Stiffer rules for green buildings

New standards aim to improve indoor air quality and increase energy efficiency
Straits Times 18 Nov 09;

THE building industry has been set more stringent standards for indoor air quality and ventilation which will hopefully reduce health problems among occupants and also increase energy efficiency.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Environment and Water Resources) Amy Khor announced two new standards yesterday at a conference on energy and sustainable-development benchmarks, which is part of the Singapore International Energy Week.

One of the new standards, called SS 554, is a benchmark for indoor air quality - for instance, how humid a building should be as well as how much dust and soot should be in the indoor air.

The maximum allowable humidity level is now 65 per cent, down from the previous 70 per cent, to reduce the growth of bacteria and mould.

And the new limit on the allowable concentration of particulate matter is 50 parts per billion (ppb), down from 150 ppb in previous rules.

A second set of guidelines, SS 553, was also laid down for energy efficiency in ventilation and air-conditioning systems, which, according to Spring Singapore, account for more than 60 per cent of a building's energy consumption.

With the new energy standard, businesses will be cutting their energy consumption by 10 per cent to 30 per cent, said a Spring spokesman.

The new standards kick in immediately and are part of the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark sustainable-building scheme, which aims to make more buildings here environmentally friendly. The authority's goal is to mark 80 per cent of all buildings as green by 2030.

Developer City Developments welcomed the new standards. 'As a green developer and responsible landlord, CDL is committed to providing quality indoor environmental and service standards in an eco-friendly way for our tenants,' its spokesman said. CDL is a Green Mark Champion, chalking up 11 Green Mark awards this year.

The energy-efficiency and environmental standards are part of Singapore's sustainable development blueprint, the Government's plan released in April on how to build and grow the city in an environmentally friendly way.

Spring, the national standards and accreditation body, also announced yesterday that it would be developing energy-efficiency requirements for how electric vehicles are recharged, how data centres with their banks of computer servers are run, and other energy-related industries.

Spring and the Energy Market Authority (EMA) are coming up with standards for some types of solar-power systems, said EMA's deputy chief executive David Tan at the same conference.

These standards are expected to be ready by next year, Mr Tan said, and would ensure the systems are installed and operated safely.

EMA has also put out a handbook on installing solar photovoltaic systems, targeted at contractors, electricians, property owners and other laymen.

Solar energy is the most promising renewable-energy source in Singapore, Mr Tan added, with 1MW of solar photovoltaic capacity already installed and another 4MW in the pipeline.

New green standards a breath of fresh air
Esther Ng Today Online 18 Nov 09;

SINGAPORE - You may soon be breathing in cleaner air in the office. And that big energy guzzler, the air conditioning, may become more efficient, too.

That is the aim of two new environmental standards, introduced yesterday and targeted at one of the top five energy consumers in Singapore: Buildings.

For instance, humidity levels would be no more than 60 per cent, instead of 70, to meet the standards - and to deter the growth of mould in the office - while the minimum level of suspended particles in the air would be three times less, or 50 microgrammes per metre cube.

These are among the specifications of the Code of Practice for indoor air quality (IAQ) for air-conditioned buildings.

As for the standard on mechanical ventilation and air conditioning, it calls for better practices, for example, bi-weekly maintenance instead of checking on the fan coil once or twice a month.

The two standards have been incorporated into the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark scheme, to encourage building owners to green their tenements.

"Standards and conformance ... enables industries and companies to achieve greater efficiency and productivity, and higher quality of products and services," SPRING Singapore chief executive Png Cheong Boon said at its Quality and Standards 2009 Conference.

The code of practice for air quality does not, however, cover residential premises, factory production areas, hospitals and laboratories. And it is not mandatory either, as the Green Mark scheme serves only as an incentive to building owners.

Marketing executive, Ms Michelle Teoh, 32, nonetheless welcomed the guidelines: "Hopefully, it will reduce health risks in the office especially since so many people are breathing in the same air."

Developer CDL, which has won several Green Mark awards, told MediaCorp that it would not have to alter its existing green initiatives even with the addition of the two standards.

"To improve good indoor environmental quality, we have installed carbon monoxide sensors in the basement carpark, carbon dioxide sensors and cold plasma air purifiers in the air handling units for offices which improves air quality by over 85 per cent," said a CDL spokesperson.

CDL's Tampines Grande commercial development, which won BCA's Green Mark Platinum, incorporated unique energy-efficient features such as a solar air-conditioning system that generates enough air-conditioning to cool the atrium and temperature sensors to control the mechanical ventilation in the plant rooms.

Buildings account for 16 per cent of Singapore's national total energy consumption, with air-conditioning accounting for half the energy consumed in a building.

Two new standards for easy breathing
Joyce Hooi, Business Times 18 Nov 09;

THE drive towards standardisation gained more ground yesterday, with new environmental standards on energy efficiency and indoor air quality that will help us breathe easier.

Completion of the two standards - the Singapore Standard on Mechanical Ventilation and Air-Conditioning in Buildings (SS 553) and the Singapore Standard on the Code of Practice for Indoor Air Quality (SS 554) - was announced yesterday at the Spring Singapore Quality and Standards 2009 Conference.

SS 553 will put in place minimum recommended standards for air-conditioning engineering and ventilation in a bid to increase indoor-cooling energy efficiency.

SS 554 will specify the acceptable indoor air quality for building occupants, which will include specifications on levels of particulate matter in the air.

While not mandatory, the two standards will be used by the Building and Construction Authority in its Green Mark Scheme that targets 80 per cent coverage of existing buildings by 2030.

According to the National Energy Policy Report published by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, buildings account for 16 per cent of Singapore's total energy consumption, and air-conditioning accounts for about half of that.

'Together, these two standards will set the industry bar in Singapore for energy efficiency and acceptable indoor air quality in air-conditioned buildings,' Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, said at the opening of the conference yesterday.

The new standards are part of a larger standardisation drive spearheaded by Spring Singapore. This year, Spring has launched 15 new and revised standards in total.

To get firms on board, standardisation has been touted as an enabler for the development of energy efficiency and sustainability, a catchphrase that has become a lucrative one over the past few years.

These standards are being marketed to firms as a way for them to get their foot in the door with multinational corporations, reduce production wastage and cut costs.

In Singapore, there are currently 300 companies in the environmental sector, employing about 17,000 people and producing a manufacturing output of $3.6 billion, according to 2007 figures.

The web of revenue extends beyond these companies, with about 3,000 engineering and process companies supporting the sector.

At present, international standardisation has a complex structure plagued by redundancies.

Apart from the global standards boards such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), there are multiple organisations in Europe and the US, as well as regional bodies in other places.