Singapore – 20 Green Mark Accredited Professionals (GMAPs), organisations and building projects excelled at the latest edition of the SGBC-BCA Leadership in Sustainability Awards co-organised by the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) and the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).
The 20 winners were formally announced in the presence of over 500 representatives from the built environment sector during the SGBC Gala Dinner 2022 held at the Orchard Hotel Singapore on 20 May 2022. They received their trophies from Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Ms Grace Fu.
The biennial Awards programme, first held in 2017, honours significant achievements by individuals, organisations and project teams in the development of a green and sustainable built environment. After a pandemic pause in 2021, the Awards programme was refreshed for a re-launch in 2022 with new award sub-categories to better reflect contemporary trends and developments as well as to uncover the impact of sustainability achievement from the industry. More than 40 award applications across all award categories were received and the Main Jury – comprising senior leaders from SGBC and BCA – commended the quality of the high-calibre applications received this year.
“We were impressed by the strong showing for the Awards put forth by the industry this year, which is very encouraging and reflective of the current emphasis on sustainability,” said SGBC President Ar. Tang Kok Thye. “The winners all exemplify excellence in sustainability and we are confident that they will be an inspiration to everyone in the built environment sector, leading the way for sustainability as we intensify action towards our climate aspirations,” added Ar. Tang Kok Thye.
The Business Leadership in Sustainability award category, which honours organisations that have integrated sustainability into their business and are contributing to the transition towards a greener, more sustainable built environment, has three sub-categories this year, namely Impact, Innovation and Transformation. These are designed to help organisations better profile their sustainability strategies and showcase results, since business considerations for sustainability are unique to every organisation.
Similarly, the new outcome-based award sub-categories for Building Project Leadership in Sustainability – namely Carbon Performance, Community Engagement, Health & Wellbeing, Intelligent Building and Urban Renewal – are intended to celebrate outstanding building projects that are pushing the boundaries of built environment sustainability. Using the top-tier BCA Green Mark Platinum certification rating as a minimum requirement for consideration, the sub-categories allowed award applicants to better profile, highlight and convey the unique traits of their building projects.
BCA Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kelvin Wong said: “As buildings account for over 20 percent of Singapore’s carbon emissions, it is imperative for the built environment sector to then play a significant role with a low-carbon built environment by 2030 under the Singapore Green Plan. The contributions and achievements by the award winners, as well as their commitment in pressing on with the sustainability agenda, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, should inspire many others. I am confident the leading firms in sustainability can continue to innovate and design best-in-class buildings that are significantly lower in energy consumption and better in energy efficiency for our future generations.”
The SGBC Gala Dinner 2022 also saw the unveiling of the Official Qualification Logo for Singapore’s Green Mark Accredited Professional community, which number more than 800 individuals. GMAPs will be able to use the Logo as a formal signal of green credentials and will serve as affirmative visualisation of sustainability expertise, and the Qualification Logo will become the go-to industry benchmark for identifying critical sustainability expertise in the Singapore green building industry.
Close to 40 built environment organisations received their Singapore Green Building Product (SGBP) and Singapore Green Building Services (SGBS) certificates during the Gala Dinner as well, a firm testament of their commitment to deriving, developing and delivering green building products and services towards a low-carbon future.
