SINGAPORE - The strong smell that lingers in a freshly painted room is unpleasant, and even unbearable, for many adults. But it is worse for infants, which is why mother-to-be Kimberly Ang, 24, will ensure she chooses only odourless paints when she moves into her new home.
"I've painted my own room before and I find that the smell is very strong when using paints without the odourless option. If it gets to even me as an adult, I can imagine it'll be too strong for an infant. Plus, it takes a while before the room rids the smell completely," said Mrs Ang, who is six months pregnant.
Using such paints would not only make things more comfortable at home, it is more environmentally friendly too. Odourless paints, such as those produced by Nippon Paint, contain less volatile organic compounds - substances that evaporate easily into toxic fumes at room temperature. The company is also taking additional steps to be environmentally-friendly throughout its supply chain, by reducing the amount of heavy metals such as chromium in its paint products, and by investing in automation and technology that mixes paint on demand to reduce wastage.
For its green efforts, Nippon Paint Singapore on Tuesday night received from Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, one of four Leadership in Green Building Product awards.
It was given out as part of the inaugural Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) -Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Sustainability Leadership Awards 2016.
Other winners in this category include paint company SKK, and waterproofing adhesive companies Mapei Far East and ParexGroup.
Held for the first time this year, the SGBC-BCA Sustainability Leadership Awards recognises buildings and businesses for being green and sustainable in an innovative way, in three different categories.
The award in Business Leadership in Sustainability was won by consultancy Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner (S.E.Asia) for its green initiatives across corporate policy and planning. For instance, the company has a green corner, in which monthly trends of electricity, water and paper usage are displayed to create awareness. They also set up video conferencing facilities, which helps to cut carbon footprint by reducing the need for employees to travel.
There were three winners under the Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance category, which recognised commercial, institutional and residential buildings for their facades and management's commitment to sustainability.
CapitaLand's 40-storey CapitaGreen office tower in the Central Business District won the Commercial award, while the Singapore Management University clinched the institutional award. The residential award went to Tree House development by City Developments Limited.
The winners for the Business Leadership in Sustainability and Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance categories will go on to represent Singapore in the World Green Building Council Asia Pacific Leadership in Green Buildings Awards 2016, which will be held in India in October.
CapitaLand's deputy chief development officer for Asia, Mr Poon Hin Kong said: "One unique feature of CapitaGreen is the lush vegetation on its façade which provides occupants as well as passers-by welcome relief of greenery and nature in the middle of the city. This is an example of how our green efforts at CapitaGreen benefit the well-being of our tenants.
"We are also proud that CapitaGreen has been selected to represent Singapore at the World Green Building Council Asia Pacific Leadership Awards for the Commercial Building category this October. These honours affirm CapitaLand's philosophy and approach towards sustainable development and innovation in the design and management of our properties."
