GREEN MARK SCHEME AND THE ADOPTION OF SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION IN THE LOCAL CONTEXT

Abstract

The problem of global warming and resource depletion is accelerating and the building and construction industry contributes largely to this. Being a responsible member of the international community, the Singapore government has made substantial efforts to incorporate sustainable construction into the local built environment. This includes providing numerous subsidies and trainings. Despite this, more attention is still placed on other Green Mark categories such as energy efficiency. Hence, the objectives and hypotheses formulated for this study seek to understand why less focus has been placed on environmental protection, specifically sustainable construction in the Green Mark Scheme, and the challenges and needs that contractors face, with regards to the adoption of sustainable construction practices. To validate these hypotheses, surveys were done amongst local contractor firms. Subsequently, interviews were conducted with representatives from BCA to further shed light on the survey findings. The results consistently reveal the cost mindedness and low environmental consciousness of the contractors in the construction industry. The industry's behaviour still greatly deviates from BCA's expectations and more needs to be done to increase sustainable construction adoption rate. This is an arduous task since the construction industry has traditionally been resilient to change. Nevertheless, it is critical because there is a need to maintain Singapore's image of being environmentally responsible and reduce reliance on other countries. This study was done with several limitations, which include a small sample size for the surveys and the exclusion of other construction stakeholders such as the developer due to time constraints.