singapore engineer singapore engineer singapore engineer

The Magazine Of 

The Institution Of Engineers, Singapore 

MAY 2012 MICA (P) 069/02/2012 

THE 

www.ies.org.sg 

SINGAPORE ENGINEER 

COVER STORY: 

MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 

Marina Bay Sands - application of prescriptive and performance-based fire protection concepts 

FEATURES: 

Electrical Engineering I Sustainability I Project Application

CONTENTS 

FEATURES 

14 MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: Cover Story: 

Marina Bay Sands - application of prescriptive and performancebased 

fire protection concepts 

The award-winning fire safety design is driven by innovative solutions. 

20 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: 

Taking a second look at present day earthing-grounding practice 

and electrical safety issues 

It is important to clarify important but less-understood fundamentals. 

28 SUSTAINABILITY: 

New industrial power supplies with lower energy consumption 

Improved low-wattage products can also contribute to lowering the carbon footprint. 

30 SUSTAINABILITY: 

Greener living through technology 

The need for products that are energy-efficient and also contribute to greater comfort 

has never been greater. 

34 PROJECT APPLICATION: 

Saving energy in a manufacturing plant 

Identifying the areas for improvement led to positive results. 

Chief Editor 

T Bhaskaran 

t_b_n8@yahoo.com 

Director, Marketing 

Roland Ang 

roland@iesnet.org.sg 

Marketing & Publications Executive 

Jeremy Chia 

jeremy@iesnet.org.sg 

CEO 

Angie Ng 

angie@iesnet.org.sg 

Publications Manager 

Desmond Teo 

desmond@iesnet.org.sg 

Published by 

The Institution Of Engineers, Singapore 

70 Bukit Tinggi Road 

Singapore 289758 

Tel: 6469 5000 Fax: 6467 1108 

Cover designed by Irin Kuah 

Cover image by Tim Hursley 

REGULAR SECTIONS 

02 IES UPDATE 

35 PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS 

36 EVENTS 

41 NEWS 

The Singapore Engineer is published 

monthly by The Institution of Engineers, 

Singapore (IES). The publication is 

distributed free-of-charge to IES members 

and affiliates. Views expressed in this 

publication do not necessarily reflect those 

of the Editor or IES. All rights reserved. No 

part of this magazine shall be reproduced, 

mechanically or electronically, without the 

prior consent of IES. Whilst every care is 

taken to ensure accuracy of the content 

at press time, IES will not be liable for any 

discrepancies. Unsolicited contributions 

are welcome but their inclusion in the 

magazine is at the discretion of the Editor. 

Design & layout by 2EZ Asia Pte Ltd 

Printed by Print & Print Pte Ltd. 

May 2012 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER 

01

IES UPDATE 

Message from the President 

The number of Green Mark-certified buildings in 

Singapore has crossed 1000, included among which 

are 100 buildings which have received the highest 

Green Mark Platinum rating. 

These figures clearly show the commitment with 

which the republic is addressing the serious issue of 

global warming and carbon emissions. 

With several of its initiatives and incentives already 

in place, the government is going even further, 

by promoting collaboration between the public and private sectors in the area of 

research on green buildings. 

As a first step, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Building 

and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Ministry of National Development 

(MND) have jointly awarded funding for nine research projects on green technologies 

that could help buildings save energy. 

However, in order to move towards greater sustainability of all human activity, there 

is the need to conserve all resources which include, besides energy, also water, raw 

materials etc, as well as recover, recycle and reuse as much as of these resources as 

possible. 

With increasing urbanisation taking place all over the world, there is the realisation 

that an integrated approach is necessary to achieve sustainable growth and a better 

quality of life. 

This theme will be emphasised at the Singapore International Water Week 2012, 

World Cities Summit 2012 and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore 2012. The three events 

will be held concurrently from 1 to 5 July 2012, at the Sands Expo and Convention 

Center, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. 

The Singapore International Water Week 2012, World Cities Summit 2012 and 

CleanEnviro Summit Singapore 2012 will attract participants including product 

manufacturers, specifiers, professionals, government agencies and others, from all over 

the world. 

It has been with great honour that I have served the members of IES for the past two 

years as President. I have to thank the rest of the Council, the IES secretariat and the 

members for their assistance and contributions over that time. My gratitude goes out 

to everyone who has given their time and effort in helping IES move forward. After 

the AGM in May, I am handing over the role of President to Prof Chou Siaw Kiang. 

