Energy audits, improvements required for “energy-intensive” buildings
Ry-Anne Lim
ENERGY-INTENSIVE buildings will soon have to undergo mandatory energy audits and implement measures to improve their energy use, Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How announced during the ministry’s Committee of Supply debate on Thursday (Mar 2).
The new regime, Mandatory Energy Improvement (MEI), is part of the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment, particularly in buildings with “poor energy performance” that are not subject to minimum energy standards.
For a start, the MEI will apply to the most energy-intensive commercial buildings, healthcare facilities, sports and recreation centres, as well as institutional buildings, with a gross floor area of 5,000 square metres and up.
Preliminarily, BCA predicts that fewer than 100 existing buildings could be audited under the regime, to be introduced by end-2024.
Under current requirements, all new buildings must be 50 per cent more energy efficient than 2005 levels. All existing buildings that undergo major retrofitting works must also be made 40 per cent more energy-efficient compared to 2005 levels. However, there is currently no requirement for building owners to improve energy performance.
Under the MEI, buildings with energy use intensity (EUI) – that is, the amount of energy used within an establishment annually – above a predetermined threshold will be subject to an audit of the major energy-consuming systems in their building.
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They will then have to come up with measures to optimise energy use and enhance its efficiency.
The review will also include a cost-benefit analysis of these measures to help building owners in their decision-making process, said Tan.
Measures could include simple and cost-effective ones, such as replacing faulty parts and sensors, or getting tenants to use energy saving lighting, he said.
Building owners eyeing more extensive retrofits can also apply for grants under the Green Mark Incentive Scheme for Existing Buildings 2.0, which provides co-funding for retrofitting works to achieve at least Green Mark Platinum standards.
Owners could also work with occupants and tenants through sustainability initiatives – for instance, in introducing green leases, where tenants work with them under the rental agreement to reduce energy consumption.
They must then maintain an “improved level of energy performance over a stipulated period”, said Tan.
BCA will engage the industry and the public on the MEI regime, with further details to come.
Tan noted that close to 55 per cent of Singapore buildings have been “greened”, about 20 per cent of new buildings in the past year achieved Super Low Energy standards, and best-in-class buildings achieved over 70 per cent improvement in energy efficiency over 2005 levels.
Starting this year, BCA will publish the energy performance data of individual buildings. This will allow building owners to determine their energy performance relative to other buildings of the same type, Tan said.
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