SINGAPORE - Local homeowners and developers are willing to pay more for green buildings in recognition of their benefits, according to a survey released by the Building & Construction Authority (BCA) on Wednesday (Nov 15).
More than 70 per cent of homeowners acknowledged that green buildings have a better resale value and about half of them were willing to pay 3 to 4 per cent more for a green building that is certified by the BCA Green Mark.
As for developers, 72 per cent said they would prefer to invest in or purchase a green building over a non-green one, and were willing to fork out up to 5 per cent more.
Over 90 per cent of those polled said that green buildings result in lower utility bills, reduced environmental impact and better health benefits. The survey reached 2,200 homeowners, office tenants, property agents, facility managers and developers.
The results of the survey reinforce the business case for green buildings in Singapore, said BCA.
Its CEO Hugh Lim said: "Meeting the strong demand for green buildings domestically has enabled many Singapore built environment firms to develop specialised capabilities in green building design for the tropics.
"The greater interest in sustainable buildings abroad has also presented new business opportunities to our firms, especially in developments which have adopted BCA's well-regarded Green Mark assessment."
The Government is providing support for these firms which are keen to internationalise as part of the construction industry transformation map.
In its latest measure, BCA will be partnering the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in the US to collaborate in the area of zero energy buildings and look into areas such as passive and active building technologies and smart energy management development.
This will be the Singapore authority's second tie-up with LBNL, after the set-up of the BCA SkyLab in California, the world's first high-rise rotatable laboratory for the tropics.
BCA also said that Singapore firms are riding on the strong demand for green buildings locally and overseas to export their expertise to the region. It noted that to date, close to 300 projects in 80 cities overseas have BCA's Green Mark certification.
It said small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) are also expanding their services overseas, fuelled by the increasing interest and demand for green buildings.
It cited G-Energy Global, an energy services company with more than 500 projects in Singapore and overseas. Some of G-Energy's iconic projects are Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore, Saigon Sports City in Vietnam and World Trade Centre 2 in Indonesia.