I believe that everyone will give their full support to the new Council and I am certain 

that under Prof Chou’s guidance, IES will continue to go from strength to strength. 

Thank you one and all. 

Er. Ho Siong Hin 

President 

The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) 

IES COUNCIL MEMBERS 

2011/2012 

President 

Er. Ho Siong Hin 

Deputy President 

Prof Chou Siaw Kiang 

Vice Presidents 

Er. Chong Kee Sen 

Er. Edwin Khew 

Mr Neo Kok Beng 

Er. Ong Geok Soo 

Er. Ong See Ho 

Honorary Secretary 

Er. Ng Say Cheong 

Honorary Treasurer 

Dr Boh Jaw Woei 

Assistant Honorary Secretary 

Mr Oh Boon Chye, Jason 

Assistant Honorary Treasurer 

Mr Kang Choon Seng 

Immediate Past President 

Er. Dr Lee Bee Wah 

Past President 

Er. Tan Seng Chuan 

Er. A/Prof Foo Say Wei 

Er. Ong Ser Huan 

Council Members 

Er. Dr Chew Soon Hoe 

Prof Er Meng Joo 

Ms Fam Mei Ling 

Er. Dr Ho Kwong Meng 

Dr Ho Teck Tuak 

Er. Jee Yi Yng 

Er. Koh Beng Thong 

Dr Kwok Wai Onn, Richard 

Mr Lee Kwok Weng 

Mr Lim Horng Leong 

Er. Low Wong Fook 

Er. Prof Ong Say Leong 

Mr Tan Boon Leng, Mark 

Er. Toh Siaw Hui, Joseph 

02 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER May 2012


03

IES UPDATE 

Seminar on Behaviour Based Safety 

implementation in construction 

On the morning of 13 April 2012, Er. Ho Siong Hin welcomed 

the audience to a seminar on ‘Behaviour Based Safety (BBS) 

Implementation in Construction Industry’ at NTU@one-north 

Executive Centre. The talk was organised by the IES Health & 

Safety Engineering Technical Committee. 

Addressing the 103 participants who had signed up to listen 

to the talk, Er. Ho stressed the importance of a BBS approach 

towards understanding the underlying causes of accidents and 

how BBS can help decrease the accident rate in the construction 

industry. He went on to describe BBS as a concrete platform to 

achieve the National Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) 2018 

vision of ‘A safe and healthy workplace for everyone.’ 

To get the national fatality rate to less than 1.8 per 100,000 

workers in 2018, the WSH Council’s vision has defined four 

strategic outcomes: 

1. The reduction in WSH incident rates. 

2. WSH being an integral part of business. 

3. Singapore being known as a renowned Centre for Excellence 

for WSH. 

4. A progressive and pervasive WSH culture. 

After Er. Ho’s introduction, four speakers shared their 

experiences in BBS as well as in promoting the use of BBS as 

an important tool at the workplaces of the audience members. 

The four speakers were Mr Andrew Tan Hock Seng, Manager 

(Safety) from the Safety Division of the Land Transport 

Authority (LTA); Dr Evelyn Teo Ai Lin, A/Prof and Director of 

External Affairs at the Department of Building, School of Design 

and Environment, in NUS; Mr Seow Min Fook, who formerly 

worked as an Operations and Safety Manager in the petroleum 

industry; and Mr Yeo Kim Hock, the Divisional Safety Manager of 

Gammon Pte Ltd. 

Mr Tan spoke of the history of WSH maturity through the years 

and the background for BBS implementation while Dr Teo 

explored the cultivation of a safety culture to integrate the BBS 

approach as part of normal operation. Mr Seow and Mr Yeo 

both spoke about their experiences in WSH and shared the 

valuable practical knowledge of implementing the procedures 

of BBS during their careers. After speaking, each of the speakers 

was given a token of appreciation by Mr Jason Oh, Chairman 

of the IES Health and Safety Engineering Technical Committee. 

Speaking to ‘The Singapore Engineer’ magazine after the talk, 

Mr Tan said, “LTA’s view is that BBS is a necessity because ‘at 

risk’ behaviour is predominant at construction worksites and we 

want all our contractors to implement it wholeheartedly. Despite 

having proper management systems, the requirements of the 

law and the requirements of WSH tender specifications in place, 

accidents still happen. The problem is largely behaviour-related, 

so you need to find a way to arrest such ‘at risk’ behaviours 

Mr Andrew Tan from LTA spoke about 

the importance of BBS implementation. 

before any incidents happen. BBS is a powerful process that can 

help identify ‘at risk’ behaviours before incidents happen and at the 

same time strengthen the WSH culture within an organisation.” 

