A  new project, Jem by Lend Lease, has become the first mixed-use development project in Singapore to achieve the Building Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum Award rating for its eco-friendly features and for replacing lost landscape by 122%. The Jem shopping mall – due to open next month with 100% retail space occupied – is located adjacent to the Jurong East MRT station. Meanwhile,Mr Mann Young, Head of Sustainability, Asia, Lend Lease gets awarded the Green Advocate of the Year Award. Well deserved. Congratulations, Mann! Read more

New Singapore project first to replace more greenery than is lost

SAA Architects and the Jem project

A new project, Jem, in Singapore has become the first mixed-use development project to achieve the Singapore Building Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum Award rating for its eco-friendly features and for replacing lost landscape by 122 per cent.

The mall and office tower, located at the Jurong Lake District, is a 19,124 square metres development designed by SAA Architects, one of the leading architectural firms in Southeast Asia with several Green Mark Awards in its belt.

The designers recognised the project’s sheer size and aimed to address its urban impact on the local community by applying a landscape replacement strategy.

It is also a policy promoted by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) with the following objectives: to enhance quality of life through greenery and spaces of relief; to create a distinctive image of the city in the tropics; and, to help bring environmental benefits like air quality improvement and urban island heat mitigation.

In the case of Jem, the greenery lost due to its development, as well as its carbon footprint, was replaced with abundant skyrise greenery and landscape areas within the complex.

The 17-storey project has four zones of greenery. The first is called Active Laneways, or Jem Street, which is situated between levels one to four complete with carefully selected plants that increase native species and promote biodiversity. This area accounts for 20 per cent of the total landscape replacement area.

Next is the Cascading Skypark or Jem Park, which occupies levels five to seven. This portion serves as the ecological and communal core of the building, with children’s play areas, meeting spaces, quiet reflection zones, a café, some educational spots and more landscaping for the community’s enjoyment.

The third zone, Sky Terraces, is located on the office side of the project, providing external shading, minimising heat gain and maximising the views of the surrounding environment. The effect of this zone is to add lushness to the Jurong scenery, thereby increasing the quality of life by making the new development a pleasing place to work and relax.

Sky Sanctuary, the fourth and last zone found at the top of the office tower, completes the landscape replacement by adding to this benefit, giving office workers another peaceful location to escape the corporate grind and a heightened appreciation for the environment.

As for the other eco-friendly features of Jem, the designers at SAA Architects included an efficient air-conditioning system, regenerative lifts and ample use of LED lighting. The project will also reduce water consumption to the volume of approximately 250,000 cubic metres (or around 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools) per year.

Being a Green Mark Platinum Awardee, Jem is expected to minimise energy consumption equivalent to the energy generated by about 2,400 HDB apartments annually.

Source: www.eco-business.com ,  www.lendlease.com and www.jem.sg

Singapore, 14 May 2013 – Lend Lease is honored to win two awards at the annual Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Awards 2013; Mr Mann Young, Head of Sustainability, Asia, Lend Lease will be awarded the Green Advocate of the Year Award while Jem®, a mixed-use development in Jurong Gateway, is one of the recipients of BCA’s coveted first Universal Design (UD) Mark Award for its exemplary UD features.

Mr Mann Young said: “At Lend Lease, the community is at the heart of everything we do. We want to kickstart a revolution in the building industry by focusing on innovative technology and programmes that ultimately produce an inclusive and greener built environment. This is in line with our vision of Creating the Best Places as we create designs that revolve around people to leave a positive legacy for generations to come.”

Congratulating Lend Lease, BCA CEO Dr. John Keung commented: “We are proud to work with partners like Lend Lease, who are renowned for placing sustainability at the top of their priorities. Their projects are an example of how one can optimise project outcomes that are not only sustainable but also take into consideration the commercial and business aspirations of all key stakeholders. This is the way forward, as we embark on our journey together to develop a truly sustainable and inclusive city.”

Mr Mann Young will be conferred the Green Advocate of the Year at this year’s BCA awards ceremony on 16 May 2013 in recognition of his commitment and passion for environmental sustainability. Responsible for driving Lend Lease’s sustainability philosophy of “Every Action Adds Up”, he constantly introduces innovative technology to the building sector hoping to see a positive revolution in the industry. Lend Lease’s Jem®, 313@somerset and Parkway Parade are leading projects amongst his notable project contributions in Singapore, with all three projects awarded the BCA Green Mark Platinum status. He also contributed to help Setia City Mall be the first mall in Malaysia to win the BCA Green Mark Gold Award. His other industry advocacy roles in the sustainability arena include the Chairperson of Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA) Sustainability Committee, a committee member of United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) Property Working Group and the World Green Building Council Regional Manager of the Asia Pacific Green Building Council Network.

Jem® will be among the first recipients of the coveted Universal Design (UD) Mark Award voluntary certification scheme at the ceremony this year, winning the GoldPlus (design) award. The UD Mark accords recognition to developments and projects that pursue a design philosophy that enables everyone – the young, the old and persons with different abilities – to enjoy inclusive living in familiar surroundings with their loved ones. Some of the notable measures adopted by the highly anticipated retail and commercial development include conducting consumer focus group studies to understand their needs and requirements, adopting a guide dog friendly policy in the mall and a comprehensive network of shelters and connecting walkways are all evidence of Jem® catering to the varying needs of diverse user groups in its community. The designed facilities will continue to be maintained with the original purpose in mind as Lend Lease continues to manage the mall. Lend Lease is involved as owner, development manager, constructor and asset and property manager, ensuring the universal design is upkept through the entire property spectrum. (For more information on the UD measures in Jem®, please refer to Annex A)

In addition to these accolades, Lend Lease is honored to be the Project and Construction Manager of the Singapore Pools Building at Middle Road that received the BCA Green Mark GoldPlus award. Working closely with Singapore Pools and CPG Consultants, Lend Lease played an instrumental role in bringing the building and infrastructure up to current standards of energy-saving excellence.

These industry recognitions on both an individual and project-wide level are strong testaments to Lend Lease’s continual strong commitment to sustainability and alignment to BCA’s vision to have the best built environment for Singapore, our distinctive global city.