Building from Sustainable Products

The Singapore Green Building Product (SGBP) scheme is a certification for green building products and materials. It is based on scientific and engineering principles and built upon the collective knowledge and expertise of the building and construction industry. 

The SGBP certification scheme advances the built environment to one that is greener and more carbon-efficient while facilitating sustainable procurement. The certification ensures that sustainability is integrated throughout the design and manufacturing process of green building products.

Aligned with the World Green Building Council’s vision of green buildings for everyone, everywhere, SGBC aims to make the spaces we live, work and play in healthier, more sustainable, and more resource-efficient. SGBC recognises the need for green building products, materials and solutions to support this vision. With the SGBP certification scheme, we’ve set a high benchmark for sustainable building products and materials. This ensures sustainability targets are met while providing transparency and credibility to the products we choose to use when building green into our spaces and places.

Click here to watch a video on the SGBP.

Methodology

The SGBP Certification Scheme covers a wide range of products and assesses them based on their sustainability performance. Environmental and health impacts can occur across a product’s lifecycle, from raw material extraction or cultivation, through manufacturing, use and end-of-use management. The SGBP Certification Scheme looks at the whole lifecycle of products to account for the full impact.

The SGBP assesses products and materials on their sustainability performance. The assessment criteria is categorised into common criteria which apply to most products and specific criteria which apply only to relevant products. The SGBC Certification team will identify for each applicant which assessment criteria are most suitable for their products. For some products, the assessment against criteria covers the whole product lifecycle, while for other products, the assessment criteria focuses on a select few lifecycle stages across raw material extraction or cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-use. This grounded methodology enables building products to be impartially evaluated for their relevant, noteworthy qualities, benchmarked against similar products in its category.

The SGBC Certification team will assess the degree to which your product meets the assessment criteria. For some products, the applicant will need to show proof of laboratory test results or other documentation to verify the product’s alignment with some criteria. A list of lab partners is provided here to assist applicants if third party tests are required. After the assessment, the certified product will be awarded a rating between 1 and 4 ticks, based on its performance. 1 tick indicates good performance, while 4 ticks indicates leading industry performance.

SGBP Assessment Criteria

The SGBP assessment criteria are designed to assess products on their performance over their lifecycle. There are 12 common criteria which apply to most products. These cover low environmental impact and quality manufacturing, avoidance of hazardous materials, carbon footprint reporting and reduction pathways, and innovation. In addition to common criteria, specific criteria apply to relevant products only. For example, the specific criteria applying to Interior products are different from the specialised criteria applying to outdoor products due to the different functionality and use of these products. Some of the specific criteria for Architectural products include volatile organic compounds (VOC) content and air emissions performance for instance.

An example of the specific criteria for Mechanical products would be energy efficiency. For both the common and specific assessment criteria, some are mandatory, and others are optional. The assessment criteria have been drafted by industry professionals and experts. SGBC continually reviews the criteria to ensure they reflect the current science, engineering and best practice.

How can the SGBP help you?

FOR PRODUCT SUPPLIERS:

• Analysis of your product’s sustainability performance by experts and certification by a credible source
• Opportunity and insight into how to further develop your products to be more sustainable
• Greater awareness of your product for use in our current and future buildings

FOR DESIGNERS/ SPECIFIERS:

• An overview of products that are certified sustainable
• An understanding of how a product stacks up against others in terms of their sustainability performance
• Easier decision-making when choosing more sustainable products

FOR BUILDERS/ OWNERS:

• An overview of products that are certified sustainable
• Data around the environmental properties of the products you use
• A unique selling point for your building projects

FOR TENANTS/ OCCUPANTS:

• An understanding of how sustainable the spaces you live and work in are
• Health benefits of living/working in a greener building

Once a product is certified, SGBC will issue the product a certificate. The certified products will be listed on the SGBP Certification Interactive Directory on the SGBC’s website. This Interactive Directory is actively used by building industry professionals such as consultants, contractors, building developers and owners. Stakeholders can demand that products/ materials used for a building are SGBP certified. Certified products can gain credits under various green building rating tools.

SGBP Recognition by Green Building Rating Tools

The SGBP is one of the key standards and benchmarks for green building products in the building and construction industry. Products and materials certified by the SGBP are highly recognised under the Green Mark Scheme, Singapore’s national green building rating tool administered by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), which allows certified products to accrue points that count towards a project’s Green Mark rating. The more highly rated a product is under the SGBP Scheme (i.e., the more ticks it has achieved), the more points are awarded towards the Green Mark rating.

SGBP Certification Scheme is also widely accepted by regional green building rating tools for its coverage of product’s sustainability performance. Examples include GreenRE, a rating tool set up by the Real Estate & Housing Developments’ Association (REHDA) of Malaysia, and LOTUS, Vietnam Green Building Council’s rating tool. The SGBP complies with many of the requirements in ISO 14024 Environmental labels and declarations — Type I environmental labelling.

SGBC is always working to improve our SGBP’s quality and usability. The SGBP Certification Scheme is similar to internationally leading eco-labels, such as Cradle2Cradle, DECLARE, Global Green Tag, Good Environmental Choice Australia, Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute. Future versions of the SGBP may provide additional recognition for products that excel in addressing social issues, circular economy, and low embodied carbon, and reorganise the Scheme’s governance to allow for products certified under our Scheme to be recognised under other eco-labels.

Certification Process

With the SGBP certification, your product is assured of its superior environmental performance benchmarked against current industrial standards, serving as a credible sustainability credential for your product(s). Suppliers/ manufacturers can leverage on the SGBP to bring their product greater awareness and eventual usage in our current and future buildings.

For more details, view the SGBP Info Doc here or contact the SGBC's Certification team at Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Tel:+65 6732 5518.