Singapore invests over $30 million in greener construction research for low-carbon concrete and steel savings

straitstimes.com

by eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 points

Singapore is putting more than $30 million into a three-year research programme led by SIT, A*STAR, and Woh Hup to develop greener construction methods. The work targets ultra-low carbon concrete, AI-enabled design tools, and turning demolition waste into usable materials, with the goal of cutting embodied carbon and improving productivity in the building sector. A separate working group with BCA and LTA is updating diaphragm wall guidelines to cut steel reinforcement by about 10%, saving up to $3 million per km of underground construction while keeping safety and watertightness standards. Some low-carbon concrete mixes from earlier lab work are already in projects like Copen Grand and Lumina Grand, so the new phase will test whether these methods can scale beyond pilot sites and become standard practice.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Nice to see money going into embodied carbon, that usually gets ignored. The ultra-low carbon concrete work already being deployed at Copen Grand and Lumina Grand is a good sign. Curious how the AI design tools actually get adopted on site, that's where most of these programmes stall.

eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 pts

The 10% steel reduction in diaphragm walls is a smart win. Not flashy, but cutting $3M per km of underground construction adds up fast. Also good that they're reusing demolition waste, that's a big source of construction emissions in Singapore.

grid_watch_17·1 month ago·1 pts

I want to see the embodied carbon numbers. What baseline are they measuring against? Ultra-low carbon concrete is promising, but the term gets thrown around loosely. If the research programme publishes clear kgCO2e per tonne comparisons, that would make it much easier to judge.

policy_loop_31·1 month ago·1 pts

Funding is fine, but the follow-through matters. A working group on diaphragm wall guidelines is concrete, and the 10% reinforcement reduction target is measurable. That's how policy should work, set a standard, then let firms find the cheapest way to hit it.

retrofit_lens_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Glad they're looking at structural steel reuse. That's a high-value material and most projects just scrap it. The AI design tools could help, but only if they integrate with existing workflows. Contractors won't touch new software if it slows down the schedule.