BENEFITS OF GREEN MARK

BCA Green Mark provides a meaningful differentiation of buildings in the real estate market. It is a benchmarking scheme which incorporates internationally recognized GREEN Concept best practices in environmental design and performance. This can have positive effect on corporate image, leasing and resale value of buildings. Benefits of BCA Green Mark include:

1. Facilitate reduction in water and energy bills,
2. Reduce potential environmental impact,
3. Improve indoor environmental quality for a healthy and productive workplace, and
4. Provide clear direction for continual improvement.

GREEN Concept Basic Requirements to be Endorsed by Qualified Person:

• Calculation of energy efficiency in kWh/m²/yr,
• Types of facade system,
• Energy conservation systems (passive and active),
• Landscaping and rooftop gardens,
• Maintenance and management programme,
• Lighting load,
• Temperature and relative humidity setting,
• Estimated annual savings ($) for utilities and, etc.

 

BCA Green Mark Assessment Fees for Building Projects in Singapore

Landed Houses	Assessment Fee
Single Unit Landed House	$1,940

 

Existing Residential Buildings*	Assessment Fee
Small (<50,000 m2)	$6,600
Medium (50,000 m2 to 100,000 m2)	$7,920
Large (>100,000 m2)	$9,310

 

Residential Building GREEN Concept Criteria:

 

Part 1 – GREEN Concept for Energy Efficiency

 

Part 1A: Passive Design for the Tropics

 

LH 1-1 Optimised Building Orientation

Enhance the building Orientation to achieve improved thermal comfort thus reducing the need for auxiliary cooling.

 

LH 1-2 Window to Wall Ratio (WWR)

Optimal Window to Wall Ratio (WWR) for East and West facades to facilitate better ventilation and minimise heat gain to the building.

 

LH 1-3 Shading Device Design

Provision of external shading devices over openings to reduce heat gain to the building.

 

 

LH 1-4 Maximum Permissible Wall U-Value

Better thermal transmittance (U-Value) of external walls with appropriate thermal mass to reduce cooling load.

 

LH 1-5 Maximum Permissible Shading Coefficient (SC) Value of Glass

Effective control of heat flow through windows with better glass selection.

 

LH 1-6 Cross Ventilation for Habitable Rooms

Enhance design to facilitate cross ventilation by reducing barriers to air paths through the buildings and maximizing exposure to prevailing wind direction.

 

LH 1-7 Open Space with Greenery Provision

Encourage greater use of greenery, restoration of trees to reduce local heat island effect.

 

LH 1-8 Covered Parking Spaces

Provision of covered parking space.

 

LH 1-9 Daylighting Provision

Encourage the use of daylighting to enhance visual comfort.

 

LH 1-10 Cool / GREEN Roof

Provision of hardscaped roof that is finished with materials/ finishes with Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) values of more than 40 or provision of GREEN roof to reduce local heat island effect.

 

LH 1-11 Cool Hardscaped Areas

All hardscaped non-roof areas are to be finished with materials or finishes with a Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) value of 29 or more.

 

LH 1-12 Sustainable Landscape Design

(a)   Landscape design that uses tropical plants / locally adaptive species that suits the climate and soil conditions.

(b)   Plants that require very minimal irrigation.

 

Part 1B: Active System Efficiency

 

LH 1-13 Active System Design

Encourage the use of better energy efficient cooling system to minimise energy consumption:

(a)   Split air conditioning systems with four ticks.

(b)   Use of fan as the mechanical cooling system.

 

LH 1-14 Artificial Lighting

Encourage the use of better efficient lighting to minimise energy consumption from lighting usage while maintaining proper lighting level:

(a)   Energy efficient lights for habitable spaces.

Occupancy Sensors (Energy-Saving):

Turn lights on and off according to presences of people. It assists to reduce energy consumption by automatically turning off lights when there are no presences of people.

(b)   LED / CDM lights for ambient lighting purposes.

• Light – Emitting Diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source and is used as indicator lamps in many devices. LEDs emitted low-intensity red light, but modern versions are available across the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths, with very high brightness.

• Ceramic Discharge Metal-halide (CDM) lamp is a relatively new source of light that is a variation of the metal-halide lamp, which itself is a variation of the old (high-pressure) mercury-vapor lamp. The discharge is contained in a ceramic tube, usually made of sintered alumina, similar to what has been used in the high pressure sodium lamp. During operation, the temperature of this ceramic tube can exceed 1200 kelvins. The ceramic tube is filled with mercury, argon and metal-halide salts. Because of the high wall temperature, the metal halide salts are partly vaporized. Inside the hot plasma, these salts are dissociated into metallic atoms and iodine.

 

LH 1-15 Domestic Hot Water Heating System

Use of innovative domestic hot water heating system:

(a)   Centralised gas water heaters.

*Please click here for examples.

(b)   Solar water heaters.

