i. My Tree House – World’s First Green Library for Kids
ii. CDL Green Gallery – Singapore’s First Zero Energy Green Gallery
City Developments Limited
In 2013, CDL celebrated its 50th Anniversary by contributing two first-of-its-kind green gifts to the nation, leveraging on its green building expertise.
INTRODUCTION
CDL’s commitment is to ‘Conserve as we Construct’, to achieve a balanced triple bottom-line focused on People, Planet, Profits. In 2013, CDL celebrated its 50th Anniversary by contributing two first-of-its-kind green gifts to the nation, both being awarded Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum status – the highest tier of green buildings in Singapore.My Tree House is the World’s 1st Green Library for Kids, jointly conceptualised with National Library Board as a special library for children with eco-friendly features and internal fittings. Through its vast collection of eco-themed reading materials, activities and multimedia installations, My Tree House encourages children to explore and discover about the environment and conservation.
The CDL Green Gallery @ Singapore Botanic Gardens (SBG) Heritage Museum is Singapore’s first Zero Energy Green Gallery. It is built with two innovative features introduced in Singapore for the first time – a biomaterial known as Hempcrete (largely made from the hemp plant) and a prefabricated modular system.
FRAMEWORK AND STRATEGY
My Tree House is the result of CDL’s collaboration with 11 like-minded partners who incorporated green principles in all facets from design, infrastructure and use of sustainable materials, to collection and programming. As a pioneering green developer, CDL lent its green building expertise towards this worthy community project and created a green space where children can read and learn about the environment in a fun and interactive way.The CDL Green Gallery was constructed by leveraging on CDL’s green building knowledge and through collaboration with 10 like-minded partners. The Gallery is testament to CDL’s commitment to influence its stakeholders’ behaviours and mind-set to be more environmentally conscious and to always push boundaries further to achieve environmental excellence.
ACHIEVEMENT AND IMPACT
My Tree House has a collection of 45,000 books available across four languages, e-books, and interactive e-reading kiosks. In July 2013, Dr Jill Biden, wife of US Vice President Joe Biden, was a special guest at My Tree House where she read a book to some 60 primary school children, and in December 2013, an Eco-Camp was also held at My Tree House.The CDL Green Gallery educates visitors on environmental and natural heritage conservation. Together with the SBG Heritage Museum, the CDL Green Gallery also supports SBG’s nomination bid to become Singapore’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. The first exhibition,“Living in a Garden”, has served to educate the public about Singapore’s evolution into a Garden City through the years. Since opening in November 2013, the Gallery has garnered extensive media coverage from print and broadcast to online.
FUTURE DIRECTION
For both projects, continued engagement and promotion to target community audience are ongoing. In accordance with CDL’s commitment to continuously engage stakeholders to spread the message of environmental conservation, plans are underway, for instance, to reach out to school children via industry partners like the BCA to visit the library.CDL has an employee volunteer club called City Sunshine Club which plans to bring the beneficiaries it works with to visit and enjoy both projects. Lastly, both My Tree House and the CDL Green Gallery have been identified as showcase projects during the upcoming International Green Building Conference to be held in Singapore in September 2014.
City Developments Limited (CDL) has been Singapore’s property pioneer since 1963. A listed international property and hotel conglomerate, CDL is involved in real estate development and investment, hotel ownership and management, facilities management, and provision of hospitality solutions.
