Speech by Minister Chee Hong Tat at the Opening Ceremony of the International Built Environment Week 2026

Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. A very good morning to our friends and international partners from the Built Environment sector. A warm welcome to this event and a warm welcome to Singapore. Very happy to join all of you this morning at the opening of International Built Environment Week (IBEW) 2026.

IBEW brings together leaders and practitioners from Singapore and around the world to share ideas, to learn from one another, and explore new ways to transform our Built Environment. This exchange is important because many of the challenges we face today are shared, and there is much that we can gain by learning from one another and by working together. In addition to looking at AI, Artificial Intelligence, I think what we also hope to be able to promote through an event like this is a different kind of AI, Authentic Interactions.

This year's theme, “Empowering People, Accelerating Intelligence” reflects what we must do to take our BE sector to the next stage. Technology is advancing rapidly, but technology alone will not transform our sector. It is necessary to have technology, but it is not enough to only have technology. We must also equip our BE professionals with the skills and tools needed to harness the full potential of technology and innovation, so that we can design bolder, build better and safer, and also manage our infrastructure and facilities smarter.

Building a Sustainable and Liveable City through Innovation

Technology and innovation must serve the evolving needs of the industry and work well with our people and processes. What matters is creating practical, deployable solutions that can help stakeholders save time, save costs and save manpower, while maintaining high standards of safety and sustainability.

Over the past decade, we have made good progress under the Cities of Tomorrow Research and Development (R&D) Programme. We have supported promising ideas from research through to real-world application, producing tangible benefits for the industry and for Singaporeans.

One example is our research into how building façade materials perform under changing climate conditions. The findings help building owners better anticipate maintenance needs and take timely action, reducing safety risks associated with façade deterioration.

We are also seeing more companies step forward to work with researchers and our Institutes of Higher Learning to develop and deploy solutions under our research and innovation programmes.

One good example is the Construction Technology Innovation Laboratory (CTIL). This is a partnership between the Singapore Institute of Technology and Woh Hup, and it is supported under the Built Environment Technology Alliance Catalyst Programme.

CTIL has developed high-performance steel king posts, which are central support columns, that are 57% lighter than conventional ones, and can be installed faster and more precisely with a smart positioning system. This helps to improve productivity and reduce costly installation errors. The enhanced king posts have already been deployed in multiple projects across Singapore, such as Newport Plaza and the redevelopment of Alexandra Hospital.

We want to see more of such partnerships and a greater willingness to try new ideas, to take calculated risks and to make targeted investments. This is how we turn promising innovations into practical solutions, and how we can continue to improve the way we build.

I am pleased to announce that we will set aside an additional $112 million over the next five years under the Research, Innovation & Enterprise 2030 (RIE2030) tranche, for the Cities of Tomorrow R&D Programme.

This reflects the Government’s continued commitment to investing in innovation and to partnering the industry to translate good ideas into practical solutions that can be commercialised and deployed in Singapore, and over time, taken to overseas markets.

Building on the momentum of previous tranches, RIE2030 will focus our efforts on four areas that are increasingly important to Singapore’s Built Environment.

First, safer and more productive demolition. As we rejuvenate more parts of the city, we need better ways to carry out demolition works more efficiently and safely, while minimising risks, disruptions, noise and other disamenities in our dense built-up areas.

Second, smarter ways to maintain our buildings. As our buildings age and their uses become more diverse, we need better tools, such as anticipatory models, to assess structural health, lifecycle costs, and remaining operational lifespan. These tools can help building owners anticipate maintenance needs, plan repairs in a timely manner, and make better-informed decisions.

Third, decarbonising our Built Environment. We will step up efforts to reduce both operational and embodied carbon emissions, as Singapore works towards achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Fourth, turning more research into real world solutions. We will place greater emphasis on helping promising innovations move beyond the research and pilot stages towards wider industry adoption. Ultimately, our investments in R&D must translate into tangible improvements in the way we design, build, and manage our built environment.

I have spoken about building greener, safer and faster. Looking ahead, we also want to unlock more underground uses, to optimise our limited land to meet Singapore’s diverse needs. We will work with the National Research Foundation for additional funding to support more research and innovation to achieve Singapore’s long-term underground development goals and deepen our local capabilities within our ecosystem. 

But Government funding and research efforts alone will not be enough. The true test of a strong research programme lies in whether its solutions can be taken up and can make a real difference on the ground. This is why we need more companies to join us and come on board RIE2030, so that we co-develop new solutions together, participate in pilot trials, and adopt promising innovations in your projects. This is what my colleagues and I from the public sector would like to support and would like to see happen on the ground - good ideas brought from the lab into real world projects and real world solutions that can benefit our companies and our stakeholders.

