Singapore-based real estate major CapitaLand Ltd has set up a S$50 million ($37.8 million) fund to spur sustainability-focused innovation in the built environment space.
The CapitaLand Innovation Fund will invest the capital over five years.
“The CapitaLand Innovation Fund will enable us to catalyse more innovations, accelerate our global sustainability efforts and ensure that we remain at the forefront of technology in the built environment space,” CapitaLand group CEO Lee Chee Koon said in a statement.
The company on Friday also announced the winners of the first CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge (CSXC). The two winners were chosen from six finalists that were shortlisted from over 270 entries received from more than 25 countries.
INOVUES won the High Impact Award for an insulating glass retrofit technology that reduces heat gain inside a building, reducing the energy consumption used to heat or cool the building by up to 40%.
Climatec Corp Pte Ltd received the Most Innovative Award for a water treatment process utilising photon vibration frequency technology to treat cooling tower water without the use of chemicals or power. Both winners will receive S$50,000 each to fund their pilot projects with CapitaLand.
“The inaugural CapitaLand Sustainability X Challenge has allowed us to uncover promising innovations that we can potentially implement at our properties across the globe and help us achieve our ambitious targets set out in our 2030 Sustainability Master Plan,” CapitaLand’s Lee said.
In addition to the prize money, the winners will showcase their innovations to senior global business leaders, investors and policymakers at the annual Ecosperity Week organised by Temasek, the lead partner of the CSXC.
Launched in November 2020, CSXC is aimed at sourcing emerging solutions or technologies globally to solve sustainability challenges impacting the firm’s business.
In October 2020, CapitaLand opened the Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab at the Singapore Science Park in partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority and Enterprise Singapore, with sustainability as one of its focus areas.
CapitaLand will redeploy interest rate savings from its sustainability-linked loans towards the group’s sustainability initiatives.
CapitaLand is one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups. It owns and manages a global portfolio worth about S$137.7 billion as of 31 March 2021.