Tackling climate change and conserving the Earth’s natural resources may seem like lofty goals, but they are crucial and most importantly, doable. HDB is doing our part to leave behind a liveable planet for our future generations and you can play a role too. 

How does HDB develop new towns sustainably?

Before development works begin in new HDB towns, we carefully study the surrounding terrain to integrate existing greenery where possible. For instance, in Tengah, 20% of the land has been set aside for green spaces, and lush greenery is intentionally interspersed throughout the town. Residents will get to enjoy all that nature has to offer, right at their doorstep. 

Apart from preserving greenery, HDB uses smart technology to foster a more sustainable way of living. In Tengah, this includes energy monitoring systems to optimise and conserve energy use, and an automated waste management system which makes for cleaner waste disposal while being friendlier on the senses! 

Home owners can look forward to similar smart features in other BTO projects such as Punggol Northshore. 

What about existing HDB towns?

There’s good news for residents in existing estates too. HDB is bringing green and smart solutions to every HDB town under the HDB Green Towns Programme, with the goal of reducing annual energy consumption in HDB towns by 15% by 2030. 

Under this programme, smart LED lighting will be introduced in common areas. The brightness of the lamps in common areas will be automatically adjusted according to human traffic via motion sensors and analytics, making them more energy-efficient. With the data collected from the sensors, service providers can also monitor and analyse the performance of the lighting. This will help them predict potential faults and conduct proactive maintenance before a breakdown occurs, enabling better maintenance of our estates.

Eagle-eyed residents may have spotted solar panels on the rooftops of many HDB blocks. These panels generate clean energy to power common services such as lighting, lifts and water pumps in our blocks. Additionally, Light Emitting Surfaces (LES), could be used for block signage. This is a new technology that can potentially reduce 80% of energy consumption compared to the existing fluorescent block signage. Such initiatives ensure that you are living in a resource and energy-efficient HDB estate. 

HDB is also adding greenery to unconventional spaces. Some HDB multi-storey car parks will be repurposed to incorporate rooftop greenery, community gardens or urban farms. This not only creates community spaces and opportunities for residents to work those green fingers, but helps to cool down our living environment as well. 

Some HDB car parks will also see new additions in the form of Electric Vehicle chargers. HDB will be installing charging stations in 2,000 HDB car parks by 2030 to support drives in making the switch to electric vehicles.

So, the next time you see some upgrading works around your estate, they could well be for these very initiatives to make your town greener, smarter, and more sustainable! 

How can you contribute?

As HDB progressively introduces these green initiatives into our towns, you can contribute by adopting greener ways of living too. For example, recycle your e-waste items at the e-waste recycling bins that will soon be found in HDB estates.

You can also choose greener (and healthier!) ways for you to get around. The numerous cycling paths and networks in HDB towns offer easy access to amenities, and 40,000 more dual bicycle racks will be installed across HDB estates by 2024, to make it ore convenient for bicycle owners.

Residents keen to start a project in your neighbourhood can tap on a range of resources provided by HDB. Have a community recycling day you would like to host, a community garden you would like to set up, or other novel ideas to build a tight-knit community? Check out and participate in the Lively Places Programme to bring your neighbours together and enliven our public spaces.