Malaysia’s 1st Green Mall, 1 Utama Shopping Centre has consistently driven its strong commitment towards environmental sustainability as early as 1995, benchmarking forward-thinking green building standards, energy and water conservation practices for the retail industry. Among them are 1 Utama’s ice and chilled water storage system, rainwater harvesting, food waste management programme, and its award-winning attractions Rainforest and rooftop Secret Garden promoting biodiversity.
Scaling up from the recent opening of its one-stop recycling hub 1RECYCLING CENTRE (1RC) that rewards shoppers with digital Green Points via a QR system, 1 Utama has once again leveraged on green technology to develop ForestONE – a groundbreaking mobile app game that gamifies tree planting.
From 7 June 2023 onwards, shoppers who recycle at 1RC will be able to convert their Green Points into ForestONE water via 1 Utama’s SuperApp and replenish their watering can to water their virtual tree in the game.
Once their tree reaches maturity, players will earn an e-Tree Certificate and also get to track the amount of CO2 sequestered collectively per tree.
“1 Utama is proud to be our shoppers’ tree planting partner where they can see their ForestONE trees come to life. For every virtual tree grown, 1 Utama will match and plant a live tree in return which has the power to offset their carbon emissions,” explained Lee Li Lian, 1 Utama’s Public Relations and Sustainability Senior Manager.
“Mobile tech is so ingrained in our everyday lives. We designed ForestONE as a fun ecological mobile game to digitalize 1 Utama’s reforestation efforts and keep carbon footprint low. ForestONE creatively addresses climate change where every in-game achievement contributes to real-life impact for a sustainable future. Through ForestONE, we hope to inspire more green makers in the community to join us in greening the planet one tree at a time.”
ARBORETUM @ LG RAINFOREST
All ForestONE trees available for players to plant have been carefully curated by 1 Utama’s famed consultant botanist Dr Francis Ng for their ability to absorb more carbon from the air, as well as being endangered tree species. These include indigenous Malaysian Trees such as Merbau, Meranti, Tembusu, Chengal, Mersawa, Keruing and Belian that the mall hopes to protect and conserve.
“Trees are our best defense and a vital pillar in tackling climate change. However growing trees requires a lot of cost, care and knowledge. The maintenance of ForestONE trees will be managed by our Park & Gardens team of passionate gardeners and planted at 1 Utama’s newly built Arboretum located at LG Rainforest, which is a garden space dedicated to cultivating trees. Players will be able to visit their adopted trees labelled with their name and e-Tree Certificate number. In the future, should the number of trees outgrow the Arboretum, then tree planting will be carried out at Central Park or within Bandar Utama,” continued Lee.
GAME FEATURES
ForestONE offers a plethora of captivating game features that enable players to craft their very own personalized forest complete with diverse themes and landscapes. Additionally, players can unlock missions that reward bonus water and water their friends’ trees in a friendly leaderboard to further accelerate tree growth. The game also features Surprise Trees for redemption of in-app redemption gifts.
• Build your Dream Forest by customizing ForestONE with different themes and landscapes.
• Look out for Surprise Trees which will be released under ‘Tree Selection’ to plant.
• Redeem in-app Rewards such Eco-gifts and shopping E-vouchers!
• Unlock Missions to earn free water and boost tree growth.
• Check-in Daily for 7 consecutive days for extra bonus water.
• Invite Friends to play and water each other’s trees.
“Keep your gardening game strong with ForestONE”
“We plant trees, when you play ForestONE!”
HOW TO PLAY
1. Download and login to the latest version of 1 Utama’s mobile SuperApp with an active ONECARD account and tap on the ‘Green’ icon and select ‘ForestONE Game’ to start playing.
2. Begin your tree planting journey by selecting a seedling to plant from a list of rare indigenous Malaysian Trees.
3. Fill up watering can with virtual water converted from Green Points to water and nurture your seedling into a mature tree.
4. Successfully complete all growth stages (Level 1 to 4) to receive a Tree Certificate under ‘My Forest’ and 1 Utama will plant a real tree to reduce your carbon footprint on your behalf.
5. Track the amount of C02 sequestered and the number of trees planted displayed under ‘Profile’. The more you play, the more trees you can grow to achieve your green goals.
SUSTAINABILITY @ 1 UTAMA
1 Utama has long been at the forefront of sustainability, striving to integrate green building best practices that provide an exceptional shopping experience while reducing its carbon footprint. These include:
• Ice and Chilled Water Storage System that produces ice and chilled water during off peak hours using idling generating capacities of the power grid to save 30% of electricity costs.
• Building Automation System (B.A.S) that programmes the mall building to utilize energy at optimal levels for lights, escalators, lifts, water pumps, building motors etc.
• Installing Solar Photovoltaic (PV) and building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panels at the rooftop and carpark of 1 Utama to generate sustainable energy and power the mall.
• Rainwater Harvesting System reduces demand for treated water by 30%, while additional water efficient fittings such as low flow taps and half flush cisterns save even more water.
• LED lights, sensors and natural daylighting reduces lighting load by 50%.
• One-stop recycling hub 1RECYCLING CENTRE encourages shoppers to recycle E-waste, PET beverage plastic bottles, aluminum drink cans, fabric, clothes, paper, carton boxes, lanyards and books.
• Digitalizing 1 Utama’s SuperApp and developing a (i) CO2 Tracker that calculates carbon footprint for recycling and green activities (ii) Green Points Rewards System (iii) ForestONE tree planting game.
• Largest on-site retail Food Waste Management System W.I.S.E with Food processes 4,000kg food waste from 160 F&B tenants daily into 100% organic fertilizer. A 750 sq ft experiential viewing gallery is located at LG Promenade for visitors to watch the recycling process live.
• Providing complimentary Electric Charging Stations to cater for all types of EV cars.
• Building connection pedestrian bridges to the BU MRT Station for easy access to public transportation.
• Developing green tourism attractions: (i) 4-storey Rainforest enclave with 100 species of Malaysian forest trees, koi fish ponds, aquarium and overhead suspension bridge (ii) The Secret Garden largest rooftop garden in SE Asia spans over a 30,000 sq ft green roof with plants grown with 1,600 tonnes of biochar soil for carbon sequestration.
“1 Utama is committed to champion the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, setting a roadmap towards net positive carbon emissions by 2050. This year, our mall is also on its way to achieving GreenRE Platinum Certification for our outstanding green building and socially sustainable initiatives,” said Lee.