GREEN MARK & SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

The Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Green Mark (GM) Scheme is a green building assessment system used for various types of buildings in Singapore. Focusing on the GM criteria for non-residential, specifically commercial buildings, this research paper hypothesises that the GM’s current criteria is unable to guarantee that certified buildings are truly sustainable in the long run.

This paper evaluates and critiques the GM criteria with reference to other green building assessment methods and tools. It also looks at local industry professionals’ perspectives of the criteria and its success in achieving Singapore’s sustainability agenda. Lastly, this paper concludes by ascertaining future directions of the GM Scheme, based on local knowledge and expertise as well as global standards.

Literature reviews provide insight on the concept of sustainable building, present challenges facing sustainable building, and criteria frameworks used in five green building assessment methods. Research methods consist of a comparative analysis on the green building assessment methods and interviews with professionals to discuss about their views on the criteria.

Findings showed that the GM current standard has room for improvement in terms of paying attention to areas such requirements related to water efficiency and the social dimension of sustainable building. More importantly, the stringency of its points-system should be increased especially for applicant projects aiming for the Platinum accreditation. However, overall, GM is still viewed as a promising wake-up call for the local building and construction industry as it increases awareness on sustainable building in Singapore.