As cities continue to emerge and expand, the world is at a tipping point — the current ways of production and consumption are putting an unsustainable strain on the natural resources, temperature and biodiversity of this planet.

The +Pavilion exhibition seeks to unpack what a sustainable built environment entails, and how thoughtful design can ensure that buildings serve its community’s needs in an enduring yet everchanging fashion. It illustrates what is waiting in the wings, poised to build a better and greener future.

As we confront the growing effects of climate change, we hope that the +Pavilion represents the best of human creation: breathing life into our buildings through alternative approaches, the use of local and emerging Earth-friendly materials, and designing for both the present and future.

Like most buildings, +Pavilion started as a conversation around construction: in May 2021, Haring Timber Technology received an invitation from the organizers of Archifest21 to educate their audience on sustainable and innovative wood construction and applications. They decided that this topic deserved to be expanded into a larger discourse on sustainable construction, and quickly assembled a team of like-minded partners, including Deloitte Center for the Edge, Affordable Abodes, and Studio SKLIM.

Leading up to Archifest21, they were soon joined by the Embassy of Switzerland in Singapore, Hilti Construction, and EHL Campus (Singapore). The Embassy of Switzerland suggested that the team gather feedback to conceptualize the +Pavilion project, with the goal to present the project as part of the Swiss Weeks in Spring 2022.

To officially kick-start +Pavilion, the team organized a workshop on innovative sustainable design solutions in conjunction with Archifest21, inviting the public and potential partners to join this bottom-up initiative. The initial design and concept of the +Pavilion around sustainable materials in building and construction was very well received, and inputs from the workshop participants were crucial for the next stage of the project.

Over the next half a year, this +Pavilion team found that they were not the only organizations interested in promoting sustainable built environment; Vitra, Nespresso and key partner, UBS, also came on board. This coalition of partners — large and small, private and non-profit — then put their minds and hands together to create the +Pavilion, which the Marina Barrage (under PUB Singapore) graciously agreed to host as their first big event since the Covid-19 pandemic.

By harnessing a diverse pool of resources and talents to address sustainable goals, the organizers of +Pavilion are offering both a sustainable vision for the future, as well as the critical steps that we need to take now to leave a better planet for generations to come.

Following its first public showcase at Marina Barrage, Singapore, the +Pavilion embarked on a new journey. In 2022, it was relocated to the EHL Campus (Singapore) — the local branch of the renowned Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland’s leading hospitality and business school. Over nearly three years, students and faculty at EHL experienced the +Pavilion as a social space at their campus, demonstrating how circular and sustainable design can enrich everyday environments.

As the building permit at EHL Campus (Singapore) drew to a close, a new opportunity emerged — quite serendipitously. During a weekend volunteer activity at Ground-Up Initiative (GUI), Laurent Corpataux, Director of Häring Timber Technology (Singapore), happened to meet Mr. Bingyu, Director of Ground-Up Initiative (GUI). A casual lunch conversation soon turned into a shared vision: to give +Pavilion a new life at the new premises of Ground-Up Initiative (GUI)  Kampung in Yishun, Singapore. (“Kampung” means “village” in Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia, reflecting GUI’s ethos of community and craftsmanship.)

Thanks to the design-for-disassembly-and-reuse approach at the heart of +Pavilion, the relocation was both practical and purposeful. Volunteers joined hands to sand and recoat the glulam beams and columns, preparing them for reinstallation. Häring Timber Technology coordinated the dismantling, transport, and reassembly of the structure, supported by a local CNC automation company for precision cutting of a new roof skin made of plywood.

Today, +Pavilion stands proudly as part of the Ground-Up Initiative (GUI) campus — a fitting home for a structure built on collaboration, learning, and renewal. It continues to embody the idea that sustainable architecture is not just about materials, but about the communities and shared values that bring it to life.

The global construction industry is one of the most pollutive industries in the world, creating 30% of the waste produced globally. It is clear that the existing framework of the construction industry is highly detrimental to the global environment. Technology advances have evolved very powerful ‘digital twin’ softwares that can virtually design and test building configurations before construction. These are instrumental in driving productivity during construction, and also allow changes to be made more easily during post-construction operations. Coupled with value engineering, which integrates precise calculations and geometries with construction engineering, less materials would be required for the entire construction life cycle, reducing its impact on the environment. A shift towards a more sustainable construction framework, like modular pre-fabricated construction, also helps. Pre-fabricated construction is a construction method that allows builders to design and construct buildings or parts of buildings offsite, before assembling the building itself onsite.

The assembly of these modular components are also less carbon-intensive than traditional welded systems. Multiple construction projects can also be concurrently completed in these offsite factories, allowing materials for one project to be reused or recycled for another project instead of being discarded. Byproducts from certain materials can even be made into composites to construct other modular structures. The prefabricated buildings and building components can be mass produced, and carefully controlled for material usage, quality and reliability. Not only is pre- fabrication more cost-effective, by achieving economies of scale, the predictable manufacturing conditions can make production more efficient. These conditions also allow for construction processes to be constantly refined, ensuring the most robust and highest quality structures.

