3 new requirements for buildings to be energy-efficient [News]

By Saifulbahri Ismail, Channel NewsAsia, 10 Sep 2012.

From next year, building owners will have to do more to show they’re energy efficient.

They have to fulfil three new requirements under the Building Control Act.

They have to get a minimum Green Mark standard when a cooling system is installed or changed.

The Green Mark is a benchmarking scheme by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to promote sustainability such as reducing water and energy consumption by adopting best practices in environmental design.

They also have to submit energy audits on the cooling system once every three years as well as energy consumption data every year. Read more

Senior Parliamentary Secretary Maliki announced an enhanced Green Mark Incentive Scheme for existing buildings [Speeches]

1. Good morning. It is my pleasure to join you today at the “World Workplace Asia Conference and Exhibition 2012”.

2. Asia’s urban population is expected to increase from 1.9 billion to 3.3 billion by 2050 . By 2025, seven of the world’s top ten megacities with 10 million or more inhabitants, will be in Asia . This unprecedented population growth in urban centres will pose challenges in terms of housing and infrastructure for all countries. It is a daunting task for cities to support an ever more crowded planet, and to do so in a sustainable manner.

3. Moving forward, the key is all about sustainability. We are fully aware of global concerns over climate change, and increasing demand on our limited land, water and energy resources. Countries all over the world are mapping out strategies to achieve greater environmental sustainability without compromising economic growth. Read more

New Financing Scheme and Minimum Standards for Existing Buildings Announced at the International Green Building Conference 2011

Minister of State for National Development and Manpower, BG (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin announced a new financing scheme and minimum Green Mark standards for existing buildings at today’s opening of the International Green Building Conference (IGBC) 2011, which is part of the annual Singapore Green Building Week.

In the Singapore Sustainable Blueprint, the government has set a target to green 80% of Singapore’s buildings by 2030. 95% of Singapore’s building stock are existing buildings. The challenge is how to green the existing buildings, given the higher cost of retrofitting and the lack of financing.

To help existing building owners overcome the barrier of high upfront retrofitting costs, BG (NS) Tan announced that the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) will launch a pilot scheme from 1 Oct called the Building Retrofit Energy Efficiency Financing (BREEF) Scheme. Read more