Green mark criteria for residential buildings updated

The Green Mark Scheme for new residential buildings has been updated to include the use of smart technologies as one of the criteria needed for developers to have their buildings certified, media reports said...

CDL’s Tree House is one such example of a green residential building in Singapore. (Photo: CDL)

The Green Mark Scheme for new residential buildings has been updated to include the use of smart technologies as one of the criteria needed for developers to have their buildings certified, reported The Straits Times.

Speaking at the opening of Singapore Green Building Week, National Development Minister and Second Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong said the new scheme will take into account the use of technologies, like sensors, to monitor real-time energy usage. It will also consider features like responsive wall facades which lower heat gain within a building.

Launched in 2005 by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), more than 2,800 buildings in Singapore are currently Green Mark-certified.

Under the scheme, the environmental impact of a building is evaluated in areas including water and energy efficiency, as well as indoor environmental quality.

Over 31 percent of the city-state’s built area is Green Mark-certified, and the government is looking to raise this to 80 percent come 2030.

BCA Chief Executive Dr John Keung revealed that the new set of criteria will be subject to a one-year testing period before it is fully implemented following consultations with industry players.

The BCA also plans to publicly release building energy consumption data, without revealing the building’s name in order to encourage buildings to ramp up their energy efficiency.

Much like New York and Boston, the BCA is also working towards implementing mandatory disclosure of building energy performance in Singapore over the next few years.

“We hope building owners, and even occupants, can make use of this data to assess where their building performance stands and develop cost-effective solutions to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint if they find that their building is less energy efficient than similar building types,” said Dr Keung.

Mr Wong said in his speech that buildings account for 25 percent of all emissions in the city-state.

“We have to step up green building efforts as part of the overall global effort to tackle climate change,” he said.

 

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg