incorporate an endangered species educational garden as part of its comprehensive range of eco-friendly features.

First-of-its-kind in office buildings, the garden is designed to be a recreational space as well as to raise awareness of environmental conservation among employees and the community. Located on the ground level, the garden will feature a range of plants which are extinct or at risk of extinction in the wild due to over-collecting or de-forestation.

Approximately 20 percent of the plants across the building’s 70,000 square feet landscaping will be of the endangered variety with educational areas focusing on a range of endangered plants with everyday uses in medicine or food.

This is part of Standard Chartered’s efforts to educate the next generation on the importance of protecting the environment. The Bank will collaborate with Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and the Singapore Botanic Gardens to participate in awareness programmes throughout the world.

The new building includes energy efficient and water saving features such as:

Solar panels to generate sufficient power to maintain the building when unoccupied. This would maintain emergency systems and landscape irrigation so the building effectively has zero energy consumption when not in use.
An automatic drip-feed irrigation system utilising rainwater and recycled water for effective landscape management
Recycling of waste water, condensate and rain water collection will result in considerable water savings of up to 19,890 m3 of water per year which is enough to fill eight Olympic-size swimming pools

Lim Cheng Teck, Chief Executive, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, said:

Minimising the impact of our business on the environment has always been an integral part of Standard Chartered’s sustainable agenda. We are proud to be given this award as it is a strong recognition of the Bank’s commitment to improve the environmental impact of its operations, especially in the area of energy consumption in its buildings.

An integral part of this building is the trees, plants and foliage which will provide a healthier working environment as well as reinforce the importance of protecting our environment.

The BCA Greenmark Platinum award is the highest environmental award in Singapore recognising projects that demonstrate a minimum of 30% energy and water savings as well as environmentally sustainable building practices and innovative green features.

Tags: green buildings, green mark, Standard Chartered