‘Garden on the Move’ initiative takes future of skyrise greening beyond buildings
Singapore, 5 May 2019 – Asia’s first green-roofed bus initiative was launched today at the inaugural Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) Horticulture Show, held at the newly opened Lakeside Garden, as part of the Festival’s efforts to showcase horticulture excellence and innovation of the local landscape industry.
The ‘Garden on the Move’ initiative will see 10 SBS Transit buses ply Singapore’s roads for at least three months. Outfitted with an innovative, locally developed and soil-less roof system, these ‘green roof’ public buses will be deployed on the roads to study possible energy and cost savings for bus operators.
Supported by Temasek Foundation and designed by GWS Living Art, these green-roofed buses seek to tap on the creativity of young innovators to further extend greenery to improve public places and our quality of life. Other partners supporting this initiative include Moove Media, National Parks Board (NParks), and Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC).
The initiative also seeks to raise awareness on the possibilities of green innovation that is mobile and help reduce vehicles’ carbon emission by lowering fuel consumption needed for the air-conditioning. Members of the public can ride these buses along several routes including one through the Central Business District and another through Orchard Road. Fares for these buses cost the same as for regular buses. Please refer to Factsheet A for more information on the bus routes.
The mobile green roof, a green building product certified by the Singapore Green Building Council’s Singapore Green Building Product certification scheme, is made up of Sphagneticola trilobata and other hardy plants adapted to the local climate, chosen for their resistance to windy and dry conditions. Instead of conventional soil, the plants are secured using GWS’ proprietary Gaiamat, a lightweight mat used for skyrise greenery that is cleaner, easier to maintain and more economical than other conventional green roof systems which are primarily soil-based. The mat is also easy-to-install and easy-to-maintain, so that it can be easily extended to more buses. Please refer to Factsheet B for more information on the Gaiamat.
Research on green roof buses to start
The 10 buses will be part of a research study, also supported by Temasek Foundation, to explore the link between green roofs and the interior temperatures of the buses, focusing on quantifying the reduction in heat transmission on vehicular roofs due to the addition of rooftop greenery. The aim of the three-month study is to confirm that the green roof will lead to a drop in temperature within the interior of the buses, and a reduction in the fuel consumption used for air-conditioning. Dr Tan Chun Liang from the School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore (NUS), will be advising on the design of the study and evaluating its effectiveness. Findings from the study will be shared with interested parties. Please refer to Factsheet C for more information on the research methodology.
The buses also seek to build on SGBC’s earlier Live.Work.Play.Green campaign that also involved public buses, to raise awareness on the sustainability benefits of green innovation for buildings, and other green features.
Mr Zac Toh, Founder of GWS Living Art, said: “We are excited to apply our unique patented green building product to public buses to raise awareness especially as there are increasingly more urban greenery in Singapore. Our team has put together a design to keep the mat system safely on the roof and worked with various parties for months.”
Mrs Jayne Kwek, Chief Executive Officer of Moove Media, said: “We are glad to partner GWS Living Art in transforming ten SBS Transit single deck buses into mobile gardens. It’s a refreshing way to promote green living to the public. Generally, bus rooftop installations for 3D advertisements are fabricated, but in this case, Moove has taken the Gaiamat to create the first-ever green-roofed buses in Asia that is not only soil-less, ultra-light, but more importantly, sustainable.”
Mr Oh Cheow Sheng, Group Director, NParks, said: “This is a creative initiative that seeks to extend Singapore’s greening efforts, and which truly encapsulates the vision of a biophilic City in a Garden. We hope that this will spur others to explore other similarly innovative ways to green up Singapore.”
Dr Tan Chun Liang, NUS, said: “While the impact of greenery on buildings has been well documented, much less is known about the effects of greenery on moving vehicles. To increase green coverage on our roads in this manner is an exciting prospect and we certainly hope that our study can provide the hard figures for mobile gardens as well as other innovations to improve our built environment.”
Dr Ho Nyok Yong, President of the SGBC, said: “Building upon the success of our Live.Work.Play.Green campaign in 2018 where we garnered massive support from the public on green buildings, this new initiative aims to once again drive green building awareness to the forefront of the public’s consciousness. We hope to sustain interest in green buildings by putting one of the most recognisable elements of a green building onto a very public platform.”
Mr Lim Hock Chuan, Chief Executive of Temasek Foundation Ecosperity, said: “Green roofs are not just for buildings or even buses. With some imagination and effort, they can be applied to almost any urban infrastructure, and we can maximise tangible benefits as well as quality of life improvements out of them. We hope that through this project, the public can capitalise on opportunities to extend greenery creatively to more places.”
