SINGAPORE — A new campaign to urge home, business and building owners to turn up their thermostats was launched on May 16.

Called the Go 25 movement, it encourages Singapore residents to set the indoor air-conditioning temperature in their homes, offices and buildings at 25 deg C. The campaign is an initiative housed under Go Green SG 2025.

According to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), buildings account for more than 20 per cent of Singapore’s carbon emissions, and air-conditioning is a key contributor to building energy consumption.

This in turn creates a vicious circle where hotter cities demand more cooling, which generates more emissions and heat, further raising ambient temperatures, said the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE).

BCA also noted that approximately 60 per cent of electricity consumption in non-residential buildings is attributed to cooling systems, with mechanical ventilation accounting for an additional 10 per cent.

Overcooling — which happens when spaces are cooled with air-conditioning beyond the comfort range — increases electricity usage, accelerates climate change and exacerbates the urban heat island effect.

The urban heat island effect occurs when densely built areas experience higher air temperatures than undeveloped rural areas.

"Achieving our climate goals requires the collective efforts of everyone. Each of us has a personal responsibility to protect and steward our shared environment, for ourselves as well as our future generations," said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor at the launch of Go Green SG 2025 on May 16 at Changkat Primary School.

The launch of the third edition of Go Green SG — a month-long campaign packed with activities for the public, schools and organisations to participate in — was attended by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment Baey Yam Keng.

Running till June 29, the campaign aims to rally the public to make Singapore a green, liveable and climate-resilient nation.

Led by the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) and MSE, and supported by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and BCA, the Go 25 movement has three key initiatives: A pledge, a personality quiz and an industry guide.

The pledge encourages building owners, businesses and organisations to commit to sustainable cooling, which also includes the provision of cooling alternatives like fans, and encouraging relaxed dress codes among tenants and occupants.

A downloadable toolkit that includes poster templates, social media assets and information sheets is available for pledge-takers to encourage stakeholders and others to "Go 25" as well.

An online personality quiz titled Go 25 Indoor Comfort Quiz was also created to teach users about their ideal temperature profile and the benefits of higher indoor temperatures. The insights gathered will be consolidated into a report that will be published in June.

The report will outline the average temperature preference of Singapore residents, basic energy savings potentials, and quick actions for business owners and building managers to refer to.

The toolkit and quiz can be accessed at go.gov.sg/go25.

Finally, an industry guide developed by SGBC and BCA on how to raise indoor ambient temperature while maintaining occupant comfort will be published in the third quarter of 2025.

Baey hopes that with more than 95 per cent of government buildings already adopting Go 25, the Government will be able to set an example for businesses and organisations across Singapore.

A study by Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Centre for Environmental Sustainability found that every degree raised in air-conditioning temperature, between 23 dec C and 25 deg C, yielded up to 12 per cent in cooling energy reduction, with no reported increase in occupant discomfort. The study was commissioned by MSE and SGBC, and conducted between January and April.

NEA data also found that for every degree raised by households, approximately $13 of savings could be achieved every year.

"Building owners and businesses can... supplement air-conditioning with hybrid cooling solutions such as ceiling fans, and engage their tenants and occupants on sustainable cooling," Dr Khor said. "We can also dress light when going to air-conditioned places such as shopping malls, opt for fans over air-conditioning at home, and encourage our family and friends to do the same."

The Go Green SG launch event featured booths by SGBC and CapitaLand on their energy-saving and green building initiatives, as well as booths by NEA, PUB and the Singapore Food Agency.

Through sustainability challenges organised by CapitaLand, small start-ups and entrepreneurs were able to pitch and develop sustainable technologies that could be implemented in building construction and improvement. An example is Magorium, a home-grown brand that repurposes plastic waste into bitumen, which is used to pave roads.

According to Ted Howland, CapitaLand Investment vice-president of group sustainability, Magorium has used plastic waste from CapitaLand malls including Raffles City Shopping Centre and Plaza Singapura in the making of its bitumen. CapitaLand will also be using this bitumen to pave the roads of its upcoming showflats and development projects.

"Each of these solutions represents one small but very important step that accumulates and brings us to reaching our 2030 sustainability masterplan targets. It’s not about finding that one silver bullet to solve everything, because we don’t believe there’s one of those," he said.

The statutory boards under MSE also organised booths to educate students on their respective histories and milestones in establishing a more sustainable and environmentally conscious Singapore.

President Tharman launched Changkat Primary School’s newly constructed Eco Hub, which offers pupils a space to learn about sustainability concepts such as circular economy, food security, and biodiversity through experiential learning. The highlight of the interactive space is a wormery.

Piloted in 2024, the wormery is looked after by Primary Five and Eco Club pupils who add food scraps collected from the school canteen twice a week to compost boxes. They water the compost mix daily to ensure the composting worms — African nightcrawlers — remain healthy. After four weeks, the vermicompost is ready for use in the school garden.

A commemorative SG60 Go Green SG e-comic book featuring characters that three pupils of the school helped draw was also unveiled. 

The book, which traces the Republic’s environmental journey over the past 60 years, teaches students how they can keep waterways clean, reduce waste and support local produce. The books will be distributed to all primary and secondary school children from May 16.

Organised by MSE, together with some 400 partners, Go Green SG 2025 will feature more than 900 activities, with programmes released gradually over the month. Some of these activities include guided ferry tours of the Southern Islands and a mushroom cultivation workshop.

Online registration for Go Green SG 2025 activities opened on May 12. The public can visit www.gogreen.gov.sg to check out the activities currently available.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.