SINGAPORE - The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has given out a record number of Green Mark awards this year, which it said on Monday (June 12) demonstrated a strong green building movement in Singapore.
There are more than 350 BCA Green Mark award recipients this year, up from 306 and 221 in 2016 and 2015.
The BCA Green Mark was launched in 2005 to encourage the construction industry to build environmentally friendly buildings.
Mr Ang Kian Seng, BCA's group director for Environmental Sustainability, said of the number of Green Mark awards this year: "It is a strong testament to our efforts in driving the green building movement, in Singapore and even regionally.
"But more will need to be done and we hope to obtain the strong support of the industry and building users in this next phase of Singapore's green building journey."
There are now more than 3,000 building projects in Singapore that have met the BCA Green Mark standards. This is equivalent to more than 89 million square metres or one-third of the gross floor area for the total building stock.
The national target is to green 80 per cent of all buildings by 2030.
The awards will be given out on Tuesday at the Resorts World Convention Centre, a Green Mark-awarded venue.
One of the BCA Green Mark Platinum award winners this year is the 83-year-old Old Hill Street Police Station, whose managers have installed solar panels and retrofitted its lights and chiller plants.
BCA said this shows that it is possible to retrofit an existing building - even a historically conserved one - to improve its energy efficiency.
Two public agencies - the People's Association (PA) and Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) - have also been named BCA Green Mark Champions this year.
Introduced in 2008, the BCA Green Mark Champion award is given to developers with a strong commitment towards environmentally sustainability and who have accumulated at least 10 projects rated Green Mark Gold and above, including at least three Platinum and three GoldPlus.
There are 15 BCA Green Mark Champions to date, including public agencies such as the Housing Board, JTC Corporation and the Ministry of Education.
Private developers, such as City Developments Limited, Keppel Land Limited and Mapletree Investments, have also been recognised as BCA Green Mark Champions.