At the heart of green construction lies sustainable materials. The construction industry is currently the largest consumer of raw materials, consuming up to 40% of all raw materials extracted from the earth. Steel and cement, widely used materials in construction, account for as much as 16% of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the carbon footprint of the United States. Cement alone is the source of about 8% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, more than thrice of the carbon emissions from aviation fuel. To begin undoing the damage the construction sector has caused, we need to reevaluate the types of building materials being used. The Embodied Carbon Calculator for Construction (EC3) is an open-source tool that reliably tracks and compare the embodied carbon of raw building materials. Companies, like Microsoft, have used EC3 to identify and utilize low-carbon materials in their construction projects to reduce embodied carbon emissions. One of the most effective ways to utilize low-carbon materials is to use recycled versions of traditional materials, including steel, concrete and glass. We also need to switch to using sustainable, low-carbon, and non-toxic building materials. Mass timber products like glued-laminated timber (glulam) are a more sustainable alternative to concrete and steel. Glulam requires less energy to manufacture than traditional steel and concrete, and has a negative carbon footprint.

Designed for heavier loads, longer lifespans, and formal flexibility, glulam can resist fire induced deformation and possesses a structural strength comparable to steel. Kenaf and hemp are natural alternatives to cement that can be used in building and insulation materials.

Both can be processed into concrete composites for constructing walls and mason blocks, reducing the need for cement. Kenaf plantations are also prevalent in Malaysia and Indonesia, which curtail transportation emissions when used for development projects within Southeast Asia.

The carbon emissions generated by building operations account for 28% of global carbon emissions. While many usually push for greener versions of building fixtures to be installed over regular fixtures, such as greener forms of dimmable lighting and solar water heaters, there are more effective ways to green building operations. Buildings should be designed to complement their surrounding environment. For example, better insulated walls or green facades can be used to keep buildings cooler, longer, than energy efficient air-conditioning. This is especially pertinent to Singapore, where air conditioning accounts for up to 60% of a building’s total energy load. Designs should prioritize environmentally complementary features to create homeostatic building environments that can self-regulate and operate with maximum efficiency. Google’s newest Bay View complex near the San Francisco Bay is a great example. The complex contains geothermal wells that can store heat to warm the building without natural gas, and solar roof panels with a unique textured glass that prevent glare. Advanced computing power allows us to design, model and test such ‘greener’ buildings better than ever before. Self-regulating buildings are typically augmented with precision environment management technology, like the use of Internet of Things (IoT) systems and sensors to tailor the building’s operations to the occupants’ usage and behavioral patterns to maximize resource efficiency.

The globally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification scheme is spearheading the effort to provide a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings. In Singapore, the Green Mark certification scheme provides a similarly comprehensive framework for assessing the overall environmental performance of new and existing buildings to promote sustainable design, and best practices in construction and operations in buildings.

The most sustainable type of construction is actually no construction at all. Instead of demolishing buildings that have outlived their original purposes, we can transition to adaptively reusing and repurposing them instead. Reusing and repurposing buildings can eliminate the energy and resources required to demolish and rebuild the site.

In land and resource-scarce Singapore, it is crucial for the built environment to constantly adapt and cater to the evolving needs of its residents. Designing reusable spaces can provide that type of flexibility, and also maximizes the use of existing land and resources. Repurposing redundant buildings can give them a new lease of life.

Building components can also be reused. Modular construction, which consists of interoperable components that can be flexibly used in a wide range of design configurations, encourages the repurposing of different building components. This is a big driver to move away from hazardous hot works which don’t allow modifications and future reuse.

That said, not all buildings can or should be repurposed. New buildings also tend to be more energy efficient and relevant for modern use. The Edge in the Netherlands, one of the greenest buildings in the world, not only produces more electricity than it consumes but has leveraged on cutting edge technology to optimize operational efficiency.

However, instead of using the indiscriminate wrecking ball approach when demolishing old buildings, the careful removal of individual materials in the existing building for reuse can still reinforce circularity in the construction process. Useful tools, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), can carefully catalogue materials used in construction, and make it easier to preserve materials in the demolition process.

Sustainable finance is the final linchpin in achieving a sustainable built environment. Sustainable finance refers to the practice of integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into financial services and investment decisions to achieve sustainable development outcomes.

In the context of the built environment, green financing can be obtained at any part of the development process, from construction to operations. Many financial institutions have set aside financial instruments with preferential benefits dedicated to funding sustainable projects, like green loans and green bonds. Projects that utilize modular and pre-fabricated construction can qualify for green loans with typically lower interest rates, as these construction methods can reduce their carbon footprint.

As financial institutions and investors focus on ESG-aligned investments, their funds would be increasingly redirected from unsustainable assets, like palm oil plantations, towards climate-friendly assets, like sustainable timber, kenaf and hemp plantations, benefitting projects utilizing timber, kenaf or hemp as alternative construction materials. Projects that renovate and repurpose old buildings can typically enjoy public grants and green funding from both the private and public sectors as well.

Sustainable developments that achieve green building accreditations through sustainable design and operational efficiency are typically eligible for green financing from financial institutions. For example, Minergie-certified green buildings can tap on green funds from UBS. In July 2019, Frasers Property secured Singapore’s first green loan with a reducing pricing structure linked to the Green Mark, with savings from the second year onwards if the properties maintain the requisite green standards.

Sustainable finance will undoubtedly be a key influence for the construction industry’s evolution towards sustainable practices, both in terms of construction methods and the life cycle of the built environment.