According to Mr Tan, LTA started looking into BBS in 2010 as a 

way to improve its WSH performance at worksites. LTA did a 

pilot BBS implementation on two of its heavy civil engineering 

projects and achieved very good results. LTA has gone on to 

facilitate BBS implementation for its contractors by giving them 

training in BBS as well as through the usage of an internetbased 

platform for monitoring and analysing behavioural data. 

He added, “The main hurdle that the contractor needs to cross 

within themselves is the commitment that they can deliver 

within their own company. We are currently pushing for all of 

our existing projects to implement BBS and it will be mandatory 

for all future tenders on our projects.” 

The move to include a BBS component in the contracts from 

LTA, which is a prime government developer, is helping to 

spread the use of BBS among contractors. Dr Teo of NUS said, 

“For contractors to bid for LTA projects, they must have a BBS 

component or they will not be selected. You can see a lot of 

contractors are now coming on board and want to learn more 

about BBS to implement it on site.” 

Dr Teo also reiterated Mr Tan’s point in her observation that 

when companies go through the motions of using BBS just based 

on requirements, it made 

it very hard for people on 

the ground to actually 

implement it. She added, 

“BBS is for contractors who 

already have a very good 

safety culture. Without that, 

it is very hard to implement 

a BBS programme. The top 

management has to be very 

committed. These are the 

two critical factors you must 

have to implement BBS 

on site.” 

Dr Evelyn Teo from NUS described the 

safety culture needed to implement BBS. 

Mr Seow Min Fook spoke from experience 

on how BBS works in practice. 



05

IES UPDATE 

“We all know that good safety culture will result in good safety 

performance,” said Mr Seow, whose experience in implementing 

behaviour science in safety stretches back to his early work in 

refineries in the late 1970s, where he was influenced by the 

forward thinking of managements. 

He described what it would take to build a good safety 

culture that would support BBS. “You cannot get to a safety 

culture immediately. How do you change culture? How do you 

change attitude? What you can see is behaviour. The sum total 

of behaviour becomes attitude and the sum total of attitude 

becomes culture. So you work on the behaviour aspect in 

order to attain a safety culture where people exhibit more safe 

behaviour than ‘at risk’ behaviour”, said Mr Seow. 

He ended by saying that he was glad that the authorities 

are now pushing companies to implement BBS on a formal 

basis because not all of them are fortunate enough to have 

had forward-thinking leaders who have already incorporated 

behaviour science as part of their safety culture. 

Mr Yeo’s experience with implementing BBS at his company, 

Gammon, was also a top-down process. “We have a history of 

how we address safety matters within our group and we started 

by training all of our top management, our managers and our 

supervisors. After this phase, we engaged a consultant who said 

it was time to go to the next level.” 

Health & Safety Engineering Technical 

Committee looking for new members 

One of the three IES committees honoured with the IES 

Outstanding Committee Award at the IES Appreciation Night 

2012 was the Health & Safety Engineering Technical Committee 

(HSE TC). Chaired by Mr Jason Oh, the mission of the Committee 

is to help achieve the WSH 2018 Vision of reducing fatalities. The 

HSE TC is currently expanding and looking for volunteers to join 

the committee. In particular, they are reaching out to members 

who are in other industries to tap into their expertise in those 

areas. The committee is divided into 5 major sub-committees: 

• Design for Safety, chaired by Mr Chan Yew Kwong. 

• Heavy Machinery, chaired by Er. Chui Heng Tak. 

• WSH Research, chaired by Dr Goh Yang Miang. 

• Media & External Agencies, chaired by Mr Bhupendra Singh. 

• WSH Events / Conference, chaired by Ms Png Mui Kee. 

The Design for Safety Sub-committee is currently working 

with architects and consulting engineers from design firms by 

looking at the safety and health aspect of a new building from 

the design stage, and from there, to building the building and 

maintaining and repairing it. By looking at the potential safety 

and health issues downstream, they want to be able to enhance 

the design and eliminate safety issues or mitigate the risk by the 

implementation of safety features. 

