Singapore's strategies towards sustainable construction

Abstract

Sustainable construction is critical to Singapore's national development as Singapore has little natural resources. Nearly, all construction materials have to be imported and it is therefore vital to improve Singapore's efficiency on the use of natural resources. Since 2007, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), together with Singapore's construction industry, strives to promote the adoption of sustainable construction materials and practices. Central to the drive of sustainable construction is the Sustainable Construction Masterplan, with five major strategic thrusts outlining strategies to achieve resource efficiency. The five strategic thrusts cover initiatives from government support, legislation to research and development support. This article also presents some recent initiatives of sustainable construction, such as the development of demolition protocol and sustainable construction capability development fund. The findings of a recently completed full-scale study on the use of recycled concrete aggregates in structural elements of a 3-storey office building are also presented.