The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) of Singapore has been conferred the inaugural Regional Leadership Award, one of the six Green Building Council Government Leadership Awards, for exceptional Green Building Master Plan, and efforts to steer the construction industry towards sustainable development in Singapore, and leadership in the green building movement in Asia Pacific, according to a press release from the BCA.

The annual Green Building Council Government Leadership Awards, announced at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, last week, highlights government policies that maximise the opportunity of buildings to mitigate carbon emissions in the environment.

The Singapore Green Building Council, one of the 80 Green Building Councils from around the globe, nominated BCA for this award.

BCA's flagship Green Mark scheme was launched in 2005, setting minimum standards for buildings on environmental factors, such as energy efficiency, environmental impact, waste management and water efficiency. It is the first green building rating system developed to suit the tropical climate. BCA's Green Building Master Plan sets out specific initiatives to achieve the national target of greening at least 80 per cent of the buildings in Singapore by 2030.

Its current focus is on greening existing buildings. Till date, there are more than 940 green building projects, translating to a gross floor area of approximately 28 million square metres or 300 million square feet, or 12 per cent of the nation's total gross floor area.

A separate press release from the Green Building Council, (GBC) which announced the winners of the 2011 Government Leadership Awards for Excellence in City Policy for Green Building, said the awards in the inaugural year acknowledge international best practice in city-level government policy for green building initiatives, and recognise green buildings as an important means to reduce carbon emissions. Winners were chosen by an expert panel of judges comprising ICLEI-International, UN-HABITAT and the GBC.

The other winners in a range of catergories include:

Best Green Building Policy — San Francisco, USA, for the San Francisco Green Building Ordinance; Climate Action Leadership Award — Mexico City, Mexico, for its Climate Action Plan; Urban Retrofit Award — Birmingham, UK, for Birmingham City Council's Energy Savers Programme; Industry Transformation Award: New York City, USA, for its Greener, Greater Buildings Plan; Most Groundbreaking Policy Award: Tokyo, Japan, for the Tokyo Cap-and-Trade Programme, the first cap-and-trade programme covering buildings.

More than 80 Green Building Councils across the globe, along with ICLEI and UN-HABITAT network members, were given the opportunity to nominate local government policies from their countries for the award. As governments and cities are implementing policies that support green building and communities, the GBC and the Government Leadership Awards are recognising cities making these initiatives and encouraging people to build green.

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