THE FUTURE OF GREEN MARK SCHEME WITHIN SINGAPORE

Abstract

In order to match up with the challenges of global warming and scarce natural resources, the practice of sustainable construction is necessary. Since the construction sector plays an important role in Singapore’s economy and social development, efforts must be put in to achieve a sustainable built environment in the form of utilizing green building schemes such as the Green Mark Scheme (GMS). Active promotion is carried out by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in Singapore to encourage adoption of the GMS and meet the growing demand for green technologies and green construction in Singapore. As such, this study aims to establish the current level of success of the GMS and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), followed by the revision of the GMS to determine if any suitable guidelines from the LEED can be implemented into it to further improve it as an attractive and better green rating system. Literature reviews were conducted extensively to determine the level of success for the GMS and LEED and to provide a basic understanding of where the two green rating systems stand in the current construction industry. Interviews were conducted with two construction industry professionals to gain their valuable insight on the LEED guidelines to be implemented. A survey was conducted in complementary to the interviews to gather opinions from the other construction industry professionals on the implementation of the LEED guidelines into the GMS. Due to time constraints and word limit imposed, the general conclusions being drawn were limited in terms of accuracy and applicability to the rest of the construction industry. Hence, there may be insufficient information gathered for this study. It was proposed that a more in-depth and larger study be conducted for future works in order to have a broader perspective on the industry’s opinions on the LEED implementation.