Green Mark scheme hits 20th anniversary, with over 2,500 buildings certified

Atiqah Mokhtar

/ EdgeProp Singapore

July 14, 2025 5:42 PM SGT

propertyeditor@edgeprop.sg

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The BCA Green Mark certification scheme first launched in January 2005 (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) recently marked the 20th anniversary of the BCA Green Mark certification scheme. The green building rating system, designed to evaluate a building’s environmental impact and performance, was first launched in January 2005, with 17 buildings certified in its inaugural year.

As of March this year, 2,590 buildings have attained Green Mark certification, according to a joint press release by the BCA and SGBC. The buildings collectively save over 4.2 billion kWh of energy annually, enough to power one million four-room HDB flats per year, the agencies add. It is also equivalent to $1.3 billion in cost savings per year.

At a gala dinner hosted by SGBC on July 11, 20 commemorative certificates were awarded to nine partners and 11 projects in recognition of their “outstanding contributions to Singapore’s green building journey”. City Developments, CapitaLand, Mapletree Investments, Keppel and Lendlease were among the partner recipients.

The Green Mark scheme has undergone a number of revisions, with the sixth and latest edition launched in 2021 in conjunction with the Singapore Green Building Masterplan (SGBMP).

The SGBMP established the “80-80-80 in 2030” target, comprising 80% of buildings by gross floor area (GFA) to be green; 80% of new developments by GFA to be super low energy (SLE) buildings; and 80% improvement in energy efficiency compared to 2005 levels for best-in-class green buildings — all by 2030.

In its joint statement, BCA and SGBC say that 61% of buildings have been greened as of December 2024. In addition, close to 26% of new developments have been certified as SLE buildings, while best-in-class buildings have achieved a 72% improvement in energy efficiency over 2005 levels.

At SGBC’s gala dinner, National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat announced two initiatives to help drive wider adoption of green buildings moving forward.

The first is the development of an updated Built Environment Decarbonisation Technology Roadmap that outlines key emerging technologies and areas for research and development to improve energy efficiency in Singapore's built environment. Building on the 2018 Super Low Energy Building Technology Roadmap, the updated plan identifies over 50 technologies and strategies to reduce operational and embodied carbon.

The second initiative is the publication of a report that bridges the gap between green buildings and sustainable finance in the Asia Pacific (Apac) region. The report, to be published by the World Green Building Council with support from OCBC and the region’s green building councils, will align green building rating tools from Apac countries with the Asean Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance.

“By establishing clear links between national schemes and regional guidelines, we can help unlock global capital flows and scale up investments in decarbonisation and green building projects,” said Chee.

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Green Mark scheme hits 20th anniversary, with over 2,500 buildings certified

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