JTC Corporation CEO Jacqueline Poh says Singapore’s construction sector (worth around $46 billion this year) is experiencing a “boom” that will continue for the next five years despite the overall “rocky” business environment. Poh was speaking at the Sustainable Tech Forum held on Jan 22, which was themed “AI for Sustainability — Harnessing Intelligent Technologies to Power Climate Action and Enterprise Resilience”.
In addition to sharing that nugget of information, Poh shares that JTC, as the national agency for Singapore’s industrial development, is harnessing artificial intelligence as a “force multiplier” to embed sustainability into the design and operation of buildings.
According to Poh, the built environment accounts for 35% of global carbon emissions, represented by embodied carbon and operational carbon. The former refers to emissions generated for manufacturing, transporting and installing of building materials, for instance, the pillars of a building. Operational carbon refers to emissions arising from the energy used in building operations such as airconditioning.
Some of the ways JTC is using AI to advance sustainability includes using the tool to measure the amount of green cover of a building, decide the location of electric vehicle chargers, estimate the amount of embodied carbon at the initial stages of building design, enhance building maintenance and operations and optimise energy usage.
Poh shares that the deployment of AI has helped to streamline work processes and potentially save “huge amounts” of money and energy across JTC’s portfolio.
Initiatives to support businesses in adopting digitalisation for sustainability
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Both Singapore-listed and private companies may now access three initiatives launched by the Infocomm Media Development Authority to support businesses in adopting digitalisation for sustainability purposes.
“Technology adoption and environmental sustainability are not binary, mutually exclusive choices,” says Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information, at the forum. He also adds that adopting sustainability practices can reduce cost and help companies be more competitive.
According to IMDA, 38% of businesses which have not started their sustainability journey identify “limited knowledge about sustainability practices" as a barrier. The Infocomm Digital Technologies for Sustainability Playbook aims to bridge the knowledge gap by providing guidance to businesses on how they can embrace sustainability and reduce operating costs simultaneously, through digital technologies such as automation, Internet of Things, data analytics and AI.
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Since May 2024, IMDA has worked with 13 companies to trial the effectiveness of carbon reduction techniques on software application. Results reveal that the businesses have reduced their carbon emissions by at least 20%.
Hence, to equip more businesses with the knowledge to adopt green software practices, IMDA has developed the Practical Green Software Guide for Enterprises with Accenture and Green Software Foundation. According to the guide, by focusing on right-sizing AI models, designing leaner software, and tracking and monitoring energy usage and costs, businesses can achieve early cost and carbon reductions.
Lastly, to simplify emissions tracking and reporting for smaller companies without needing extensive data collection, IMDA and National University of Singapore Energy Studies Institute have jointly developed Singapore-specific emission factors (EFs) for ICT services. This has been complemented by a new carbon calculator for cloud services launched by IMDA.
Used together, enterprises can better integrate their business and sustainability strategies. Both the EFs and the calculator are available online at the Singapore Emission Factors Registry (SEFR) website.
The SEFR aims to aggregate emission factors into a single source for use by Singapore businesses. Localised for Singapore, the emission factors on the Registry would better help businesses, including Singapore-listed companies, with their climate-related disclosure regulatory requirements
AI and Sustainability
According to Singapore Computer Society (SCS) president Lim Bee Kwan, AI is now “deeply embedded” in economies and societies, while sustainability has shifted “from aspiration to necessity”.
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Lim says that AI is a powerful enabler of the sustainability imperative. “It allows organisations to track emissions more accurately, optimise energy systems, manage natural resources more effectively, and strengthen ESG transparency,” she adds.
To further illustrate the convergence of AI and sustainbility, the Forum held a panel entitled “Financing the Future: How AI is Powering Sustainable Finance”.
During the discussion, Standard Chartered’s global head of sustainable finance, wealth and retail bank Eugenia Koh shares use cases in risk assessment and social sustainability, while mentioning investment opportunities in low-carbon technologies, small-scale nuclear, and grid technology.
For Maybank’s head of corporate banking and sustainable finance Amy Cheng, she shares more about Maybank's strategic plan to deploy MYR100 billion in new economy sectors, including transition-related projects, digital economy, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. She also explores the use of AI in pre-financing and post-financing stages, including risk assessment and data accuracy for renewable energy projects.
Adding to the discussion, UOB chief sustainability officer Eric Lim points out that AI-driven growth of data centres has increased energy demands and this has reshaped the conversation on financing fossil fuels and placing a focus on energy efficiency.
He also highlights how data centres, which require high amounts of energy and water, could affect local communities and the need to balance competing economic and social needs for resources.
Lim also points out two unavoidable megatrends — AI and sustainability. He believes that it is essential for the world to integrate the two into an “aligned path” as much as possible.
“Because if we don't … we're going to end up 10,15, 20 years down the road with AI off on one end, sustainability on the other end. And my goodness, what a big mess we're going to have to clean up at that point in time.”
