‘Fewer than 100 energy-intensive buildings’ in Singapore to undergo audits, improvement works under new law

SINGAPORE: About 100 existing buildings that are deemed energy intensive will be required to carry out audits and improvement works under an upcoming regime aimed at greening more buildings in Singapore.
This comes after the Building Control (Amendment) Bill was passed by parliament on Tuesday (Sep 10).
In tabling the Bill for a second reading, Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann said the proposed Mandatory Energy Improvement regime was “an important and necessary” move to accelerate the decarbonisation of Singapore’s built environment.
The new regime, which targets energy-guzzling buildings that are currently not subject to minimum energy standards, is set to kick in from the third quarter of 2025.
The Mandatory Energy Improvement regime will apply to the most energy-intensive buildings across four typologies – commercial buildings, healthcare facilities, institutional buildings, as well as sports and recreation centres.
These buildings must also have a gross floor area of 5,000 sqm and more. Smaller buildings consume less energy and will not be subject to the new regime to reduce regulatory burden and compliance costs, said the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).
In addition, buildings are considered energy-intensive if their energy use intensity (EUI) – the amount of energy used per square meter annually – exceeds a prescribed threshold for three straight years.
For a start, this will refer to buildings whose energy consumption comes in consistently within the top 25 per cent of their building sub-typology.
BCA estimates that “fewer than 100 energy-intensive buildings across the four building typologies” will come under the new regime when implemented. Audit notices will be issued subsequently every year, said Ms Sim.
Owners of these identified buildings will be required to appoint a qualified professional to do an energy audit and develop measures to reduce the building’s EUI by at least 10 per cent from pre-audit levels.
Ms Sim said depending on the building’s condition and energy performance, improvement works can range from “simple, low-cost” ones, such as the replacement of faulty parts and sensors, to more extensive retrofitting works like the replacement of a building’s chiller systems.
Building owners must submit audit reports to BCA within one year of being issued an audit notice.
They must also implement the energy-efficiency improvement plans within three years of submitting the audit report and maintain the required improvement in EUI for one year.
Ms Sim noted that authorities have engaged those who will likely come under the upcoming regime, and that BCA will continue to help building owners prepare and comply with the new requirements.
With buildings accounting for around 20 per cent of Singapore’s carbon emissions and more than a third of electricity consumption, Ms Sim said there is room to do more in greening the built environment sector.
Currently, BCA requires new buildings and existing buildings undergoing major retrofitting works or major energy use change to meet minimum energy standards.
For example, all new buildings must be 50 per cent more energy efficient than 2005 levels.
Existing ones that undergo major retrofitting works or major energy use change must also be 40 per cent more energy-efficient compared to 2005 levels.
But if such works are not carried out, owners of existing buildings are not required to improve their buildings’ energy performance.
“These buildings may not have been designed with sustainability in mind, or may not be operated or maintained efficiently,” said Ms Sim, adding that this often results in “significant energy wastage” and “unnecessary emissions”.
“It is in this context that we are proposing amendments to the Building Control Act to further enhance energy efficiency measures for existing buildings.”
Alongside other existing efforts, Ms Sim noted that the new regime will help the government meet one of its targets under the Singapore Green Building Masterplan – to green 80 per cent of buildings here by 2030. 
As of July, close to 60 per cent of buildings have been “greened”, she told the House.
Members of Parliament (MPs) supported the Bill but sought clarifications about the new Mandatory Energy Improvement regime’s criteria and how it might increase costs for building owners.
Nominated MP Mark Lee asked if the assessment of a building’s EUI will include high-energy operations, such as manufacturing and data centres. He also made the point that electric vehicle charging stations should be excluded in EUI calculations “to avoid penalising efforts aimed at reducing overall carbon footprints”.
In response, Ms Sim said the upcoming regime only covers four building typologies, which currently exclude buildings for industrial use like manufacturing facilities and standalone data centres.
That said, buildings under the four typologies may house high-energy consuming uses, such as data centre operations and laboratories. In those cases, the EUI threshold for these buildings will be “pro-rated based on the space distribution of such uses”.
“This approach of pro-rating the EUI threshold is to ensure a like-for-like comparison as far as possible,” said Ms Sim.
As for electric vehicle charging stations, Ms Sim said as these are new additions to buildings here, more data will be needed to better understand how they impact a building’s energy consumption.
“We will take this into consideration as we implement and refine the regime in the coming years,” she said.
Addressing questions from Mr Lee, Mr Louis Ng (PAP-Nee Soon) and Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (PAP-Ang Mo Kio) about the costs of implementing sustainable solutions, Ms Sim noted that building owners who opt for more significant retrofitting works can tap on the Green Mark Incentive Scheme for Existing Buildings 2.0.
First launched in 2022, the scheme provides building owners with grants based on the emission reductions to be achieved through retrofitting their developments, subject to certain caps.
Authorities have since approved 11 applications and committed about S$1.3 million in funding support. 
“We expect the utilisation to increase with the implementation of the Mandatory Energy Improvement regime. We are also undertaking a mid-term review of the scheme to consider ways to enhance support to building owners,” said Ms Sim.
Ms Sim also said there is a “strong business case” for owners to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings.
She cited the example of Thong Chai Building – a ten-storey office building first built in 1976 along Chin Swee Road. 
In 2022, the building owner tapped into a government scheme for energy-efficiency retrofitting works, such as the redesign of the building’s air distribution system, and implemented an energy management system with intelligent controls for better monitoring.
These measures led to a 40 per cent drop in the building’s energy usage and a similar reduction in annual electricity bills. Thong Chai Building has since been awarded BCA’s Green Mark Platinum certification, said Ms Sim.
She added that such extensive retrofitting works “generally have an average payback period of around six years”. 
“This means that building owners should be able to offset the upfront cost of the retrofit through downstream cost savings within an average of six years. After this six-year period, owners will still continue to reap further savings over the rest of the building’s lifetime,” said Ms Sim.