Singapore launches green financing for buildings

Singapore has launched a pilot scheme -- Building Retrofit Energy Efficiency Financing (BREEF) -- to provide loans to building owners and energy services companies to enable them to undertake energy retrofits from Oct 1 this year.

Minister of State for National Development and Manpower, Tan Chuan-Jin, said the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and participating financial institutions would share the risk of any loan default.

"So far, Standard Chartered Bank and United Overseas Bank have confirmed their participation in the scheme," he said at the International Green Building Conference 2011 here Wednesday.

The BCA is the government agency responsible for the built environment and green building policies in Singapore.

Tan said Singapore has set a target of greening 80 per cent of its buildings by 2030, and its current challenge was on greening its existing stock of buildings.

"The financially stronger building owners usually initiate the retrofitting of their cooling plants when the age of the chillers reaches 12 to 15 years.

"The rest of the building owners, including the management corporation, however, may take an even longer time, citing cost of retrofitting, lack of financing or awareness," he said.

Tan said the Ministry of National Development would amend the Building Control Act to extend minimum Green Mark standards to existing buildings as and when they were retrofitted.

Launched in 2005, the Green Mark scheme is BCA's flagship rating system that assesses buildings in the tropical climate for their environmental impact and performance.

Tan also witnessed the signing of two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Zhaoqing Municipality, Guangdong, China.

The collaboration with UNEP will help drive greater adoption of sustainable buildings, while the MOU with the Zhaoqing Municipality will see Singapore share its experience and expertise with Zhaoqing.-Bernama