At the moment, the Heavy Machinery Sub-Committee is looking into 

organising specialised courses for training workers in crane operation 

to make sure they are able to maintain and operate them safely. 

06 THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER May 2012 

All four speakers received Tokens of Appreciation from Mr Jason Oh (right), 

pictured here with Mr Yeo Kim Hock from Gammon. 

The opportunity arose for them to implement the BBS system as a 

trial project during the construction of the Sentosa Boardwalk in 

2010. This was because they had recorded 15 cases of accidents 

in a span of six months. A comparison between the six months 

when the trial project to implement BBS was in effect and the 

previous six months when the accidents occurred showed that 

implementing BBS was effective in preventing accidents. 

Mr Yeo put the success of the BBS approach in the trial project 

down to three factors. “A lot of effort was put into how people 

were approached to get the buy-in, to convince the workers that 

in the future they have to do this in a better way. An incentive, in 

the form of a monthly cash reward, and peer pressure, are also 

keys to success,” he said. 

The WSH Research Sub-committee is currently focusing on two 

projects. One is research into system design and the other is the 

creation of a book covering past accidents in Singapore. 

The Media & External Agencies Sub-Committee members 

represent IES in general engineering safety standards committees. 

The main role of the WSH Events / Conference Sub-committee 

is to create awareness in engineering safety and health. 

They conducted the recent BBS seminar and are currently 

collaborating with the Society of Loss Prevention (Singapore) 

to conduct a talk. 

Chairman Mr Jason Oh (centre, seated) with members of the Health & Safety 

Engineering Technical Committee.


07

IES UPDATE 

IES Appreciation Night Honours Volunteers 

It was a night when the volunteers of IES took centre-stage while 

the IES Councillors took a back seat. This was IES Appreciation 

Night, a night to honour and compliment the hardworking 

volunteers for their time and effort in making things happen. 

This year’s Appreciation Night was held on 10 May 2012, with 

nearly 120 members attending. It was also the first time that the 

IES Appreciation Night was held outside of the IES Building. The 

venue this year was NUSS Kent Ridge Guild Hall and practically 

everyone welcomed the change in venue. The ambience and 

relaxed atmosphere were just the perfect setting for a night of 

camaraderie, food, drinks and honouring. 

Prof Chew was among the 3 past 

president recipients who received the 

Past President Medal from Er. Ho. 

Er. Tan receiving the Past President Medal 

from Er. Ho. 

The Civil & Structural Engineering Technical Committee, Health & 

Safety Engineering Technical Committee and Social & Community 

Services Committee each received the IES Outstanding Committee 

Award. For their role in organising the best event that generated 

the most engineering interest and participation, both locally and 

regionally, two committees were bestowed the Special Recognition 

Award: the FEIAP 2011 Organising Committee and the APCChE 

2012 Organising Committee. 

Members interacting among themselves before the start of the event. 

The evening kicked off with IES President Ho Siong Hin giving a 

welcome speech and also thanking all the volunteers for making 

sacrifices through the year. At the end of his speech, Er. Ho also 

urged all IES members to ‘keep up the good work and soldier 

on in bringing new initiatives and schemes for the amelioration 

of the future engineering society’. 

The event was a night of acknowledgement for the awardees. 

Our President presented the Long Service Award to 5 council 

members for their long service in the Council. The Past 

Presidents were not forgotten. They were presented with the 

IES Past President Award. The three were: Er. Kenneth Gin, Prof 

Chew Yong Tian, and Er. Tan Seng Chuan. Nine IES members were 

awarded the Outstanding Volunteer Award, and 3 companies were 

presented with the Friends of IES Award, namely JTC Corporation, 

Keppel Corporation and the National Library Board. 

Er. Lim Soon Hock receiving the IES 

Outstanding Award from IES President 

Er. Ho. 

JTC Corporation representative, Mr David 

Tan, receiving the Friends of IES Award 

from IES President Er. Ho. 

The evening ended with a tribute to the volunteers, a video 

montage of the two most successful events of 2011 – FEIAP 

Convention 2011 and APCChE Congress 2011. 

To all our volunteers, we would like say a big “Thank You” for 

your volunteerism because without your selfless sacrifices, we 

would not be able to make things happen. 

Er. Ho posing with Silver Award Recipient Er. Ong See Ho and Er. Joseph Toh for 

their contributions in IES Council. 

Group photo of the FEIAP Organising Committee. 


