GREEN COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

There is increasing needs for sustainable construction in the industry to meet the challenges of global warming, scarce natural resources and land spaces. The construction sector plays an important role in Singapore’s economy and social development. Hence, effort has to be put in to upgrade the industry and its people, at the same time achieve sustainable built environment. One such effort would be the use of building schemes. This paper examines existing building environmental assessment methods in various countries with respect to commercial developments. There will be a comparison made, generally, and the similarities and differences of Green Mark and two others building environmental assessment methods are listed. A survey is carried out to identify the level of awareness of the general public with reference to the issues of sustainability of commercial developments. Recommendations to BCA Green Mark Scheme are then proposed after the comparison and survey are carried out. As the assessment of building performance varies from buildings to buildings, it is difficult to thoroughly evaluate a building with all the requirements stated in the rating system. By conducting the survey on general public’s awareness, the number of respondents is too small to be regarded as a significant representative of the large population. Hence, there may be insufficient information obtained. In addition, environmental assessment method only serves as a guide but not as the actual building to be developed from the beginning. It should be used with much consideration when assessing the performance criteria of a building.