Kok Cheow Tan - SEP Case Story

Kok Cheow Tan, SEP, CISM, CSM, CFCP, Deputy Director at C & W Services - Singapore. In March 2023, ISSP talked to Kok about his career journey.

What brought you to this moment in your career where the Sustainability Excellence Professional (SEP) credential made sense for you?

In my career of about 15 years, I have been dealing with all sorts of sustainability related projects for the public housing in Singapore. That includes energy audit projects, as a pioneer in implementing LED lamps and achieving savings of about 60%, greening the towns, and promoting sustainability programs in the community. I was also involved in a district level development of a 10-year sustainability plan. In the recent years, I got more active and was garnering sustainability support-commitment of a town by organizing a hackathon to develop sustainability action plans for the town and many other activities.

I found my passion in sustainability and as a result was determined to progress further by acquiring more knowledge in sustainability. From then, there was no looking back. Today I am a SEP and hoping to do more for sustainability as a professional and for my passion.

How are you putting the knowledge, skills, and ability demonstrated in the SEA to work in your career (or work) today?

At work, I have the advantage to use my passion to continue to play my part in continuously initiating sustainability programs in the community. In addition, I was fortunate to be able to help in designing the tender specification for mass producing SMART - LED lamps for nationwide deployment by adopting the concepts of Life Cycle Assessment, Dematerialization, Repairability, and Extended Producer Responsibility.

For those starting out in the sustainability field, what advice do you have for them?

Come on board. Build on your passion in sustainability. Make a Difference!!

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