HDB OCCUPANT’S PERCEPTION TO THE ADOPTION OF VERTICAL GREEN FAÇADE FOR HDB BLOCKS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

With the rapid increase in Singapore’s population density, vacant land is becoming increasingly scarce in Singapore. With recent petitions for the conservation of the Dover Forest, Ulu Pandan and Bukit Batok Hillside Park, the line between development and the rising opportunity cost of nature conservation is more and more blurred. While town planners strive to maximise the efficiency of land development within Singapore to make Singapore a “City in Nature”, the use of vegetation in urban environments such as vertical green facades have the potential to augment the perception of occupants to perceive a similar level of comfort comparable to that of open green spaces. To proliferate the adoption of vertical green facades onto existing public housing buildings in Singapore. This study is conducted on an HDB block to measure the extent of the thermal benefits rendered by the green façade. Additionally, surveys were conducted with occupants within the same HDB block to investigate their receptiveness towards the adoption of the vertical green façade. The general findings from this study showed that while the green façade was minimal in rendering thermal comfort benefits to the occupants, occupants within the block are largely supportive of the adoption of the vertical green façade (mean vote of 4.27/5). However, due to the limited number of responses, the results were found to be largely inconclusive.