More initiatives, such as Smart electric sub-meters, to be added to the Green Towns Programme to make HDB estates greener and more liveable

HDB will intensify its sustainability efforts to create more energy-efficient and climate-resilient public housing estates, with the 10-year Green Towns Programme (GTP)¹ reaching its mid-point in 2025. This includes the expansion of the cool coatings initiative to all existing HDB estates islandwide, as well as the inclusion of new initiatives, such as Smart electric sub-meters, under the GTP.

2 Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State for National Development, said “Five years ago, we launched the HDB Green Towns Programme to transform our public housing estates into greener and more liveable spaces for residents. Notwithstanding COVID-19 challenges in the initial period, we have made good progress. I thank our stakeholders, especially residents for their strong support of these initiatives. Building on this foundation, we are stepping up our efforts to scale the initiatives across HDB towns. We want to ensure that every town meets the needs of current residents as well as for many generations to come.”

Expansion of Cool Coatings Initiative

3 In 2021, HDB and Tampines Town Council launched a joint pilot project to apply cool coatings — a type of specialised paint containing additives that reflect the sun’s heat, reducing surface heat absorption and emission — to approximately 130 HDB blocks in Tampines. With the use of such paint, we aim to reduce the ambient temperature of the site by up to 2°C, enhancing comfort for residents and reducing energy consumption.

Additives in cool paint reflect the heat of the sun to reduce surface heat absorption and emission thus reducing ambient temperature. [Credit: HDB]

4 To monitor the ambient temperature and collect data for analysis, sensors were installed on the blocks’ external facades and at the ground level. Findings from the two-year pilot showed that the cool coatings reduced ambient temperatures of up to 2°C, therefore meeting HDB’s target. Besides enjoying a cooler environment, residents living in blocks painted with cool coatings also experienced a reduction in electricity consumption, as less energy from air conditioning systems is needed to cool their flats.

5 Following the successful pilot, HDB will work closely with the Town Councils to extend the cool coatings initiative to all existing HDB estates by 2030.

New Initiatives to be Added to Green Towns Programme

6 As the largest housing developer in Singapore, HDB plays a pivotal role in supporting the nation’s commitment to sustainable development. Besides cool coatings, other initiatives under the GTP have seen considerable progress. Building on these successes, HDB, in collaboration with relevant agencies, will introduce additional initiatives to the GTP to further advance HDB’s sustainability targets. They are:

(a) Smart Electric Sub-Meters
From 2Q2025, smart electrical sub-meters will be installed in the consumer switch rooms of HDB blocks. These sub-meters will enable HDB and Town Councils to monitor and analyse energy consumption patterns and the performance of common services i.e. lighting, water pumps, and lifts, at each block.

With this data, Town Councils can compare energy usage across HDB blocks and track the demand and supply of energy usage for individual blocks in the estate. The data collected will also help the Town Councils to optimise their maintenance cycles of common services, as well as detect anomalies such as equipment faults to minimise downtime.

(b) Green Complexes
To reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings, HDB will be upgrading and designing our 38 HDB-managed complexes by 2030. The complexes will have:

• Solar panels installed on the rooftop and more energy-efficient equipment/fittings to reduce energy usage by 10%
• Water-efficient fittings to reduce water usage by 10%
• Machines to turn food waste to compost, reducing waste by 30%

With these efforts, HDB aims to attain BCA Green Mark Super Low Energy (SLE) Certification for four HDB complexes in 2025. Thereafter, we target to progressively roll out green initiatives at an average of eight complexes a year.

(c) Beverage Container Return Points
In support of the National Environment Agency’s (NEA)’s Beverage Container Return Scheme, a network of more than 1,000 return points (such as Reverse Vending Machines) will be deployed islandwide, including at HDB-owned and Town Council spaces. The scheme, which aims to manage packaging waste and increase the recycling rate of beverage containers, will commence on 1 April 2026.

7 With these inclusions, the original focus areas of recycling rainwater and reducing waste will be subsumed under a broader category on optimising resources. The current and new GTP initiatives and their status as at end-January 2025 are at Annex.

Driving Sustainability in HDB Estates

8 HDB remains committed to driving sustainability and green initiatives across Singapore's public housing landscape. Moving forward, we will continue to review the progress and explore innovative solutions to enhance the performance of our initiatives, so as to build a sustainable and liveable environment for current and future generations.

¹The HDB Green Towns Programme is a 10-year plan to bring sustainable living to all existing HDB towns, with large-scale implementation of green features to improve residents’ quality of life. It is a key initiative under the Singapore Green Plan which aims to build a more sustainable future for Singapore in the face of climate change.

HDB to Extend Cool Coatings Initiative to All Existing HDB Estates