So here’s wishing Singapore a wonderful birthday as our nation marches toward middle age.

Our office will be closed from Friday (6 Aug) till Monday (9 Aug), and reopen on Tuesday (10 Aug). You can still contact us via email: info [at] starbamboo [dot] com.

Happy birthday, Singapore!

“If buildings meet certain Green Mark standards, owners can apply for additional Gross Floor Area (GFA) beyond the master plan gross plot ratio control.

Developments with the Platinum rating can receive up to 2 per cent more GFA (capped at 5,000 sq m), while those with the Gold Plus rating are eligible for up to one per cent more (capped at 2,500 sq m).”

In land-scarce Singapore, this is a powerful incentive. At current record land prices,  an extra 5,000 sqm is easily worth millions of dollars to the developer, even though a development charge has to be paid to the government.

There are currently 4 levels of Green Mark ratings:

There is now greater impetus to strive for the next Green Mark level, especially for buildings at the Green Mark Gold Plus level. Only 5 points separate this from the highest Green Mark Platinum level, making it an attainable goal.

With the 2008 revision of the Green Mark programme, developers can score points by using Green Label certified products such as our bamboo flooring. Under this category, there is a total of 1.5 points available. Any extra building costs is more than offset by the extra GFA available.

When a mere 5 points could equate to a difference of millions of dollars, every little bit helps.

This year’s Eco Action Day will be held on 4th June.

There is a handy table on their website, which shows the total amount of electricity saved for the past three years. Unfortunately there is a slight dip in 2009, but I’m sure we will be able to reverse the trend this year.

Awareness about our impact on the environment has become mainstream, and it’s no longer a fad.

So go get your colleagues to join in, and together, we can make a difference.

Check out the Eco Action Day website today!

I’ve been making some tweaks to our web site:

* Most importantly, visitors to www.starbamboo.com now see a static welcome page instead of the blog. The blog is accessible via a link to your right.

* The pages now have a better flow – visitors get guided along, instead of having to figure for themselves where to click next.

* Some pages have been removed – they provide valuable content, but more often than not, simply confuse a new visitor.

* You want to see how bamboo flooring looks like in a real-world setting? Your wish is granted! We are adding photos to our project portfolio page.

There is one more big surprise to be unveiled soon.. Check back here for more details!

You can now buy them online!

CHOOSE. by Olive Ventures now has its very own online store.

The layout seems pretty slick and there is a nice variety of eco-friendly products available sorted according to product category or brand name.

I couldn’t find information on delivery costs, but James mentioned that there will be a charged imposed as most of their products are pretty heavy.

Also, when I clicked on the “checkout” button, a message popped out saying the minimum order value is $30.

Which is OK because a full set of our bamboo chopping boards costs a very reasonable $50.

What’s more, you could win a prize just by joining their Twitter or Facebook pages before 31/05/2010.

So go check it out today!

It doesn’t sound like much, but the use of this fund is very specific:

“The fund will focus on developing capabilities in recycling waste from the demolition of buildings and in using recycled materials for construction.” 

Money certainly speaks louder than words, a sentiment echoed by Andrew Khng, president, Singapore Contractors Association, who said: “… for the contractors, we need some kind of incentive to push us to go green on our own.” - ChanneNewsAsia

A nice tweak to BCA’s Green Mark scheme is mentioned in the Straits Times report:

“Currently, those aiming for the ‘Goldplus’ and ‘Platinum’ standards under its Green Mark scheme can opt out of these measures by beefing up other areas such as greenery and accessibility to public transport. But the changes make mandatory a prescribed minimum level of effort in this regard.”

Lastly, the AsiaOne web site’s motoring section focused on the successful trial which used recycled asphalt-pavement waste in road construction.

Which made me wonder why we took so long in the first place, especially since road works in Singapore are going on all the time.

This is a step in the right direction, let’s hope for more government support in the coming months.

A few days ago, the certificate finally arrived:

(click above for full size image)

The coolest thing is that I know the exact geo co-ordinates of the piece of land I adopted. I could even view it in Google Earth and monitor its progress over time.

Adopting a piece of land is kind of like adopting a child for schools in remote villages. The financial contribution is one thing, I also feel a stronger sense of ownership.

This piece of forest land is under my care, and at the same time, belongs to us all.

Reforestation is a painstakingly long-term effort. Primary rainforests, once lost, could never be reclaimed fully. We can only hope for a rough approximation of the beauty that used to exist.

Prevention is better than cure. Instead of using wooden products, why not consider other eco-friendly alternatives such as bamboo?

This is the only truly sustainable way for our future.

(Source: CNET News)

Looks like it’s a matter of time before they change the colour of their logo to green.

Visitors in the past few hours would not have been able to connect, instead seeing a blank page.

Thankfully, it has been sorted out. The cause was a fault in the WordPress database, which causes excessive connections. Or that’s what my tech guy told me.

What’s still not working is the contact form. Queries sent with it disappear into a mysterious black-hole. So I’ve taken it offline for now, but you can still get in touch with us via the contact page.

Sorry about all this.

Got a healthy spike in web site traffic after the article appeared on Saturday.

Here’s a screenshot of the article – “Bamboo the green pick for flooring”:

(Source: Meltwater.com)

Just to share more insights into the article with you.

Star Bamboo was the first bamboo flooring specialist company in Singapore when we started operations in 2005. About a year after us, the first competitor appeared and the market has since expanded to about 4 players now.

It’s a relatively small market in Singapore, which is why our focus is still on the European markets. But it’s growing rapidly by the day.

The photo is of a residential project we completed in 2009, a bungalow in the East area of Singapore. Using our Carbonised Vertical bamboo flooring, we constructed a platform in the living room. It’s right next to the entrance, greeting the guests as they step into the house.

After all, first impressions do count.

So if you’d like to find out more about our award-winning, eco-friendly bamboo flooring, and what we can do for your home or office, just give us a buzz at 6565 9217!

(You’ll need a subscription for the article at Straits Times.)