About GWS Living Art
As a green building specialist, GWS Living Art has extensive experience in greening buildings using live plants – in both external and internal green walls as well as green roofs. GWS has footprints in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India and is expanding in China. A firm made up largely of young people, GWS believes in always looking for creative ways to bring green into the city.
Its green roof product clinched its director, Mr Zac Toh, the Young Innovator of the Year Award 2017.
The company designs, installs and maintains green walls and roofs for residential, commercial and government projects. Its projects include Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 4. Coming from a nursery background, GWS understands plants and this gives the company an advantage in giving the best care to plants.
For more information, please visit www.gwslivingart.com.
About Moove Media
Moove Media Pte Ltd is the advertising arm of ComfortDelGro and has been in operations since 2005. In Singapore, Moove Media offers an integrated Out-of-Home advertisement platform on over 3,000 SBS Transit Buses and 17 Bus Hubs, Rail (North East Line, Downtown Line and Light Rail Transit systems in Sengkang and Punggol), close to 12,400* ComfortDelGro Taxis, ComfortDelGro Buses, as well as other prime ambience sites reaching commuters islandwide.
In 2011, Moove Media made its entry into New South Wales, Australia, specialising in transit advertising on over 1,000 buses in Sydney, Newcastle and Canberra. Its coverage was further expanded to include Victoria, Australia in 2017.
*ComfortDelGro Annual Report 2018
For more information, please visit www.moovemedia.com.sg.
About National Parks Board (NParks)
The National Parks Board (NParks) is responsible for enhancing and managing the urban ecosystems of our biophilic City in a Garden. We are the lead agency for greenery, biodiversity conservation, and wildlife and animal health, welfare and management. We are also actively engaging the community to enhance the quality of our living environment.
NParks manages more than 350 parks, 3,347 hectares of nature reserves, the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Pulau Ubin and the Sisters’ Islands Marine Park. Adding to this is the extensive roadside greenery, and the over 300 km Park Connector Network that links major parks, nature areas and residential estates island-wide. Every year, we run over 3,500 educational and outreach programmes across our various green spaces.
NParks has developed an urban biodiversity conservation model, which aims to conserve representative eco-systems in land-scarce Singapore. NParks also monitors and coordinates measures to enhance the presence of biodiversity in our urban landscape.
NParks is working closely with partners in the landscape, horticulture, veterinary and animal sectors to increase productivity, and provide training for all levels of the workforce. Enhancing competencies of the industry will support Singapore’s vision of being a biophilic City in a Garden.
For more information, visit www.nparks.gov.sg and www.facebook.com/nparksbuzz.
About Singapore Green Building Council
The Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) is an enabler of sustainability in the built environment. Represented by a distinctive public-private partnership that spans across the real estate value chain, SGBC is the nexus for the advocacy of green buildings that are healthier and more resource-efficient.
SGBC shapes green buildings by working to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings and advancing responsible procurement, reinforced by SGBC’s product and services certification schemes that emphasise environmental sustainability.
A member of the World Green Building Council, SGBC is Singapore’s national representative to a global network of close to 80 green building councils.
As the national industry body advocating for green building in Singapore, SGBC certified the Gaiamat for its environmental performance through the Singapore Green Building Product (SGBP) certification scheme. Raising awareness of green building technology and adoption will go towards a greener and healthier built environment for everyone, everywhere.
For more information, please visit www.sgbc.sg.
About Temasek Foundation Ecosperity
Temasek Foundation Ecosperity is a Singapore-based non-profit philanthropic organisation established in 2016 that seeks to marshal ideas and innovations to address environmental, biological and other adversities that endanger people and the sustainability of our planet.
It funds and supports ideas and innovations for actual applications through commercialisation and enterprise, to bring about impactful improvements to the liveability of our world, especially in cities.
Temasek Foundation Ecosperity is a member of the Temasek Family of Foundations, which was established by Temasek to better serve the evolving needs of the wider community, reinforcing its approach to sustainable giving.
For more information, please visit www.temasekfoundation-ecosperity.org.sg.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Name: Zhi Kin
Org: GWS Living Art
DID/HP: 6468 6772 / 8218 9707
Email: [email protected]
Name: Luke Phang
Org: National Parks Board (NParks)
DID/HP: 6471 7265 / 8332 7652
Email: [email protected]
Name: James Tan
Org: Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC)
DID/HP: 6732 5518 / 9800 4815
Email: [email protected]
Moove Media Pte Ltd
Contact: +65 6383 7035
Email: [email protected]
Name: Joshua Wong
Org: Temasek Foundation
DID/HP: 8180 0741
Email: [email protected]
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