Expertise within the institution to benefit 

future engineers 

IES UPDATE 

Following the official launch of the IES College of Fellows (CoF), on 28 October 2011, and the 

election of Er. Lim Soon Hock, as its founding Dean, much progress has been made, including 

the formulation of the CoF’s vision and mission, the definition of its objectives, the setting up 

of a high-powered management committee, and the signing of an MOU to signal the start of 

its first project. 

IES COLLEGE OF FELLOWS 

VISION & MISSION 

Vision 

• To be the leading champion on the art and science of 

engineering and the developer of engineers of the future 

Mission 

• To harness and direct the collective knowledge base and 

expertise of IES Fellows towards educating the engineers of 

the future 

Objectives 

• Mentoring IES members in professional development, 

entrepreneurship, and service to IES and the community 

• Promoting and transferring IES technical knowledge, and the 

arts and science of engineering 

• Championing IES strategic thrusts and engineering enterprise 

• Raising awareness of IES activities and ideals among engineers 

and professionals 

• Commenting on and communicating IES proposed solutions 

to enhance productivity and to solve industry problems to 

benefit the national economy 

• Assisting in reviewing and contributing to IES technical 

materials and information dissemination 

• Lending support to IES outreach and international programmes 

• Assisting in growing the IES Academy 

COF MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE 

Dean of CoF & Chairman of Management Committee 

Er. Lim Soon Hock 

Members 

Er. Ho Siong Hin, Prof Chou Siaw Kiang 

Er. Edwin Khew, Mr Seah Moon Ming, Er. Dr Lee Bee Wah 

Er. Tan Seng Chuan, Er. Low Wong Fook, Er. Wong Yui Cheong 

Terms of Reference for Management Committee 

• Management Committee appointment is for a 3-year term 

effective March 2012 

• CoF reports to IES Council 

• Carry out the vision and mission of CoF and its charter 

• Responsible for the development and implementation of the 

College’s business plan, which has to be approved by IES Council 

• Ensure that the CoF is properly staffed and resourced to 

carry out its work and business. 

• Identify strategic partnerships to further CoF’s vision and mission 

• Contribute to the development of a vibrant and technologically 

rich engineering community for the sustainable economic 

development of Singapore 

PROJECTS 

Project 1 

• Management Mentorship 

Project 2 

• Collaboration with JTC 

Project 3 

• Re-engineering Engineering Education 

Project 4 

• School / Junior College F1 Car Design 

MOVING FORWARD 

• Business Plan 

• Membership Drive 

• New Projects / Initiatives / Programs 

• IES University 

Laurel leaves, which represent creativity 

and achievement, have been used in the 

logo of the CoF to highlight the fact that 

it will be a training ground for grooming 

and educating the next generation of 

‘master engineers’. The green colour 

of the leaves symbolises ‘youth’ among 

whose ranks are budding engineers. 

Creativity 

Laurel leaves are said to communicate the spirit of prophecy and 

poetry. They were commonly put under pillows at night to gain 

inspiration through dreams and their intoxicating properties are 

associated with prophetic and poetic inspiration. 

Achievement 

Laurel leaves have long been a symbol of victory. They were 

given as a symbol to the winners in Pythian games. Freemasons 

consider the laurel to signify the expectation of success in their 

search for the ‘True Word’. In the Bible, the laurel is an emblem 

of prosperity and fame. In Christianity, it is said to symbolise the 

resurrection of Christ and the triumph of humanity. It is also the 

source of the words ‘Baccalaureate’ and ‘Poet Laureate’. 

Red, blue and yellow 

These three colours in the logo represent the three major 

disciplines - Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering. 


09

IES UPDATE 

Tapping the untapped potential 

Er. Lim Soon Hock, Dean of the CoF, 

speaks glowingly on the strengths of IES. 

“We can find, just from the membership 

base within the institution, a huge 

reservoir of talent, knowledge, expertise 

and experience”, he said. 

According to him, the issue is not one of 

capabilities. 

Er. Lim Soon Hock. 

“The challenge we have in front of us is how to mobilise 

and organise all these capabilities to increase and expand 

our capacity to champion the engineering profession and 

to be the heart and voice of the engineering community. 

Much more needs to be done to promote and nurture the 

engineering profession to the esteemed and respected stature 

of yesteryears. Engineers must be seen and be heard in 

contributing to the economic progress and social well being 

of Singapore, which many are already doing, but not noticed”, 

Er. Lim said. 

