As Singapore moves towards 2025, significant changes are expected to take place in the built environment. The facilities management sector is facing pressure to adapt to changing regulatory demands, cost constraints, and technological advancements. This transformation will be driven by three key factors – the mandatory energy improvement regime, the impact of rising temperatures on energy costs, and the increasing trend towards adaptive reuse in construction.Buildings are getting smarter in Singapore through mandatory energy audits and improvements. As of 2025, existing energy-intensive buildings will be required to undergo energy audits and implement energy-efficient measures as part of the Mandatory Energy Improvement regime. This applies to commercial, healthcare, institutional, civic, community, and educational buildings with a gross floor area of over 5,000 sqm. These measures will help to reduce energy usage intensity by 10% from pre-audit levels, making it achievable through the implementation of the right strategies.Asset owners are urged to take a medium-to-long-term perspective on investments in energy-efficient systems. By conducting energy audits, they can gain insights into energy consumption patterns and identify areas for improvement. This will help to prolong the lifespan of assets, reduce operating costs in the long run, and contribute to a more sustainable built environment. Building owners can also take advantage of grants to cover some of the costs of energy efficiency upgrades.Temasek Polytechnic’s experience in digitising its campus operations offers valuable insights into the future of smart and sustainable facilities management. Through a suite of solutions that digitise campus operations, including facility booking, automated repair and maintenance work orders, and crowd management and temperature control measures, the polytechnic has been able to maximise the return on investment in its assets and reduce operational carbon levels. By embracing digitalisation, data analytics, and sustainable practices, the FM sector can drive sustainability, reduce costs, and ensure long-term operational success.Another driver of change in FM is the obligation for all listed and large non-listed companies with revenues of at least $1 billion and total assets of at least $500 million to disclose their climate risks by 2027. This will further push businesses to invest in energy efficiency measures, as rising temperatures and energy costs are expected to have a significant impact on building operations. In fact, ACMV systems, which account for about 60% of total energy expenses in many buildings, are already a major contributor to operational costs. To mitigate these costs, building owners can implement energy-efficient solutions, such as energy recovery systems or thermal energy storage, and optimise chiller plant operations to match changing weather conditions.The rising cost of construction is also prompting a shift towards adaptive reuse, with the rate of redevelopment in Singapore accelerating over the past five years. According to estimates by Surbana Jurong (SJ), mechanical and electrical costs have increased by approximately 30% compared to pre-pandemic levels. This rise can be attributed to increased logistics shipping costs and labour and construction materials prices. As such, there has been a growing trend towards adopting smart design and engineering practices and utilising collaborative common data environments to benchmark construction and operational costs.Adaptive reuse also offers a sustainable solution to rising costs by retaining structural elements of existing buildings and using proptech platforms, such as Podium, to facilitate integrated digital delivery. By consolidating data from multiple sources, Podium enables stakeholders to access valuable information on design, civil and structural engineering plans, construction materials, and components. This data is critical for making decisions on whether to redevelop or continue using existing structures. Additionally, post-construction, Podium can integrate with other operational platforms to track building performance metrics, such as energy, waste, water, indoor air quality, and occupancy trends, to drive operational carbon reduction goals.Smart buildings can also help mitigate cost pressures by maximising the life cycle of capital-intensive equipment, such as ACMVs, lifts, and air handling units. By implementing a data-driven, long-term life cycle approach that prioritises energy savings, building owners can offset energy tariffs and improve equipment efficiency. This is achieved through predictive maintenance, where sensors are used to monitor and track the performance of each component in a piece of equipment. This information can help asset owners make informed decisions on when to replace parts and whether to retrofit or replace entire systems.In conclusion, with the built environment in Singapore poised for significant transformation, the facilities management sector must adapt to evolving regulatory demands, cost pressures, and technological advancements. Through the implementation of the right strategies, such as energy-efficient measures, smart design and engineering practices, and the use of proptech platforms, the sector can drive sustainability, reduce costs, and ensure long-term operational success.
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