Singapore is changing the way its landscape is being managed, with an increasing emphasis on productive maintenance. Additionally, there is a greater reliance on mechanised maintenance methods to ensure an investment effective outcome, labour efficiency and more sustainable practices. This requires modifications to landscape design and construction. The Design for Sustainable landscape Maintenance Guidelines aims to assist landscape designers and constructors in understanding how their decisions affect the way landscape is maintained and the ramifications on whole-of-life investment and maintenance productivity. In particular, the guidelines encourage an active consideration of the productive maintenance implications of landscape design and construction. The productivity implications can be substantial, and if applied fully, will lead to possible costs savings of hundreds of millions of dollars over a landscape's lifetime.

As part of the Landscape Industry Productivity Roadmap, and to support the professional development of the industry and the various projects and initiatives being undertaken across the landscape industry, CUGE requires an overall web-based system platform, to be known as Green Knowledge.

Green Knowledge consists of Landscape Operations Management System (LOAMS) and Landscape Knowledge Community (LaKC):

LOAMS supports the landscape operations among landscape contractors and service buyers. LOAMS will also be the platform for the propagation of landscape quality standards and productivity benchmarking.

LaKC facilitates knowledge collaboration among landscape professionals.

These two programmes are part of an overall Enterprise Architecture initiative that is a new and exciting project. This project aims to build and maintain an online database of industry statistics and skills knowledge that can be monitored and analysed to efficiently pinpoint and target areas within the landscape industry that require improvements in productivity. As a first step, a feasibility study was conducted of the landscape industry to determine current practices and identify issues within the industry regarding the adoption rates of IT infrastructure.

Many landscape companies are aware that the use of machinery can greatly boost productivity. However, these machines can be very costly and smaller companies may not be able to afford them. At the same time, companies may not use these machines frequently. Therefore, making them available for hire would be an attractive option that companies can explore in their efforts to increase productivity without the need for large initial capital investment.

CUGE is currently evaluating various new innovative equipment and machinery for their suitability for use in our local landscapes. The first machines for hire are expected to be available in Singapore by 2012. Relevant technical training will also be provided to the workforce in order for them to operate these machines safely and competently.

A stump grinder – capable of clearing a tree stump in 1-3 hours,
which is much faster than the 24 hours taken by manual labour,
a method commonly used by local companies.

During the 2009 Labour Productivity Benchmarking Study for Landscape Maintenance Phase 1, it was determined that labour productivity within landscape health management practices was very low relative to international best practices. A study is currently being conducted with the objectives of i) identifying and documenting current landscape health management practices in Singapore, including regulatory requirements, contract specifications and actual implementation practices; ii) identifying common landscape health management issues and outcomes that negatively impact upon Singapore's landscape maintenance labour productivity; iii) analysing and quantifying the direct lifetime costs of Singapore's current landscape health management practices that impact on landscape maintenance productivity; iv) analysing and estimating the impacts of the proposed vegetation management control system on lifetime landscape maintenance costs; v) reviewing and documenting international best practices in landscape health management including manpower, machinery, equipment, skills and other resources applicable to Singapore's operating environment; vi) assessing net environmental impacts of relevant international landscape health management best practice compared to current practices in Singapore. Finally, with the study findings, an operational landscape health vegetation management control system will be developed to significantly reduce landscape health management resource requirements; provide net environmental benefits; and improve the safety and comfort of plant operators in undertaking plant health management operations.