CapitaLand elevates sustainability innovation drive with increased funding of S$500,000 for its global Sustainability X Challenge 2022
Winning innovations from its 2021 challenge and awarded projects from CapitaLand Innovation Fund will begin pilots at CapitaLand’s properties this month
Singapore, 9 December 2021 – CapitaLand Group (CapitaLand) has launched its second CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge (CSXC), inviting startups from around the world to submit innovative solutions to make buildings more climate-resilient and resource-efficient. Stepping up its global sustainability innovation drive, CapitaLand has increased its funding for the challenge by up to S$500,000 for the top 10 projects1 to be piloted at the Group’s global network of properties. CSXC 2022 is open for submissions online from now till 28 February 2022.
Launched in November 2020, the inaugural CSXC 2021 was the first sustainability-focused innovation challenge by a Singapore real estate company on a global scale. The challenge received over 270 entries from more than 25 countries. The two winners each received S$50,000 in funding for their pilots at CapitaLand properties which will begin this month.
Through CSXC, CapitaLand is seeking innovations that address key challenges2 in the built environment in the areas of low carbon transition, water conservation and resilience, waste management and the circular economy, as well as healthy and safe buildings. The submissions for CSXC 2022 will be assessed based on the impact, potential outcomes, depth of innovation, as well as scalability and effectiveness of deploying the solutions at CapitaLand’s diversified properties across different geographies. The top 10 shortlisted startups will be mentored by leading industry experts to prepare them for their pitch to a distinguished panel of judges in June 2022.
Ms Lynette Leong, Chief Sustainability Officer, CapitaLand Investment, said:
“As a sustainable global real estate leader, CapitaLand plays an active role in shaping a climate-resilient built environment. Through CSXC 2022, we continue to take the lead in rallying the global community to catalyse new ideas to combat climate change, and we are increasing our support for emerging innovations that can help us achieve our ambitious 2030 CapitaLand Sustainability Master Plan targets. We are conducting a global call for scalable and impactful innovations in the real estate ecosystem, to ensure that we can be a first-mover in piloting and deploying them in our properties.”
“Our inaugural CSXC received overwhelming responses and we look forward to piloting the winners’ innovations at our properties this month. Since launching our CapitaLand Innovation Fund at CSXC 2021, we have also seen promising sustainability innovations from our staff and will begin piloting and deploying select projects this month as well. We welcome more startups to join our CSXC 2022 and collaborate with us to build a sustainable planet for future generations,” added Ms Leong.
Mr Jupe Tan, Managing Partner, Plug and Play Asia Pacific, which is supporting CapitaLand to conduct the global search for companies with sustainability solutions, said:
“Plug and Play is excited to be working with a sustainability front-runner, CapitaLand, to tackle the issues surrounding climate change. Since the inception of Plug and Play in Silicon Valley in 2006, our accelerator programmes have expanded to over 35 locations globally and we have more than 48,000 startups on our innovation platform. Many of our investments and startups that have taken part in our accelerator programmes around the world have businesses that focus on sustainable development and technologies. We are firm believers in striving for sustainability, and we look forward to the partnership ahead.”
CapitaLand’s Oregon and Singapore properties to trial INOVUES, INC’s and Climatec Corp’s sustainability innovations
INOVUES, INC and Climatec Corp Pte Ltd, the two winners of CSXC 2021 will begin piloting their projects at CapitaLand’s properties this month.
Based in Oregon, USA, INOVUES will testbed its insulating glass retrofit technology at Creekside 5, a three-storey building in Creekside Corporate Park in Portland, Oregon. By reducing the building heat gain during summer and heat lost during winter, the insulating glass retrofit is projected to lower energy consumption for cooling or heating the building by up to 40%.
Climatec will pilot its unique water treatment process to treat cooling tower water without using chemicals or power at CapitaGreen in Singapore. Utilising photon vibration frequency technology created through strong magnetic fields and ceramic-based composites to treat the water, this solution is projected to reduce energy consumption by 1% to over 5% and achieve water savings of 60% to over 90%. The water can be recycled for other uses in the building such as plant irrigation or toilet flushing.
CapitaLand is also in discussion with eight other participants with promising solutions on possible pilots at its properties. These include innovations to generate clean energy and cool air affordably for buildings, improve indoor air quality, and a smart waste bin which uses artificial intelligence, robotics and multiple sensors to sort waste for more efficient waste management.
Sustainability and innovative projects supported under CapitaLand’s S$50 million Innovation Fund
At the grand finale of CSXC 2021 in June 2021, CapitaLand launched a S$50 million CapitaLand Innovation Fund to support the testbedding of sustainability and other high-tech innovations in the built environment sector for over five years.
For the first year, 13 projects have been selected to be piloted at CapitaLand’s properties across Asia. They include sustainability solutions that aim to reduce carbon footprint and water consumption, as well as improve waste management. Concrete production contributes about 7% of carbon dioxide emissions globally3. One project aims to reduce embodied carbon by using Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) concrete in the construction of an upcoming mixed-used building at Singapore Science Park in 1Q 2022. It will be CapitaLand’s first development to use carbon dioxide mineralised concrete with CCU technology, which will reduce the building’s embodied carbon dioxide emissions in concrete by 49%4 compared with the use of conventional concrete. The CCU concrete has a Singapore Green Building Product rating of 4-ticks5, the highest level of sustainability certification in Singapore Green Building Council’s classification for green building products and materials.
For more information on CapitaLand’s sustainability initiatives, visit: www.capitaland.com/en/about-capitaland/sustainability.html
Notes:
1 Up to 10 projects will be shortlisted to receive up to S$50,000 each for their pilot at CapitaLand properties. Refer to Terms & Conditions.
2 Refer to Annex for CSXC 2022 themes, challenge statements and key dates.
3 International Energy Agency: Technology roadmap - Low carbon transition in the cement industry.
4 Using ICE (Inventory of Carbon and Energy) database, a leading embodied energy and carbon database for building materials, embodied carbon reduction values are calculated by comparing embodied carbon intensity (kilogrammes of carbon dioxide per kilogramme of product or material) of CCU concrete with conventional concrete.