DBS opens net zero building DBS Newton Green

The old building consumed about 845,000 kWh each year,

DBS has officially opened its refurbished DBS Newton Green, investing over S$5m to retrofit the 30-year-old building located at 135 Bukit Timah Road.

This makes it Singapore’s first net zero building by a bank, according to DBS.

The bank began retrofitting works in the middle of 2021, with a portion of the cost covered by a grant awarded by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) under the national Green Buildings Innovation Cluster (GBIC) Programme.

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Before retrofitting works began, the old building consumed about 845,000 kWh each year, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of about 200 four-room HDB homes in Singapore.

Speaking at the official launch ceremony, Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development and Minister-in-charge of Social Services Development, said that Singapore should look into retrofitting more of its older buildings to improve their sustainability standards.

“I congratulate DBS and its partners on transforming this building into Singapore’s first net zero building by a bank. Such teamwork between the private, public and people sectors is critical, as we strive to grow a more sustainable City in Nature,” Lee said, further noting that it was more challenging than designing a new green building from scratch, which makes retrofitting more complex and costly.

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From Left to Right: Jeremy Soo, Head of Consumer Banking Group SG; Oh Chu Xian, Co-Founder of Magorium,; Jimmy Ng, Group Chief Information Officer and Group Head of Technology & Operations; Sim S. Lim, Chairman of Building & Construction Authority and Group Head of Consumer Banking & Wealth Management; Karen Ngui, Group Head of Strategic Marketing & Communications; Shee Tse Khoon, Singapore Chief Executive, DBS; Minister Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development and Minister-in-charge of Social Services Development; Piyush Gupta, CEO, DBS; Dr Shawn Lum, President of Nature Society (Singapore); Choong Yang Ping, Operations Chief Operating Officer, Group Technology & Operations; Kelvin Wong, CEO, Building & Construction Authority; Erwin Chong, Group Head of Corporate Real Estate, DBS