Greener HDB projects to be ready from this year

FLATS built with enhanced greenery requirements will progressively be ready from this year, said the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Sunday.

The enhanced requirements - which set the minimum vegetation needed in a development - were first piloted in Queenstown's Dawson estate and Choa Chu Kang's Keat Hong Neighbourhood 8.

These requirements were then rolled out to all projects designed from 2016. According to HDB, over 80 projects have implemented greenery provisions since then.

From next year, new projects completing in Tampines, Bidadari, Tengah and Punggol Northshore can expect greener homes.

In Queenstown's Dawson estate, four housing projects - SkyTerrace @ Dawson, SkyVille @ Dawson, Dawson Vista and Forfar Heights - have been completed. Another three projects will be finished progressively by the end of 2020.

The Dawson developments will boast green spaces on different levels, such as ground-level precinct gardens to pockets of green areas on roof gardens and sky gardens.

As for Keat Hong Neighbourhood 8, one of the newest housing estates in Choa Chu Kang, six new housing projects have been completed since 2016.

The estate was designed to have extensive rooftop greenery and a "military-inspired" theme to reflect its history as the former Keat Hong Camp site. Existing mature trees will also be retained.

HDB first introduced the concept of a green plot ratio (GnPR) in 2011 to measure greenery provisions for public housing developments. GnPR measures the "green density" of a development site based on the leaf area of plants provided, which is then divided by the site area.

From 2016, all new HDB developments are required to have a minimum of 4.5 GnPR. This means greenery will have to be at least 4.5 times the site area.

HDB also adopted a 45 to 60 per cent estimated green cover provision for its housing projects, which measures green cover seen from the sky. Tree canopy cover and planting areas that provide canopy shade in housing estates count as green cover.

When completed, the Dawson developments will achieve a GnPR of more than 4.5 and an average of more than 50 per cent green cover. Meanwhile, Keat Hong developments will have a minimum of 4.5 GnPR and an average of 55 per cent green cover.