BACKGROUND
As part of Singapore’s strategies for sustainable growth, the Inter Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development has set a target of 35% reduction in energy intensity (consumption per dollar GDP) by the year 2030 from 2005 levels. As buildings account for about one-third of total national electricity consumption, the energy efficiency of our buildings will have to be improved if our target is to be achieved. To this end, BCA has already put in place both incentives and regulations under the 1st Green Building Master Plan.
To further accelerate the pace of energy efficiency improvements in our buildings, BCA is now implementing the 2 nd Green Building Master Plan. This will focus on existing building, where building owners face many challenges in upgrading the energy performance of their buildings. BCA is therefore introducing the $100 million Green Mark Incentive Scheme for Existing Buildings (GMIS-EB) to encourage building owners to undertake the necessary retrofits to upgrade their buildings.
The GMIS-EB provides (a) a cash incentive for upgrading and retrofitting scheme that co-funds up to 35% (capped at $1.5 million) of the costs of energy efficient equipment installed to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings. In addition, the GMIS-EB also includes (b) a ‘health check’ scheme; this is an energy audit which determines the efficiency of the air-conditioning plants. BCA will co-fund 50% of the cost for conducting this Health Check and the remaining 50% is borne by the building owner.
EFFECTIVE DATE
The GMIS-EB is effective from the 29 April 2009 and will expire 5 years later on the 28 April 2014 or when the GMIS-EB fund is fully disbursed, whichever earlier. Participation in the scheme will be on a first-come-first served basis, subject to availability of funds.
ELIGIBILITY
In general, the GMIS-EB is applicable to building owners of (a) existing private commercial (non-residential) developments with (b) minimum gross floor area of 2,000 sqm. These buildings must have central chilled water air-conditioning plants or which will be upgraded to have central chilled water air-conditioning plants.
For the complete eligibility criteria for the Cash Incentive for Upgrading and Retrofitting scheme and the Health Check scheme, please refer to the respective application forms and guidelines.
We wish to highlight that for the Health Check scheme, the building owner must apply for Green Mark certification within 18 months of the date of BCA’s letter of offer to participate in the scheme.
For the Cash Incentive for Upgrading and Retrofitting scheme, application must be lodged before the start of the energy-related upgrading/retrofitting works.
The scheme will not be applicable to buildings from the public sector as such projects have already being substantially funded by the government.
DETAILS OF THE CASH INCENTIVE FOR UPGRADING & RETROFITTING SCHEME
In order for the eligible buildings to qualify for this incentive, they must first achieve at least BCA Green Mark Certified rating and air-conditioning system efficiency of 0.7 kW/RT or better, with 15% energy savings or higher. The computation of the energy savings can be determined or calculated based on the total building consumption or the total landlord’s consumption. The amount of co-funding for building owners will vary depending on the Green Mark rating, air-conditioning system efficiency and energy savings that are achieved. The amount of co-funding rate and cap amount are shown in Table below.
| Green Mark Rating |
Aircon System Efficiency (kW/RT) |
Energy Savings |
Co-funding Rate (based on equipment cost) |
Cap |
Based on total building consumption |
Based on total Landlord’s consumption |
| Certified |
0.7 |
20% |
25% |
20% |
$150,000 |
| Gold |
15% |
20% |
| GoldPlus |
0.65 |
30% |
35% |
30% |
$500,000 |
| Platinum |
0.6 |
35% |
40% |
35% |
$1,500,000 |
The co-funding rates cover the cost of the approved equipment installed to achieve the energy savings.
The cash incentives would be disbursed over 2 stages:
- The first disbursement is 50% of the approved co-funding will be given out upon completion of the energy improvement retrofits.
- The final disbursement of the approved co-funding will be given out upon Green Mark certification and verification air-conditioning plant system efficiency and the energy savings achieved.
APPLICATION FORMS & GUIDELINES
To download the Application Forms and Guidelines:-
Application Form for GMIS-EB (Upgrading & Retrofitting) (Updated on 9 Nov 2010)
Application Guidelines for GMIS-EB (Upgrading & Retrofitting)(Updated on 17 Mar 2011)
GMIS-EB Health Check Application form
(Updated on 30 Jun 2011)
GMIS-EB Health Check Annex A Application Guidelines
(Updated on 30 Jun 2011)
GMIS-EB Health Check Annex B Audit Report Guidelines
(Updated on 30 Jun 2011)
GMIS-EB Health Check Annex C M&V Guidelines
(Updated on 30 Jun 2011)
Green Mark for Existing Building Application Form
BCA Green Mark Criteria for Non-Residential Existing Building version 2.1
For more information, you may like to check out the Frequently Asked Questions.
For any query pertaining on this incentive, please contact our officers :
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