PropertyGuru launches ‘Green Score’ to guide Singaporeans to sustainable homes

With 82% of Singaporeans willing to consider paying more for eco-friendly homes, PropertyGuru champions sustainable urban living

SINGAPORE
– Media
OutReach – 6 September 2021 – PropertyGuru Group (‘PropertyGuru’ or ‘the Group’), Southeast
Asia’s leading property technology (“PropTech”) company, today announced the launch of ‘PropertyGuru Green Score‘ (‘Green Score’), a sustainability rating attributed to condominiums
and HDBs listed on Propertyguru.com.sg. Green Score empowers property seekers in
Singapore to learn how eco-friendly their present or new home is, and to support environment-friendly lifestyles. The Green
Score of a project is based on the proximity to public transport (within 400m),
green building rating assessment
such as
BCA Green Mark certification, and
sustainability awards won from ‘PropertyGuru Asia
Property Awards‘, Asia’s
biggest property awards program, with additional relevant criteria to be added
in the future. The score
ranges from 1-5, denoting average, good and excellent sustainability rating of
the project.

Green Score addresses
the increasing demand among property seekers to make sustainable life choices,
especially around choosing their future home. PropertyGuru’s latest H2 2021 Consumer Sentiment Study found that 82% of
Singaporeans are willing to consider paying more for an environmentally
sustainable home, with their top three sustainability features comprising smart
cooling systems, high-insulation windows and doors, and solar panels. This willingness
demonstrates more ecological
and socially conscious behaviour across generations, from Millennials (83%) and Generation X (79%) to Baby Boomers
(86%). Markedly, 81%
of Singaporeans voiced the need to preserve forested areas from urban
development, despite the city state’s limited land space.

Hari
V. Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, PropertyGuru Group,
said, “As the region’s proptech
leader, we felt it was our responsibility to enable and drive this change in
sustainable urban living. Since last year, we have ramped up our programs, tech
capabilities, talent, and partnerships to promote sustainable urban living and
influence positive changes in our community. Green Score practically enables
Singaporeans to prioritise ‘sustainability’ as a consideration in their
property decisions. Since its soft launch in February 2021, nearly 2 million
property seekers have viewed the Green Score.

We commit to making changes in our own business to meet
the goals stated in the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and to building a better home
for our future generations. In time, we hope that sustainable living will be a
natural way of life, and each of us will place environmental considerations
top-of-mind.”

Green initiatives at PropertyGuru Group

As part of its commitment towards
sustainability and to fight climate change, PropertyGuru has undertaken several
initiatives:

• Published
  over 100 green living guides to help increase the awareness of sustainable living practices among over 37 million property seekers that
  visit PropertyGuru’s leading marketplaces in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia,
  and Vietnam.
• Introduced awards categories to recognise sustainable
  projects at its ‘PropertyGuru
  Asia Property Awards‘ for property developers in Southeast Asia and key
  markets in South Asia, East Asia, and Australia. Since the launch of the Green
  and Sustainable Development categories in 2014 and 2016, respectively,
  PropertyGuru has seen an increase of 50% in entries of green or sustainable
  projects. In addition, the Asia Property Awards programme’s annual proptech and
  thought leadership platform ‘PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate
  Summit‘ established the Tech Innovation Award in 2018 to
  recognise green tech or sustainable initiatives of startups in the region.
• Launched
  ‘GreenGuru’ internal program for its over 1,700 employees in Southeast Asia. GreenGuru
  initiatives include – educational programs (Green Hour) for
  sustainable living, the addition of e-waste, recycling bins and replacing
  single-use plastics with reusable food containers in offices, and a Green
  Travel Policy for the Group. PropertyGuru also hosts regular fun green
  challenges to encourage employees to switch to a vegetarian lunch, use public
  transport, and avoid plastic bottles for a month to reduce individual carbon
  emissions.
• This
  year, PropertyGuru is working on a Greenhouse Gas Emission Audit &
  Reduction Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To check a project’s PropertyGuru Green
Score, property seekers can visit the project page for condos and HDBs on PropertyGuru.com.sg.
More information on Green Score is available here.  

Links to some
recent articles on green living:

PropertyGuru
Green Score: Top 10 Most Eco-Friendly Condos in Singapore

PropertyGuru
Green Score: Top 12 Greenest HDB Projects

PropertyGuru
Green Score: 5 Most Eco-Friendly Districts in Singapore