“In a nutshell, we are talking about how we can leverage the 

CoF to build a larger capacity from the huge reservoir of 

capabilities that we have within IES, to serve the engineering 

community and our nation at large”, he added. 

“When the CoF launches its programmes in 2012, it hopes to 

be able to leverage on the capabilities from all IES members, 

so as to also empower the next generation of engineers to 

champion the art and science of engineering”, Er. Lim said. 

He pointed out that IES Fellows are members with deep, wide 

and respectable experience, who are sitting at the apex of the 

engineering pyramid. 

“When we are able to harness the capabilities of our existing 

and future pools of Fellows, to mentor younger engineers, it will 

hopefully serve to inspire and challenge our young engineers 

to go beyond what they have learnt and seen”, Er. Lim said. 

Vision & Mission 

The CoF’s vision is ‘to be the leading champion on the art 

and science of engineering and the developer of engineers of 

the future’. 

“Being the leading champion means collectively leading by 

example - not by words, but by actions. It is critical that no 

efforts are spared to try to win back the high respect and 

esteem for engineers, which unfortunately has declined over 

the years, as compared to the levels that the profession had 

enjoyed previously. To support the developmental needs of 

Singapore, we must encourage more of our brightest and 

smartest students to take up engineering, to avoid a hollowing 

out of engineering talent. This would be disastrous to our 

economy, should it happen”, Er. Lim said. 

“We need to go beyond the science of engineering to include 

the art of engineering. This means not confining ourselves to 

the nuts and bolts, but to encompass other aspects, such as the 

human side of engineering and other non-engineering fields. 

The CoF is the ideal platform to achieve this”, he added. 

“Here, when we talk about art, we are talking about the holistic 

practice of engineering and applying it, and the training of 

engineers so that they are able to apply what they have learnt 

in a broad spectrum of fields and areas beyond engineering 

- it could be in business, government, public service, wealth 

creation or even community service”, Er. Lim said. 

He believes that engineers of the future must be able to play 

a major role in all sectors of industry. Fellows can be changemakers 

to help shape this engineer of the future. Er. Lim intends 

to tap on the collective wisdom of Fellows to achieve this. In 

his view, the engineer of the future is likely to have a ‘T’ profile. 

He has specialisation in one area, but at the same time has the 

versatility to be involved in a broad spectrum of activities. 

Er. Lim believes that these engineers must be able to play a 

major role in wealth creation in Singapore. 

“Engineers are great inventors and great creators. We are not 

just builders of roads, buildings and other hard infrastructure 

but also great inventors of consumer products. In Singapore, 

there are many successful CEOs, businessmen, entrepreneurs, 

politicians, civil servants, lawyers and even high court judges as 

well as community leaders, who are outstanding role models 

for the engineers of the future. They are all making an impact 

on society and on our economic progress and prosperity. 

The engineers of the future should possess the versatility and 

intelligence of many of them”, he said. 

Er. Lim pointed out that like all evolving organisations, whilst 

the CoF pursues its current vision and mission, these will 

evolve over time, as more experience and knowledge are 

gained operationalising it. Accordingly, the vision and mission 

will be refined and reshaped over time. 

Projects 

The CoF has started to identify projects to engage IES Fellows. 

Fellows are also encouraged to suggest and recommend 

projects or ideas for the CoF to consider and to implement, in 

pursuit of the vision and mission. 

One project is the MOU which IES has recently signed 

with JTC, which the CoF has been chartered to carry out. 

Er. Lim believes it is a great example of the kind of strategic 

partnership that CoF would like to forge. CoF will contribute 

the talent, knowledge and expertise which JTC requires, to 

complement its existing capabilities, not just for current 

projects or engineering solutions, but also to cater to future 

engineering challenges and solutions, such as those relating to 


IES UPDATE 

greening, sustainability, power generation etc. 

“From the operational standpoint, this partnership makes 

sense because IES can focus on strategy and policies, while the 

College can focus on implementation and leveraging on the 

knowledge and talent of our Fellows”, said Er. Lim. 

Another project that is being evaluated is the implementation 

of a mentorship programme for young engineers and 

practising engineers who want to start their own businesses. 

They can approach the CoF for mentors who are experienced 

entrepreneurs and who would be able to provide the necessary 

guidance and advice. It would be modelled around the medical 

practice. The CoF aims to play a vital role in developing and 

nurturing the ‘Entrepreneurial Engineer’ to contribute to the 

wealth creation of Singapore. 

