Singapore, 15 October 2026 – At City Developments Limited (CDL), building a more sustainable future goes beyond greener buildings and lower carbon emissions. People play a critical role in bringing these visions to life, enabling new ideas to be adopted, implemented safely, and scaled effectively.
This was the spirit behind CDL’s annual Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Awards, which recognises employees who have gone the extra mile to promote environmental stewardship, workplace safety and health, and employee wellbeing.
A total of 11 recipients were honoured at the awards ceremony on 15 October 2026, as part of CDL’s fourth Green Building, Decarbonisation and Safety (GBDS) Seminar.
The awards were presented by Guest-of-Honour Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State for National Development and Foreign Affairs. In his opening speech, Mr Tan noted the evolving challenges faced by the industry: “We face very real environmental, spatial, and human pressures today. As we continue to invest in our built environment, we must find innovative ways to manage these challenges... We can be innovative in the use of our land, innovative in the use of our buildings, and most importantly, innovative in the different ways we protect our people, of which safety is core.”
Spotlighting the people who make an impactful difference
Now in its third year, the CDL EHS Awards 2026 comprises three award categories: Empower, Ensure and Embrace. In addition, CDL’s Group CEO Mr Sherman Kwek was presented with a special CDL Lighthouse Award in recognition of his leadership in sustainability and workplace safety.
The Empower Awards recognise senior leaders who champion EHS excellence and empower their teams. The Ensure Awards celebrate managers who integrate EHS practices into daily operations and take action to address potential risks. The Embrace Awards recognise employees who actively adopt good practices and encourage their colleagues to do the same.
The awards stand out for their open nomination process, where colleagues can put forward people whose contributions they have witnessed firsthand. This gives employees across the Group a chance to recognise the everyday efforts that help create safer, healthier and more sustainable workplaces.
Open to employees across the CDL Group, including CBM Pte Ltd, City Serviced Offices, Le Grove Serviced Residences, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, and Tower Club, the awards also welcomed nominations from overseas teams within the Group.
This year, a total of 33 nominations were received.
People at the heart of sustainability and safety
Themed “People at the Heart of Green Building, Decarbonisation & Safety”, the annual GBDS Seminar showcased CDL’s track record as an early mover across green buildings, low-carbon solutions, sustainable building operations, and workplace safety and health.
Featuring presentations on delivering sustainable buildings and integrating sustainability with safety, the seminar demonstrated how people can make a powerful difference in shaping a more sustainable and safer built environment.
Speakers included industry partners and experts, such as Mr Joseph Kalaivanar, Founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope Labs, and Mr Louis Chong, Senior Manager at the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), along with CDL’s environmental stewards.
The workshops explored the evolution of green building standards, the growing role of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) and digitalisation in enhancing building performance and ESG decision-making, and the value of collaboration with industry partners in advancing sustainable practices.
The sessions also examined how biodiversity, nature-based solutions and biophilic design can support decarbonisation while enhancing community health and wellbeing. Physical safety was also highlighted as a vital component of the built environment in creating spaces where people can live and work safely.
As Singapore’s built environment enters its next phase of transformation, the discussions embodied CDL’s approach to sustainability and safety, highlighting how industry leadership and public-private partnerships translate national built environment ambitions into practical outcomes.
Other presentations brought these ideas to life through examples from across the Group. These included M Hotel’s transformation towards safer and more sustainable operations, how CDL’s project teams integrate decarbonisation and safety into building development, and how employee volunteering can extend contributions beyond the workplace and to less privileged communities.
Attended by around 330 employees from the CDL Group, the seminar provided participants with deeper insights into environmental and safety considerations in the built environment and meaningful ways to incorporate them into their daily operations and practices.
Held annually since 2023, the GBDS Seminar reflects CDL’s commitment to Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) excellence. Since pioneering the CDL 5-Star EHS Assessment System in 2001, CDL has continued to champion safety and CARE (Culture of Acceptance, Respect and Empathy) across its value chain as the built environment sector’s first WSH Advocate.
This year, CDL was presented with its 14th WSH Developer Award and the inaugural CARE Award at the WSH Awards 2026 organised by the WSH Council.
CDL’s Group CEO, Mr Sherman Kwek, said, “While it is wonderful to be recognised, awards are never the end goal. What matters most fundamentally is that everyone gets home safely and we protect human life, encompassing both physical and mental wellbeing. Sustainability and safety are not just the responsibility of EHS professionals, they belong to all of us. Small actions, whether it is speaking up about an unsafe situation, questioning an inefficient practice, or simply checking in on a colleague, multiplied across our organisation, can create significant change.”
