After stopping off last month in Michigan, the Around the World with CarbonCure series now takes us to the opposite side of the world. Welcome to Singapore and the home of the first CarbonCure producer in Asia. Want to know where we’re headed next? Read to the end of this blog to find out!
As Singapore’s largest supplier of ready mix concrete and cement, Pan-United Corporation Ltd (Pan-United) prides itself on delivering high-quality products and the latest innovations in sustainability to its customers.
In fact, since beginning its own sustainability journey in 2001, the company now offers more than 150 green-certified concrete products. This puts Pan-United in an excellent position to serve a construction industry that is increasing its demands for more environmentally-friendly solutions.
Being the regional leader in sustainable concrete, Pan-United took a keen interest in the development of CarbonCure’s innovative concrete technology. The two companies were formally introduced by the Singapore Green Building Council and, when the partnership agreement was signed in 2018, Pan-United became the first CarbonCure producer outside of North America.
The teams worked closely together to implement the technology, doing so without any interruption to ongoing production operations. But this wasn’t the only challenge. As a completely new solution, Pan-United also had to educate local partners about the advantages of CarbonCure.
Using its vast network and partnerships with various local and regional government agencies, consultancies, designers and contractors, Pan-United started educating the market on the benefits of CarbonCure’s technology, aided by a wide range of technical and marketing literature developed by CarbonCure.
"While reducing the overall carbon footprint, we believe CarbonCure's special process has multiple benefits to enable sustainability gains not only for concrete producers and the construction industry but also for developers in their building projects"
Ken Loh, COO, Pan-United Corporation Ltd.
Wai Mun Chan, Operations & Sustainability Director of Pan-United Concrete, the company’s ready mix concrete entity, said “CarbonCure's technology has deepened Pan-United’s sustainability roots and further cemented our objective to produce the greenest concrete ever.”
Today, CarbonCure concrete is poured for a range of projects in Singapore. These include corporate headquarters, infrastructure projects, and residential buildings. Ken Loh, Chief Operating Officer of Pan-United Corporation, told us about their future ambitions: “We intend to expand the use of CarbonCure’s technology by introducing it to other ready mix concrete producers in Singapore and the region.”
He continued by explaining the benefits of CarbonCure for Pan-United’s different customer groups: “While reducing the overall carbon footprint, we believe this special process has multiple benefits to enable sustainability gains not only for concrete producers and the construction industry, but also for developers in their building projects.”
We’ll be following eagerly to see what the team does next! But now – are you ready to clock off, head out, and explore Singapore? There’s lots to see and do but don’t worry, we have you covered from the moment you step off the plane.
Explore an Airport That is so Much More Than an Airport
We get it. You arrive at your vacation destination and the first (and fastest) thing you want to do is escape the airport. But in Singapore, we urge you not to!
Singapore’s Changi Airport is a destination in itself. The showstopper is the 40-meter (1,320-foot) HSBC Rain Vortex in the Jewel Changi area. It’s the world’s tallest indoor waterfall and it’s surrounded on all sides by tropical plants and literally thousands of trees. What better welcome to the Garden City!
Feast at a Hawker Centre
Singapore’s hawker centres are a bit like a food court, but on a whole other level. The centres began as a government initiative to provide cheap, local food to communities and they have evolved to receive international recognition. In 2016, Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle and Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle became the first two street food locations ever to be awarded Michelin Stars. They have been joined by many more since.
Fun fact: When we asked our Senior Director of Engineering for Digital Technologies, Brad Vickers, for his Singapore recommendations, he told us that coffee in Singapore is sometimes served in plastic bags with a string attached. Many places, including the concrete plants he worked at, have hooks on the walls that employees use to hang their coffees.
Go find yourself some authentic Singaporean coffee in a hawker centre!
Experience Music, Lights, And Supertrees at Garden Rhapsody
Spread across three waterfront locations in the downtown core, Gardens by the Bay is a self-professed 'garden of the world.' Highlights include the Flower Dome, an award-winning glass greenhouse containing flowers from all over the world, the giant indoor waterfall in the Cloud Forest Dome, and Garden Rhapsody, the immersive experience offered every night from 7-10pm.
After a humid day exploring all the city has to offer, the domes offer a nice, cool climate to refresh yourself in. Then it’s back to a hawker centre for your next meal!
Our Next Stop
Next month, we’ll be catching a flight back to beautiful British Columbia for a visit to Butler Concrete & Aggregate in Victoria. Make sure you subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss it!
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