Climate Change is the greatest threat to the natural environment and humanity. Atmospheric carbon has been rising annually to historical highs, leading to global increases in temperatures. The built environment sector has a crucial role to play in responding to the climate crisis and with a highly connected value chain, this presents an opportunity for the sector to address carbon holistically from a whole life perspective and to tackle both operational and embodied carbon in design, construction and operations.
The Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) champions the decarbonisation of Singapore's built environment and has launched a series of programmes and activities to galvanise and support industry efforts. This includes the Singapore Built Environment Embodied Carbon Pledge as well as the Singapore Building Carbon Calculator, which was developed in collaboration with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), JTC Corporation (JTC) and the Energy Studies Institute (ESI) at National University of Singapore (NUS).
The Embodied Carbon in Buildings Calculation Guide supports Singapore’s decarbonisation efforts by providing guidance on defining the scope and methodology for measuring and reporting the embodied carbon emissions of building and construction activities. It is particularly useful for understanding the upfront carbon of building and infrastructure projects, where upfront carbon is the emissions resulting from the materials production and construction phases of an asset’s lifecycle, before the building or infrastructure asset begins to be used. In contrast to other categories of emissions, these emissions have already been released into the atmosphere before the building is occupied or the infrastructure begins operation.
This free-to-use Guide is intended to serve as an informative resource to harmonise carbon emissions data collection efforts during the design and construction phases of projects, and to provide a standardised framework for the reporting of embodied carbon emissions. This will facilitate the aggregation of embodied carbon emissions information of Singapore’s buildings and construction activities, and allow for national averages and benchmarks to be determined.
Click here to view and download the Guide.
Click here to download an editable spreadsheet of the Carbon Guide Reporting Format.
Singapore Building Carbon Calculator
The Singapore Building Carbon Calculator (SBCC) is a web-based embodied carbon calculator designed for Singapore’s built environment. It is developed by JTC Corporation in collaboration with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC).
The web-based application builds on the previous Building Embodied Carbon Calculator (BECC), which was available since May 2022 as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was developed by the NUS Energy Studies Institute (ESI) under a project commissioned by JTC Corporation in collaboration with BCA and SGBC.
The SBCC accounts for the upfront carbon of materials used. Carbon emission factors in the SBCC are adapted to reflect the carbon footprint of projects in Singapore’s context. The Calculator takes into account Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) from various Program Operators, as well as the latest green assessment methodologies. In addition, it applies Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) to fill in the gaps. As the first of its kind, the emission factors aggregated and calculated are localised to the Singapore context.
The SBCC allows sustainability consultants and Green Mark Accredited Professionals (GMAP) to account for the embodied carbon footprint of projects for use under the BCA’s Code for Environmental Sustainability of Buildings (Edition 4.0) and the Green Mark 2021 Whole Life Carbon section. It also provides the Singapore built environment industry with a unified, free-to-use tool to make informed decisions on material and product selections.
Click here to access the Singapore Building Carbon Calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was this Calculator made?
The Singapore Building Carbon Calculator is designed to improve the ease of accounting and tabulating upfront carbon in accordance with the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark 2021 .
What data can this calculator handle?
The Singapore Building Carbon Calculator is currently in beta. Basic security features are in place for the safekeeping of your data. Please check with your project team regarding inputting project values into the calculator. We advise against inputting confidential and sensitive data. Note that no personal data is required or collected during registration or log-in.
Why use this Calculator?
The Singapore Building Carbon Calculator takes into account Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) from various Program Operators and relevant Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs). The backend data is localized to Singapore's built environment context. The calculator is supported by the Building & Construction Authority (BCA) and Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC), and is in accordance with Singapore's Green Mark 2021. On top of that, it's free!
How are the values determined?
The emission factors are tabulated based on the pre-determined global median derived from the data obtained from Environment Product Declarations (EPDs) in the material database or industry accepted databases. The Calculator also follows the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ISO 14040/14044 standards which are the recoginized industrial standards for the benchmarking of the environmental impacts of a building life cycle.
Energy Performance Contracting
Energy performance contracting (EPC) is an effective approach for the retrofitting of existing buildings to meet present-day standards and to raise energy efficiency performance. It is a contractual model supported by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) under the Green Mark certification scheme.
Under the EPC model, the building owner enters into an energy performance contract with an EPC firm to achieve and maintain a certain level of Building or Chiller Plant energy efficiency performance level, or to deliver a guaranteed quantum of energy savings. The terms of an EPC contract are to be determined by both parties to meet appropriate goals and objectives.
EPC firms are also able to take on the full upfront cost of energy retrofits by offering a Zero Capital Partnership (ZCP). More information on the ZCP scheme is available here.
SGBC accredits EPC firms under the Singapore Green Building Services (SGBS) certification scheme. The appointment and involvement of SGBS-certified EPC firms in Green Mark projects is accorded specific credits under the Green Mark 2021 certification scheme. Up to 1.0 point can be scored in Resilience Section RE 2.1b Procurement for the appointment of SGBS-certified Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) firms to implement and deliver energy efficiency projects that guarantee operational system efficiency for a minimum of 3 years.
The capabilities and experience of EPC firms certified under the SGBS scheme are briefly as follows:
The list of SGBS-certified EPC firms can be found here.
