GREEN PUBLIC HOUSING : GREEN ESTATE IS CONTINGENT ON OCCUPANT AWARENESS AND ENGAGEMENT

Abstract

In the last decade, green rating assessment tools such as the Green Mark Scheme in Singapore and the HK-BEAM in Hong Kong have been widely implemented as tools to monitor the sustainability of buildings. These initiatives are an indication that countries are increasingly concerned about the cause for sustainability and the construction industry is beginning to change the culture of the building and the typologies of housing made available today. Project teams today are highly focused on building performance in terms of achieving low energy consumption, providing ample green space and recycling renewable energy. However, the implementation of these features has had little success with improving occupant awareness and engagement. With the help of rating tools, designers are able to perceive the increased quality of a sustainable environment. Residents, however, are often oblivious to the benefits and subsequent lifestyle changes that ought to ensue. ii Interviews and surveys were conducted with estate managers and residents of three selected housing estates - Sau Mau Ping South Estate in Hong Kong, Treelodge@Punggol and Clementi Towers in Singapore. The former two cases can be defined as green estates that were designed and constructed by project teams using sustainable methodologies. They are to be assessed on the extent of the influence of their green features on residents, based on differing cultural and situational contexts. On the other hand, Clementi Towers is a non-green estate which serves as a reference to speculate how residents would generally behave without the influence of green initiatives. The collected findings and subsequent analysis also aim to examine the relationship between the management's implementation of sustainable features and residents' usage in their housing estate.