The first grant call for RIE2030 is expected to be launched later this year, and we will share more details then. But I want to give you a curtain raiser so that you can start to think about it, and when we initiate the grant call, I hope many of you will participate and join us in this process.

A Greener Built Environment and Singapore through Green Mark Version 7

We must also continue to accelerate our sustainability efforts. While we build faster and smarter, we must also at the same time, look at how we can build greener.

One important way we have done this is through BCA’s Green Mark certification scheme.

Since its introduction in 2005, Green Mark has evolved alongside our sustainability ambitions and helped to raise standards across the industry.

This is important because the Built Environment sector accounts for over 20% of Singapore's carbon emissions. Greening our buildings is an important part of our overall efforts to reduce Singapore’s carbon footprint and to achieve our targets under the Singapore Green Building Masterplan and, in turn, the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

Over the years, Green Mark has gained strong support from the industry, both in Singapore and abroad. Today, we have more than 2,700 BCA Green Mark buildings in Singapore, and over 350 BCA Green Mark projects across 18 countries. I want to thank our industry partners, our friends and the industry for your support, for coming on board this process together with the government, and to see how we can use this framework to encourage more green buildings.

At home, we are making steady progress towards our 80-80-80 targets under the Singapore Green Building Masterplan –

First, to green 80% of our buildings by Gross Floor Area (GFA) by 2030. Today, we are at 66%, so another 14% more to go.

Second, to have 80% of new developments be Super Low Energy buildings from 2030. The gap is bigger for this. Today, we are at 33% and there is some catching up to do;

And for our best-in-class buildings, we want to achieve an 80% improvement in energy efficiency from 2005 levels by 2030. This one we are doing quite well. Today, we have already attained 72%.

These improvements translate into real benefits. Green Mark buildings in Singapore collectively save more than 4.6 billion kWh of electricity annually. This is equivalent to powering over one million 4-room HDB flats and it can eliminate approximately 1.9 million tonnes of carbon emissions and generating cost savings of approximately $1.6 billion per year. So this is why some people say if we do it correctly, like in the case of the green buildings, to save energy, we actually also help building owners and homeowners to save costs.

As part of our efforts towards a greener Built Environment, I am happy to share with everyone that we are launching the BCA Green Mark Version 7. The refreshed framework will support our continued push towards the 80-80-80 targets, while making it easier for more building owners and developers to come on board.

Building on the standards established by earlier editions, Green Mark Version 7 will focus on three areas. First, greening more of Singapore’s existing building stock. Second, raising the bar for energy efficiency. Third, making the scheme more flexible and business friendly.

First, greening more of our existing building stock. We will introduce the new BCA Energy Rating, which provides building owners with an alternative certification pathway to Green Mark certification. And this is done by focusing first on energy performance, because I think that is a big contributor to the overall carbon emissions of the building. So this will enable more building owners to start their sustainability journey through energy improvement retrofits, and then hopefully progressively do more over time.

Second, we want to raise the bar for energy efficiency in our buildings. We will introduce a new SLE70 Green Mark tier to recognise industry frontrunners that achieve the highest levels of energy performance for green buildings. Green Mark Version 7 will also recognise Alternative Cooling Technologies, which can reduce cooling energy use by up to 50% without compromising thermal comfort. I think is especially useful in Singapore and other tropical countries, or countries with a hotter climate, because cooling is the one that takes up the largest amount of energy and contributes the largest amount of carbon emissions overall for buildings.

Third, to make the Green Mark more flexible and business ready. We have taken in feedback from the industry and streamlined the recertification process. Owners of buildings of similar typology can now bundle multiple buildings under a single application. Buildings that sustain good energy performance can also enjoy an extended certification validity of five years, up from the current three years.

We are aligning Green Mark Version 7 more closely with globally recognised Environmental, Social and Governance reporting frameworks and international sustainability standards.

This will make it easier for certified building owners to access green financing opportunities and strengthen their competitiveness in a global economy that is becoming more sustainability conscious. So it is not just being able to benefit from the ecosystem that we have here in Singapore, but also from the global ecosystem.

We have piloted Green Mark Version 7 in a range of projects, with strong participation and positive feedback from our industry partners. And the results show that higher energy performance is achievable across different types of developments.