For more information or to apply for SGBS EPC certification, pls contact the SGBC Certification team at Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Tel: +65 6732 5518.
SGBC accredits EPC firms under the Singapore Green Building Services (SGBS) certification scheme. The appointment and involvement of SGBS-certified EPC firms in Green Mark projects is accorded specific credits under the Green Mark 2021 certification scheme. Up to 1.0 point can be scored in Resilience Section RE 2.1a Procurement for the appointment of SGBS-certified Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) firms to implement and deliver energy efficiency projects that guarantee operational system efficiency for a minimum of 3 years.
SGBC-BCA Zero Capital Partnership Scheme
The energy performance of buildings in Singapore is published annually by BCA to allow building owners to benchmark their buildings’ energy performance against similar building types and to take the necessary steps to improve energy performance. Substantial cost savings can be reaped from the greening of existing buildings that have been in operation for some time. The implementation of energy retrofits and energy efficiency projects however, often requires capital investment and technical expertise, which may be a challenge to some building owners, particularly strata-titled and independent or corporate owners of smaller buildings.
The SGBC-BCA Zero Capital Partnership (ZCP) scheme addresses these critical concerns by providing the building owner with the expertise of Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) firms accredited under the Singapore Green Building Services certification scheme. The EPC firm serves as a one-stop solution for both minor and major retrofit options, and has been assessed to be able to offer financing options as well as to facilitate the application of incentive schemes to fund the retrofit works.
Through the ZCP scheme, building owners can have the confidence to work with a proven EPC firm to achieve greater energy efficiency with zero capital outlay.
Scope of Work
In May 2016, the ZCP scheme was launched to address chiller plant retrofits, followed by air-conditioning system maintenance. In September 2017, the scheme was expanded to also cover lighting retrofits in recognition that lighting is the second largest contributor to energy consumption in buildings.
Firms listed under the ZCP scheme will be able to assist building owners in the following ways:
- Conduct an energy audit and propose retrofit and optimisation solutions.
- Arrange for financing of the retrofit works and/or assist building owners to tap into incentive schemes to obtain relevant grants
- Apply for and facilitate the assessment process for Green Mark certification
Incentive Schemes
The following grants are currently available for building owners who undertake energy retrofit projects to improve energy efficiency:
- Green Mark Incentive Scheme for Existing Buildings 2.0 (GMIS-EB 2.0)
Application
Interested building owners may approach any of the firms participating in the SGBC-BCA Zero Capital Partnership Scheme by visiting the SGBS Directory of Certified Services, selecting the relevant category and clicking on the ZCP filter. Click here to access the Directory.
Energy Services firms that are keen to be listed on the ZCP directory may find out more by reviewing information on the Singapore Green Building Services certification scheme and Energy Performance Contracting.
The energy performance of buildings in Singapore is published annually by BCA to allow building owners to benchmark their buildings’ energy performance against similar building types and to take the necessary steps to improve energy performance. Substantial cost savings can be reaped from the greening of existing buildings that have been in operation for some time. The implementation of energy retrofits and energy efficiency projects however, often requires capital investment and technical expertise, which may be a challenge to some building owners, particularly strata-titled and independent or corporate owners of smaller buildings.
The SGBC-BCA Zero Capital Partnership (ZCP) scheme addresses these critical concerns by providing the building owner with the expertise of Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) firms accredited under the Singapore Green Building Services certification scheme. The EPC firm serves as a one-stop solution for both minor and major retrofit options, and has been assessed to be able to offer financing options as well as to facilitate the application of incentive schemes to fund the retrofit works.
Through the ZCP scheme, building owners can have the confidence to work with a proven EPC firm to achieve greater energy efficiency with zero capital outlay.
Environmental Sustainability Services
Environmental Sustainability (ES) services complement traditional built environment professional services disciplines, such as architecture and engineering, by integrating multi-disciplinary considerations to achieve environmental sustainability outcomes and goals.
ES firms typically possess expertise in specialised areas such as energy modelling, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for natural ventilation studies, energy audits, chiller plant optimisation and decarbonisation strategies. The result is a high- performance, energy and resource-efficient building that is both healthy and comfortable for occupants. they can help projects achieve SLE, Zero Energy and Zero Carbon targets.
ES firms have deep capabilities in optimising overall building performance, for both new and existing buildings, to achieve higher ratings in Green Mark and other Green Building rating schemes. This includes certification to Super Low Energy and Zero Energy certification standards.
The Singapore Green Building Services (SGBS) certification scheme for ES services was developed to support the needs of project owners seeking professional services to meet the sustainability goals for their buildings and building projects. The tiering of ES firms corresponds generally to the following project needs:
SGBS-certified ES firms have highly trained staff with Green Mark Accredited Professional (GMAP) and Green Mark Advanced Accredited Professional (GMAAP) qualifications. GMAPs serve as leads for Green Mark projects as Responsible Persons, whilst GMAAPs are required for the endorsement of Energy Modeling and CFD reports.
The list of SGBS-certified ES firms can be found here.
For more information or to apply for SGBS ES certification, pls contact the SGBC Certification team at Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Tel: +65 6732 5518.