 

LH 1-16 Other Appliances

Use of energy efficient household appliances that are certified under the Singapore Energy Labeling Scheme or equivalent:

(a)   Refrigerator with 4 ticks.

(b)   Others.

*Please click here to search for the relevant product(s).

 

Part 1C: Renewable Energy

 

LH 1-17 Use of Solar Energy

Encourage the use of solar energy to supply a significant proportion of the building’s energy demand. (Photovoltaic / Solar panel for supplying power to house: PV Modules)

 

Part 2: GREEN Concept for Water Efficiency

 

LH 2-1 Water Efficient Fittings

Encourage the use of water efficient fittings that are certified under the Water Efficiency Labeling Scheme (WELS):

(a)   Basin taps and mixers.

(b)   Flushing cisterns,

(c)   Showerheads, taps and mixers.

(d)   Sink / Bib taps and mixers.

(e)   All other water fittings.

 

LH 2-2 Water Efficient Landscaping

Provision of suitable systems and controls for landscape irrigation to minimise potable water consumption:

(a)   Use of rainwater harvesting system for landscape irrigation.

(b)   Use of water efficient irrigation system for at least 50% of the landscape areas with controls such as:

(i) Rain sensors for irrigation.

(ii) Drip irrigation / Micro irrigation techniques.

 

Part 3: GREEN Concept for Environmental Protection

 

LH 3-1 Sustainable Construction

Encourage the adoption of GREEN Concept, building designs, construction practices and materials that are Environmental-Friendly and sustainable:

(a)   More efficient concrete usage for building components.

(b)   Use of Sustainable and Recycled Materials:

(i) Eco-friendly cements with approved industrial by-products to replace 10% of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) by mass for concrete production of structural building elements and / or at least 20% of OPC by mass for that of non-structural building elements.

• Current practices of manufacturing OPC cement, you need a large mining plant, an intensive grinding machinery and a huge kiln – fired up at 2700 degrees Farenheit which is a lot of energy and emissions. Thus causing negative impacts to the environment.
• An Environmentally-Friendly method of producing eco-friendly cements is to use limestone and leftover slag from steel mills to make a product with 10% of the emissions of normal cement.

(ii) Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) and Washed Copper Slag (WCS) from approved sources are used to replace coarse and fine aggregates for concrete production of building elements.

• RCA – Concrete aggregate collected from demolition sites is put through a crushing machine which accept only uncontaminated concrete that must be free of trash, wood, paper and other such materials. Remaining aggregate chunks are sorted by size and larger chunks may go through the crusher again. After crushing has taken place, other particulates are filtered out through a variety of methods including hand-picking and water flotation.
• WCS – Washed Copper Slag

*Please click here for reference.

(c)   Use of Sustainable GREEN Concept Products:

(i) Environmental-Friendly / GREEN Concept products that are certified by approved local certification body.

(ii) GREEN Concept products with at least 30% recycled content by weight or volume.

(iii) GREEN Concept products that are made of rapidly renewable materials for example, bamboo, cork etc.

*Please click here for BCA Guide.

 

LH 3-2 Construction Waste Management

Encourage management practices that minimise the amount of construction waste going to disposal and landfill.

More that 50% waste recovered and reused on site / sent to recyclable uses.

• Improving efficiency by emphasizing on reuse, recycling and recovery of construction waste instead of disposal. (E.g. “Reusing” of materials for another phase of the project, “Reselling” of bricks acquired during demolition and etc.)
• Raising environmental awareness by educating site staff to be more aware of their responsibilities and how to minimise wastage.

 

LH 3-3 Environmental Management Practice

Encourage the adoption of Environmental-Friendly / GREEN Concept practices by implementing effective environmental management programmes.

(a)   Site monitoring programmes in place to minimise energy use and water use.

(b)   Use of compost recycled from horticulture waste.

(c)   Provision of recycling facilities or bins for collection of storage of different waste such as paper, glass, plastic or organic waste and etc.

 

LH 3-4 Stormwater Management

Treatement of stormwater runoff before discharge to the public drain.

 

Part 4: GREEN Concept for Indoor Environmental Quality

 

LH 4-1 Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Management in Habitable Spaces

Minimise airborne contaminants mainly from inside sources to promote a healthy indoor environment:

(a)   Use of low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) paints adhesives, sealants and other finished that are certified by approved local certification body.

(b)   Provision of adequate natural ventilation and daylighting in wet areas such as kitchens, bathrooms and toilets.

(c)   Outdoor air delivery to habitable spaces through the use of fresh air handling unit in air conditioning systems.

(d)   High Efficient Particulate (HEPA) filters or other enhanced air filtration media in air conditioning systems.

 

Part 5: GREEN Concept for Other GREEN Features

 

LH 5-1 GREEN Features and Innovations

Encourage the use of other GREEN Concept features and practices which are innovative and have positive environmental impact.