LIFE CYCLE COSTING AND SUSTAINABILITY OF HDB FLATS

Abstract

This research attempts to establish a method to enable existing HDB housing stock to become sustainable at an affordable cost. It addresses the issue of adaptation and maintenance cost contributing to the sustainability of HDB housing and the overall life cycle cost. This study reviews existing literature to establish the meaning of sustainability, the state of the art technology in contributing to sustainability, upgrading and maintenance cost as part of life cycle costing. Personal interviews are conducted with HDB residents to establish the relevance and potential significance of each attribute to upgrading potential.

The findings have been analyzed with statistical software to determine the significance of each factor and the correlationship between them. The results set out a practical set of attributes influencing BAP which aid in the formulating of a framework which can pave the future for sustainable mature public housing.

The paper provides a framework incorporating the BCA Green Mark Scheme, HDB’s upgrading schemes as well as attributes affecting Building Adaptation Potential (BAP). This will enable the government to begin to address the sustainability issue for the HDB housing stock from a holistic perspective reflecting the residents’ views and the realistic situation. Keywords: Sustainability; upgrading;