Not a green horn in a green world..

With global warming and also natural resources being sucked almost dry, there has been a movement, coming in a big way not just impacting the small me and you, but also how future buildings would be designed, built and function. The Singapore government's take on this is remarkably clear, with the introduction of the BCA (Building and Construction Authority) Green Mark Scheme in 2005. In line with Earth Day on the 22th of April, BCA announced its gift to mother nature that from April 15th onwards, all newly constructed or refurbished buildings would need to meet the criteria of the Green Mark Scheme. From this the local green buildings has tripled and now exist 61 buildings with the green mark.

This scheme was to help the construction industry become more initiative in making their buildings more environmentally friendly and at the same time be sustainable. As a building project would most likely involve many people at different stages of the project, awareness could also be raised from the very start when conceptualizing and designing the project with the developers and the architects to the implementation stages, where contractors and builders get involved and at last, on the long run, when the building is functional and open to public. Maintaining a green building would most definitely be different from maintaining a non green one.

There are five main criteria, which the BCA looks upon to assess applicants. Generally, the applicants are categorized into buildings which are new or are existing. If they are new, the scheme will provide the opportunity for developers to design and construct green, sustainable buildings which can promote energy savings, water savings, healthier indoor environments and adoption of greenery for their projects. While for existing building, it will enable building owners and operators to meet their sustainable operations goals and to reduce adverse impacts of their buildings on the environment and occupant health over their entire life cycle.

The Green Mark assesses five key environmental areas:

• Energy Efficiency
• Water Efficiency
• Site/Project Development & Management (Building Management & Operation for existing buildings)
• Good Indoor Environmental Quality & Environmental Protection
• Environmental Innovation

The award itself is also catagorized into four levels, Platinum, Gold Plus, Gold and Certified. This actually enables the benchmarking of a building's performance and also allows comparison between buildings. Below is the rating system base on points.

Green Mark Rating Green Mark Points Green Mark Platinum 85 and above Green Mark GoldPlus 80 to <85 Green Mark Gold 70 to <80 Green Mark Certified 50 to <70

The Treelodge at Punggol is the first public housing to be awarded platium by the authorities and many units have already been snatched up. There is a reason why so many buildings are going green, this is because ultimately they understand that they would be the one saving the money. If on the long run, more energy is saved and with the rising cost of energy and water, future expenses would also be saved. Being certified green would also provide a meaningful differentiation of buildings in the building and real estate market. This can have positive effect on corporate image, leasing and resale value of buildings. Benefits of having a Green Mark building include:

• Facilitate reduction in water and energy bills,
• Reduce potential environmental impact,
• Improve indoor environmental quality for a healthy and productive workplace,
• Provide clear direction for continual improvement

Even MNCs have been going green for some time already. When they do business, they have a "Triple Bottom Lines".

1. Ensuring Economic Growth
2. Environment Conservation
3. Social Responsibility

Locally, companies do care if their buildings meet the green mark or not and an interview with financial leaders worldwide, the majority think that having green buildings is indeed very possible.

One reason that green buildings is feasible is because the returns from the savings on energy or water etc. would be fast. Although expenditure on green buildings would exceed the usual by 1.1%, this is justified as the savings in energy consumption goes as high as S$500,000. So it would take from 2-8 years for the it to break even, depending on how much money is allocated for developing the green aspect. Another reason is that green buildings tend to value add on the customers' or consumers' experience.

These concepts are relatively new in Singapore, but will set to change in the near future. This is evident in that the BCA organizes courses on technical issues of environmental architecture and also training for the management of such buildings and the responses has been overwhelming with vacancies only available only in June.

Learn more today, visit the Green Mark.