Green retrofit projects : risk assessment and mitigation

The Singapore building industry has been experiencing a trend of going green and the government has set up a target to have at least 80% of buildings being green by 2030. To achieve this target, initiatives have been steered towards retrofitting existing buildings to green buildings. This study aims to assess the risks associated with green retrofit projects in Singapore. To achieve the objective, 20 risks were identified from a literature review. In addition, a questionnaire survey was performed with 30 professionals experienced in green retrofits. In the risk assessment, this study adopted the index of risk criticality (RC), which is the product of likelihood of occurrence (LO) and magnitude of impact (MI). In terms of RC values, “post-retrofit tenants’ cooperation risk”, “regulatory risk”, “market risk”, “financial risk”, and “pre-retrofit tenants’ cooperation risk” were the top-five risks. Additionally, comparisons were made between traditional and green retrofit buildings. 17 and 19 risks received significantly higher LO and MI values in green retrofits than those in traditional retrofits, respectively, which contributed to the significant differences in RC values of 19 risks between the two groups of retrofits. These results also confirmed the necessity of risk management in green retrofit projects. Furthermore, 28 mitigation measures were collected and received agreement from the respondents. This study contributes to knowledge by providing an understanding of the risks in green retrofit projects in Singapore for both practitioners and researchers. Practitioners can customize their own list of critical risks in green retrofit projects based on the risk identification in this study.