One of the pilot projects is the new Comcentre, which is a large mixed-use redevelopment in the heart of Orchard and Somerset. The project achieved Green Mark Platinum with a Zero Energy Rating. This shows that even for a development of this scale and complexity, high levels of energy performance can be achieved through thoughtful design and innovative engineering.

We can achieve significant improvements in our existing buildings too. The SMU Administration Building underwent a comprehensive energy improvement retrofit and achieved an SLE60 Energy Rating, with a payback period of less than four years. This is a good example of how the right approach and investments in energy efficiency can make both environmental and economic sense. They are good for business, good for costs, and also good for the environment. We hope the positive outcomes that I have shared and there are many more - I hope these positive outcomes will encourage our building owners to come on board and for more of our buildings to be able to improve their energy performance.

We also have good examples just across the road from us. Gardens by the Bay’s Bay South Garden and upcoming Bay East Garden have both attained Green Mark Platinum with an Energy Rating of SLE70. They took different approaches suited to their respective sites, from using a biomass cogeneration system in Bay South, which generates renewable energy from organic waste, to combining active and passive designs with solar energy installations in Bay East. This shows that high energy performance can be achieved through different pathways, by applying the right solutions for each development.

We will adopt a flexible and inclusive approach, because ultimately it doesn’t matter which pathway you take, which technology you deploy. The most important thing is that you are able to achieve good energy performance to lower your carbon emissions. We are focusing more on the outcomes and the end in mind, and we will be flexible in terms of the pathways that business owners and building owners take.

I want to encourage all building owners and developers to make full use of these opportunities and join us in building a greener Built Environment and a more sustainable Singapore.

Update on Action Team - Accreditation Scheme for Firm-Based Site Supervision

Streamlining Green Mark requirements and processes is one example of how we are working with industry to do things better. There are other areas where we can simplify our processes, raise productivity, and make our BE sector more future-ready.

This is why we set up the Action Team to Improve Built Environment Productivity earlier this year.

The Action Team brings together government agencies and industry partners to jointly identify solutions that can help to save time, cost and manpower, while maintaining high standards of safety and quality.

We have been studying a range of different ideas with the industry. Where the solutions are ready, we have been progressively implementing, because I told my colleagues not to wait until the end, when we finish everything, finish the review, then we start implementing. This is because some of these ideas are clearer and more straightforward, hence we are able to get it done more quickly, and we should do so, so that the industry can start to benefit, while we continue to study some of the further ideas that need more time. So, we take a practical approach, and the purpose is to implement as quickly as possible, together with our industry partners, to help as many of you to benefit from the changes as possible.

One area that we are making progress is the firm-based site supervision capabilities.

At IBEW last year, I announced that from 2028, developers and builders will be required to engage licensed firms to supervise building works for projects exceeding $75 million in value, as we move towards a firm-based regime.

Licensed site supervision firms will play an important role in helping to keep pace with the demands of increasingly complex projects and new technological developments, while ensuring quality and safety.

To support this shift, the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC), in consultation with BCA, will launch the Site Supervision Firm Accreditation Scheme from September 2026. Firms that wish to be licensed under the new regime will first need to obtain accreditation.

The accreditation scheme will assess whether firms have the necessary governance structure, systems and processes in place to ensure efficiency and quality control in site supervision, and at the same time effectively harness technology.

One important area is Remote Site Supervision. Accredited firms will need to put in place the necessary processes and procedures to deploy Remote Site Supervision effectively. We hope this will enable us to scale up adoption across the industry, to facilitate more productive deployment of site supervisors, saving costs and time.

Just as importantly, firms that have been accredited will need to establish structured training programmes to develop their professionals and build up their capabilities over time. This will help firms attract and retain skilled professionals, while strengthening the talent pipeline for our sector.

For site supervision firms that are looking to take on larger projects, I encourage you to start preparing early and to obtain accreditation ahead of the new licensing requirements in 2028.

Conclusion

Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to conclude. Today, I have spoken about how we can take our BE sector forward, by continuing to invest in our people, embrace innovation and technology, and work together as one ecosystem.

The Government cannot do this alone. We need our researchers to develop new ideas, we need companies to invest and take these ideas to market, and we need our industry professionals to implement these ideas and put them into practice. This is teamwork, we need to work together. I am confident that if we continue to work closely in collaboration, we can create a Built Environment that is greener, safer and more productive.

I wish everyone a fruitful IBEW 2026, and I look forward to seeing more ideas and partnerships from this week being translated into action and into new possibilities for our industry.

Thank you very much.