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Singapore 1st to mandate green standards for old buildings
October 16, 2012
Singapore 1st to mandate green standards for old buildings
For the second half of next year, all building owners in Singapore will have to comply with the city state’s Green Mark standards, following an amendment to the Building Control Act.
The act already requires new buildings with gross floor area of more than 2,000 sqm to achieve a Green mark certified rating. Now, with the new amendment, older buildings ? starting with hotels, retail and office buildings with a minimum gross floor area of 15,000 sqm are being obliged to fulfill three requirements:
> Achieve minimum Green Mark standard for existing buildings when a cooling system is installed or retrofitted
> Carry out three-yearly energy audit on building cooling systems
> Submit building information and energy consumption data annually
Dr. John Keung, CEO of Singapore’s Building Construction Authority, explains: “A building cooling system consumes about 30 to 50 percent of the building total energy consumption with a lifespan of 15 to 20 years. Since building owners have to change their cooling system when they are running out of their useful life, they should ensure that the replacement systems are more energy efficient to last another 15 years or more. The payback period for such retrofitting work can be as short at three to seven years, depending on the extent of the retrofitting work. After the payback, the rest is net gain by the owner.”
Read more at CleanBiz.
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