Located at the intersection of Punggol Road, Punggol Place and Punggol Drive,[1] Treelodge@Punggol is a joint Build-to-Order project developed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), National Environment Agency, Public Utilities Board and the Economic Development Board.[2] Officially launched on 28 March 2007, Singapore’s first experimental eco-friendly public-housing project incorporates green technology and innovative construction design to showcase a functional and economically sustainable eco-lifestyle.[3] The development comprises seven 16-storey blocks[4] made up of 712 three- to five- room apartments, among which is the HDB’s one-millionth flat.[5] There are 14 five-room penthouses, each with a large living room and an open terrace.[6]
Treelodge’s environmentally friendly features raised construction costs by five to eight percent. HDB, however, absorbed the additional costs and offered the flats for sale at below their market prices, which ranged from S$139,000 for a three-room flat to S$383,000 for a five-room penthouse.[7] The energy savings from its green features – which amount to around two gigawatt hours per year and sufficient for 400 four-room households per year – contribute towards the estate maintenance costs.[8] The flats have unconventionally large windows to let in more natural light, bathrooms that are installed with an integrated wash basin to facilitate water conservation as well as separate chutes for normal waste and recyclables.[9] Treelodge is also the first HDB project to have a 650-metre-long tree-canopied pathway encircling the seven blocks, an eco-deck built above the carpark, a playground made of recycled materials, and a community garden. Residents can also avail themselves of a car-sharing scheme.[10]
In 2007, the eco-precinct at Punggol became the first public-housing project to win the Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark Platinum Award for its green features. These include an optimal north-south building orientation to maximise wind-flow and natural lighting; skyrise greenery and vertical gardens to lower the surrounding ambient temperature; solar panels on its 2,000-square-metre roof to generate up to 40 percent of the estate’s electrical power consumption in common areas; and water pump, lighting and harvesting systems spanning a rooftop space of 400 sq m to collect rainwater in a 7,000-litre-capacity water tank.[11] In 2010, Treelodge won the GREEN GOOD DESIGN Award – by The European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design – for its outstanding sustainable design.[12]
By the time the project was completed in December 2010, more than 90 percent of the units had been sold.[13] The completion ceremony on 19 December was officiated by Deputy Prime Minister and then Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean, who distributed the keys to the new residents.[14] The two lucky owners of HDB’s one millionth flat – a four-room unit on the 13th floor purchased for S$245,000 – were presented with a commemorative plaque and a hamper.[15]
References
1. Housing and Development Board. (2011, August 31). Treelodge@Punggol. Retrieved September 9, 2014, from HDB InfoWEB: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10333p.nsf/w/EcoTownEcoDevtreelodge?OpenDocument
2. Housing and Development Board. (2014, March 31). Completion ceremony for the residents at Treelodge@Punggol. Retrieved September 9, 2014, from HDB InfoWEB:
http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10333p.nsf/w/CORCCTreelodge?OpenDocument; HDB builds one millionth flat. (2010, December 19). Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved from Factiva.
3. Housing and Development Board, 31 Mar 2014.
4. Lee, L. (2007, August 24). ‘Ulu’ place? Not to these new flat buyers. The Straits Times, p. 32. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
5. Housing and Development Board, 31 Mar 2014.
6. Tay, S. C. (2010, April 10). Give up the sky for $1m? The Straits Times. Retrieved from Factiva.
7. HDB flats go eco-friendly. (2010, October 9). The Straits Times. Retrieved from Factiva; The Straits Times, 10 Apr 2010.
8. The Straits Times, 9 Oct 2010.
9. More willing to recycle with trial chute. (2008, October 23). TODAY, p. 10. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Channel NewsAsia, 19 Dec 2010.
10. Singapore Government News, 19 Dec 2010; Almenoar, M. (2010, December 20). HDB marks one-million-flat milestone. The Straits Times. Retrieved from Factiva; Hooi, J. (2010, December 20). HDB’s one-millionth flat milestone. The Business Times. Retrieved from Factiva.
11. Building and Construction Authority (2007). Green Mark Awards. . Retrieved September 9, 2014, from the Building and Construction Authority website:
http://www.bca.gov.sg/greenmark/others/gm2007.pdf; The Straits Times, 24 Aug 2007; Teh, S. N. (2009, April 28). Solar test bed scheme on wider scale by 2015. The Business Times, p. 32; The Straits Times, 9 Oct 2010; HDB’s first eco-precinct. (2010, December 17). Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved from Factiva; Fang, J. (2010, December 20). Proud owners of HDB’s 1 millionth flat/Green precinct among plans to jazz up Punggol. MyPaper. Retrieved from Factiva.
12. HDB marks completion of one million flats. (2010, December 19). Singapore Government News. Retrieved from Factiva.
13. Channel NewsAsia, 19 Dec 2010.
14. Housing and Development Board, 31 Mar 2014.
15. Leong, W. K. (2010, December 20). One million HDB flats and counting. Today. Retrieved from Factiva; The Straits Times, 20 Dec 2010.
The information in this article is valid as at 2014 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.