Singapore’s First “Green” Factory Embraces Environmentally Friendly Practices

Greenhub — Singapore’s first “green” factory — was officially opened on Thursday by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Greenhub’s nondescript exterior belies the effort and the attention to detail that has gone into Singapore’s first green factory.

The factory embraces environmentally friendly processes all the way from its construction down to its daily operations.

Its self-tinting windows act as a natural cooler, regulating excess sunlight and heat.

There are also solar panels on the rooftop which help offset the office space’s annual energy consumption of 160,000 kilowatt-hours per year.

The excess electricity generated is sold off to Singapore Power.

It is also the first industrial building in Singapore to quantify its carbon footprint during the construction phase.

This was in collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

This allows it to benchmark itself against industry norms and to keep the footprint low.

Greenhub is owned by Greenpac, a company that offers redesigned packaging solutions that encourage environmental sustainability.

For example, the crates that the company uses to transport their packages are made from processed wood sourced from ecologically sustainable forests.

Light and reusable, these crates help to reduce freight charges as well as saving the environment in terms of less fossil fuel consumption during the export process.

“We are constantly looking at waste management and upstream – how we can use less and generate less waste,” said Greenpac CEO Susan Chong.

She said the company also looks at using the right sustainable material so that it will have lesser challenges in disposing the waste.

“That is probably more effective than just waste management,” she said.

At its opening on Thursday, Mr Tharman said Greenpac has transformed itself from a one-person start up 10 years ago into a thriving company with an annual turnover of S$70 million.

Mr Tharman said: “You’ve done it in a way which shows how many other companies can get commercial advantage through environmental value, through environmental protection as a commercial strategy but the core of it is innovation. That’s what Greenpac is about.”

“Our SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) can do well through innovation with all the support that the government is providing,” he added.

The $20-million building is located close to Boon Lay. It houses Greenpac’s warehouse and office space in its 18,000 square metre premises.