Healthier People in Green Buildings & Sustainable Cities

Green buildings, energy efficiency, green living, smart cities and responsible urbanism. They all surfaced as high priority issues and opportunities to make Singapore a strong contender for the title of host city for what turned out be a very real “International Sustainability Week”. It was marked by high level involvement from global organisations, as well as a host of business leaders, academics, professionals, along with smart direction from the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), which announced its world-first Sky Lab project. Read More

Ken Hickson reports:

Dominating the “International sustainability Week” was the high-powered International Green Building Conference, which rose to new heights as a platform for global experts and case studies of best practices from around the world.

While the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) as hosts, made sure there was suitable attention given to local milestones, including the announcement of the world’s first high-rise rotatable laboratory for the tropics, Skylab, they could not outshine the high level participation from noted international leaders in green buildings, including the very eloquent Terri Wills, CEO of the World Green Building Council

BCA INTRODUCES REVAMPED GREEN MARK SCHEME TO PUSH THE ENVELOPE IN

SUSTAINABILITY

- New Green Mark 2015 to further drive sustainable outcomes for Singapore

- BCA SkyLab, world’s first high-rise rotatable laboratory for the tropics, unveiled

- Positive trends on building energy performance observed in the BCA Building Energy

Benchmarking Report (BEBR) 2015

Singapore, 2 September 2015 – Guest-of-Honour Mr Choi Shing Kwok, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, announced the new Green Mark 2015 and details of the BCA SkyLab, the world’s first high-rise rotatable laboratory for the tropics, at the opening ceremony of the Singapore Green Building Week (SGBW) 2015 held at Marina Bay Sands. He also shared key findings from the second BCA Building Energy Benchmarking Report (BEBR) and latest green initiatives rolled out by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).

Launch of the Green Mark 2015 (refer to Factsheet A) 2 In its commemorative 10th year for BCA Green Mark scheme this year, BCA has introduced a new version of the Green Mark scheme called the “Green Mark 2015” to further push the boundaries on environmental sustainability. The Green Mark 2015 was developed through a collaborative framework involving more than 100 industry specialists and experts, and 12 taskforces led by BCA. The collaboration was complemented by extensive consultation with industry bodies and academia. This version, which was developed for new non-residential buildings, will incorporate key changes, with an expanded focus to address sustainability in a more balanced and holistic manner.

Green Mark 2015 has been structured into four main sections:

(i) Climatic Response,

(ii) Building Energy Performance

(iii) Resource Stewardship

(iv) Smart & Healthy Building.

A bonus section on advanced green building efforts is included, to spur efforts beyond requirements.

Key benefits for building occupants and users include a stronger emphasis on indoor environmental quality in relation to enhanced health and well-being, and buildings that are  equipped with smart controls and analytics to assist in the management and optimisation of building resources

The revamped scheme will enable projects to analyse its energy effectiveness in both the optimisation of energy efficiency as well as energy consumption. Greater recognition for renewable energy will be considered; this will accelerate solar PV adoption by further encouraging the use of renewable energy through solar feasibility studies and solar ready roof design. The scheme is launched for piloting and will be fine-tuned before full implementation.

Dr John Keung, Chief Executive Officer of BCA, commented, “Green Mark 2015 will play a more prominent role in driving and communicating sustainability outcomes in Singapore, as buildings consume more than 30% of the total electricity. It will recognise the leadership of building owners who drive improvements to the overall environmental credentials of projects. Such leadership by the building owner will add a layer of accountability and integrity to the projects teams in business sustainability reporting.”

The World’s First High-Rise Rotatable Laboratory for the Tropics – The BCA SkyLab

Guest-of-Honour Mr Choi Shing Kwok also unveiled the details of the BCA SkyLab. It will be the world’s first high-rise rotatable laboratory for the tropics with state-of-the-art facilities for testing and development of innovative energy-efficient building technologies.

Built on the rooftop of a new building at the BCA Academy, the BCA SkyLab is constructed on a rotatable platform to enable tests to be carried out at any orientation to the sun and wind. The BCA SkyLab is part of BCA’s plans to further accelerate the pace of research, development and application of energy-efficient building technologies. .

Developed in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California, the BCA SkyLab complements BCA’s existing Zero Energy Building (ZEB to develop green building research and development efforts in Singapore. BCA SkyLab is expected to be completed with a pipeline of technologies to start test-bedding by the first half of next year.

Dr John Keung, CEO of BCA said, “With the BCA SkyLab, we are moving another step closer to the ambitious goal of achieving ‘low-energy high-rise” buildings and “zeroenergy low-rise’ buildings in the tropics. BCA will work closely with the industry and academia to drive innovation in green building design, construction and maintenance to make this possible.”

Release of the BCA Building Energy Benchmarking Report 2015 (refer to Factsheet C)

Dr John Keung, CEO of BCA said, “With our green building policies and energy performance monitoring strategy firmly in place, we hope to see steady and sustained improvement year on year. I am confident Singapore is well on track to achieve our national target to green 80% of our building stock, and contribute to the achievement of Singapore’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution.”

Source:  www.bca.gov.sg.