By Healthcare Facilities Today

The Building and Construction Authority in Singapore is building the financial case for green buildings, after a BCA study of 40 retrofitted commercial buildings in Singapore showed energy savings of $24 million a year, according to an article on the Channel News Asia website.

The study's findings were announced recently along with the launch of a new Green Mark for Healthcare Facilities Scheme.

The initiative targets the high energy demands of hospitals and other healthcare facilities but also focuses on air quality.

"In a typical Green Mark scheme, indoor environmental quality takes a rather small percentage of the whole scoring system. For this healthcare scheme under our Green Mark certification, we're going to raise this weightage a few times just to make sure the indoor environmental quality is excellent," BCA CEO, John Keung, said in the article.

This latest initiative is part of the government's goal of greening 80 percent of Singapore's buildings by 2030.

Than 20 percent of the buildings in Singapore are already there, according to BCA. The BCA study of 40 retrofitted commercial buildings showed an energy savings of 90 gigawatt hours, the equivalent of S$24 million in savings a year.

According to it's website, BCA is is an agency under the Ministry of National Development, championing the development of an excellent built environment for Singapore. "Built environment" refers to buildings, structures and infrastructure in our surroundings that provide the setting for the community’s activities.

Read the article.