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1. Introduction
Sustainability and buildability of a building are key elements in building design; their guidelines and subsequent legal responsibilities are typically governed by laws and regulations which may differ from country to country ([10] Duris et al. , 2005). In Singapore, the sustainability of a building in terms of environmental and energy performance is represented by the Green Mark Scheme (GMS), while the buildability of a building is assessed through the Buildable Design Appraisal System (BDAS) in order to determine the buildability score of a building and also to promote more labor-efficient designs and pre-assembled products. The GMS and BDAS launched by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) of Singapore have become compulsory since 2008 and 2001 respectively under the Building Control Act. This requires the GM score and the buildability score of residential and non-residential buildings to meet minimum requirements before approval of building plans ([3], [4] BCA, 2005, 2008).
The concept of buildability has been widely implemented for many years worldwide. Buildability not only helps to save costs and increase productivity, but also helps to ensure the continuity of construction works ([15], [16] Low and Abeyegoonasekera, 2001a, b). [17] Low et al. (2008a) also explored the relationships between BDAS requirements and total building performance (TBP) which is a concept used to measure inherently good values of a building. Their study found that achieving better TBP does not show a significantly adverse effect on the buildability score. In practice, this allows building professionals the opportunity to incorporate TBP guidelines without compromising on buildability.
However, since the GMS has only been implemented in Singapore for a few years, no study has directly investigated relationships between GMS and BDAS requirements. As such this study aims to fill this research gap. The objective is to highlight that there are common features between GMS and BDAS requirements. However, due to word limitations in this paper, the study will only focus on the common features that can influence the GM score of the building envelope for residential buildings and the buildability score of the wall system. In addition, a case study will demonstrate the importance of integrating the common features between GMS and BDAS requirements.
2. Sustainable development
Climate change is an important issue that has been accepted...