The below is translated from Berita Harisan’s article (published Jun 26, 2023). For more details, see the link at the end of this post.
When Punggol was developed as a new neighborhood, Ms. Farizan d’Avezac de Moran had the opportunity to be involved in a project to develop one of the experience centers in the estate that applied sustainable design features.
The showroom-style center allows visitors to see the unique features and facilities of the Punggol estate.
Among them, the roof of the center is made of recycled bitumen paper, while the walls are made of glass bottles with plants inside. Bitumen paper refers to the membrane or tar paper used as a roof pad.
From there, her interest in the field of sustainability began to blossom.
Ms. Farizan had the opportunity to carry out several other projects that applied green features, including an office building with solar panels installed.
“I am very interested in the potential of constructing building surfaces using solar panels. I’m sure that’s the future!
“In fact, I flew to China to negotiate an agreement and went everywhere to fight for it (sustainable design).
“However, time was not on my side and the industry at that time was not ready, even though I tried to push it”
Undeterred and excited by the various opportunities available in the field of sustainability, Ms. Farizan joined the Green Mark Certified Professional course offered by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Academy to learn more about green building design guidelines and technology.
In 2009, she – previously a shareholder in a specialist structural engineering company for 15 years – decided to start her own sustainability consultancy, GreenA Consultants.
Today, her company provides descriptions in the fields of green reporting, certification, environmental studies, protocol development and environmental audits, with projects throughout Asia and as far as Africa.
Ms Farizan, 52, said her company’s clients consisted of those in the public and private sectors from around the world, with the majority of projects in the manufacturing, industrial, infrastructure and residential sectors.
One of the projects carried out by his company involves a mosque in Singapore which is undergoing upgrading work. The mosque has been targeted to be a zero energy building that does not depend on the electricity grid.
It is believed to be the first mosque in Southeast Asia to be certified as zero energy.
Among others, her company has also carried out a project in Rwanda, Africa, where they were among the 10 finalists selected in the challenge to develop a million cool roofs.
As part of the project, they had to find the right paint product to give a cooling effect to the roof. Ms. Farizan’s company is now also involved in the Bugesera International Airport development project in Rwanda.
Ms. Farizan shared that she had to go back and forth between Singapore and Rwanda, and spent around 45 days in each location while her family remained in Singapore. While sustainability is no stranger to Singapore, it still needs a bit of a boost overseas. But in general, she said “the worst time, where we had to try to get 99 percent support from stakeholders to accept sustainability, is over”.
“It’s like a chef working with customers, who have different tastes. You need to understand them and also their views on sustainability.
“In the past, I worked so hard to gain their (clients’) trust in sustainability that sometimes I cried because of frustration.
“Now, I am stronger but it still affects me when clients practice sustainability not for the purpose of saving the environment, but more because of the economy.”
Ms. Farizan said the issue of sustainability is not just about obtaining certification so that the building is certified green and sustainable, but also to ensure that it has a positive impact on the environment and that users understand the sustainable features that are applied.
Her advice to companies and clients with the idea of creating sustainable buildings or cities is to take time to understand the efforts and effects of choosing steps towards sustainability.
“Do the math and you might be surprised at the savings that can be made. However, think about both the financial impact and also the environment.”