Funding boost for research and innovation
Singapore has committed another S$112 million (US$88 million) in research and innovation funding to improve the productivity and sustainability of its built environment, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said on Wednesday (Sep 2). The funds will be set aside under the next phase of the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 (RIE2030) plan, and will go towards the Cities of Tomorrow R&D Programme and the Built Environment Technology Alliance (BETA) Catalyst Programme.
National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat announced the measures at the opening ceremony of the International Built Environment Week (IBEW) 2026, held at Marina Bay Sands from Wednesday to Friday.
The latest round of funding will drive research and innovation in four key areas over the next five years: promoting productive and safe demolition methods, expanding capabilities to model building lifespans, reducing embodied carbon, and turning research and innovation outcomes into industry applications through the BETA Catalyst Programme.
"As we rejuvenate more parts of our city, we need better ways to carry out demolition works more efficiently and safely, while minimising risks, disruptions, noise and other disamenities in dense built-up areas," Chee said.
He also emphasised the importance of developing smarter ways to maintain buildings. "As our buildings age and their uses become more diverse, we need better tools to assess structural health, lifecycle costs, and the remaining operational lifespan. These tools can help building owners anticipate maintenance needs, plan repairs in a timely manner," he said.
The S$112 million is in addition to about S$185 million that has been secured under the RIE2030 plan in the past year, according to Chee. BCA said the investment is "in tandem with growing industry momentum and confidence", noting that more private-sector players are investing in research and innovation across successive RIE tranches.
Under the previous RIE tranche, S$46 million was set aside in 2022 for research into advanced construction and facilities management. The BETA Catalyst Programme separately received an extra S$20 million in 2022 to support industry-led research and innovation.
The first grant call for the Cities of Tomorrow R&D Programme is expected to launch in October this year, BCA said. The funding initiatives aim to bring together built environment firms, researchers and institutes of higher learning to "translate promising research into practical solutions that address real-world challenges, which can be adopted by industry".
Green Mark Version 7
Singapore's green building certification scheme will also be refreshed to accelerate decarbonisation and promote a greener built environment, in support of the Singapore Green Plan 2030.
The BCA Green Mark Version 7 has three key objectives: greening more of Singapore's building stock, mainstreaming Super Low Energy buildings, and making sustainability more practical and achievable.
A new BCA energy rating will be introduced to give building owners an alternative pathway to Green Mark certification purely on energy performance. The refreshed scheme will also include SLE70, a new Super Low Energy tier, achieved by delivering more than 70 per cent energy savings against a building typology's 2005 baseline.
Alternative cooling technologies such as hybrid cooling, active chilled beams and passive displacement cooling will be recognised under the Green Mark Version 7 scheme. BCA noted that these technologies can achieve up to 50 per cent energy savings compared to conventional air-conditioning systems.
Owners with large portfolios of similar properties will be able to re-certify multiple buildings at the same time, streamlining the recertification process. Buildings with sustained energy performance can extend their certification validity from three years to up to five.
Green Mark Version 7 will be aligned more closely with environmental, social and governance reporting frameworks and international sustainability standards.
Chee highlighted the sector's progress and remaining challenges. The built environment sector accounts for over 20 per cent of Singapore's carbon emissions. Under the Green Building Masterplan targets, two-thirds of buildings, by gross floor area, are now green, while a third of new developments are super-low energy buildings. "There is a bit of catching up to do here," he said. Singapore's target to attain an 80 per cent improvement in energy efficiency for best-in-class green buildings by 2030 is now at 72 per cent.
Green Mark buildings in Singapore collectively save more than 4.6 billion kWh of electricity annually, equivalent to powering over a million four-room HDB flats, eliminating about 1.9 million tonnes of carbon emissions, and generating cost savings of S$1.6 billion per year.
New site supervision requirements
From 2028, large-scale structural works projects valued above S$75 million will be required to appoint BCA-licensed firms to carry out site supervision services.
BCA said that remote site supervision is increasingly being adopted, allowing firms to supervise multiple project sites virtually using digital tools such as data platforms, smart glasses and live-streaming devices.
The Singapore Accreditation Council has launched the Site Supervision Firm Accreditation Scheme, under which firms must first be accredited before they can get a BCA licence to provide the mandatory services for large-scale structural works projects. The scheme will be launched in September 2026.