The CoF will also be able to assist engineers who encounter 

problems in their professional work and in the practice of 

their professions. For example, when an engineer runs into 

a complex engineering problem, he can turn to the CoF 

for help. The CoF will connect the engineer to a retired 

Fellow who has tremendous experience and expertise, 

for the solution. 

Er. Lim would also like to see a task force being set up to look 

into the re-engineering of the engineering profession. 

‘We must have more of our brightest and smartest students 

enroll in engineering, to reverse the current trend, which is a 

cause for great concern. While some would pursue engineering 

when they graduate, it is perfectly alright for others to apply 

their training in other fields. Our goal must be to achieve a 

large share of engineers in leadership positions in all industries, 

be it in the public, private or people sectors”, he said. 

Er Lim added, “These are just some ideas that the College 

has put together in the hope of reaching out to the wider 

engineering community. We are currently working out the 

processes and logistics. We welcome feedback and suggestions 

on how we can make this a reality. It is all about mobilising and 

organising capabilities which we have in significant numbers, to 

build and increase the capacity, beyond what we have today, to 

support the engineering profession”. 

“The world that we live and work in is very different from 

what it was in the past. Things move and change very quickly. 

There are also many complex problems, some of which are 

national in nature, for example the floods and the recent 

SMRT breakdowns. Engineers should leverage on and seize this 

opportunity to solve many of these problems and challenges. 

Fellows, in particular, can contribute to the development of 

a vibrant and technology-rich engineering community for the 

sustainable economic development of Singapore. Engineers 

can be in the forefront of many exciting developments and 

changes in Singapore, the region and the rest of the world. 

CoF would like to be the enabler of this”, Er. Lim said. 

ER. LIM SOON HOCK 

Er. Lim Soon Hock is a Registered Professional Engineer, a Chartered 

Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore; 

the Institution of Engineering and Technology UK; Academy of 

Engineering Singapore; Singapore Computer Society; and the 

Singapore Institute of Directors. 

Er. Lim has more than 25 years’ experience as a board member, 

CEO, technopreneur, and private investor, across various highly 

competitive industries in a global environment. Apart from IT and 

telecommunications, he has a good working knowledge of the air 

transport industry, healthcare, education, homeland security and 

electronics / manufacturing industries. 

Er. Lim was formerly the Vice President and Managing Director of 

Compaq Computer Asia Pacific, who took the company to US$ 

1 billion from under US$ 30 million, in seven years, in what was 

arguably the most difficult market in the world. 

Er. Lim is currently the Founder and Managing Director of PLAN-B 

ICAG Pte Ltd, a boutique corporate advisory firm which he set 

up after stepping down from Compaq. His practice is selectively 

involved in restructuring, business acceleration, business turnaround, 

business and management mentorship, capital raising, technology 

incubation, and private investments, mainly for SMEs. 

Post-Compaq, Er. Lim has been involved in taking three SMEs public, 

one each on SGX, ASX, and AIM, as well as being involved in eight 

mergers and acquisitions. 

In addition, Er. Lim is currently the Corporate Advisor to Medibank 

Health Solutions (Medibank is the largest health insurance company 

in Australia), for over two years now, and idsMed, a 100% owned 

subsidiary of the Li & Fung Group. 

Er. Lim continues to sit on the boards of several public listed 

companies, government agencies, and civic organisations. In addition 

to his appointment as Founding Dean and Chairman of the 

Management Committee of the IES CoF, he currently serves as a 

member of the IES Council Advisory Panel and Chairman of IES 

Building Fund Raising Steering Committee. 

The numerous awards which he received, in recognition of his work 

and public service, include the 2012 IES Outstanding Volunteer 

Award, 2011 MCYS Outstanding Volunteer Award, 2010 IES-IEEE 

Joint Medal of Excellence Award, 2010 Honorary Fellow of ASEAN 

Federation of Engineering Organizations, 2009 National Day Public 

Service Medal, 2009 NUS Distinguished Alumni Service Award and 

1992 NUS Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award. Er. Lim was 

appointed a Justice of the Peace in May 2008. 

MOU BETWEEN JTC CORPORATION AND IES 

An MOU was signed between JTC Corporation (JTC) and IES, 

on 22 February 2012, as a result of which the two organisations 

will work together in engineering design development and related 

activities, with a view of promoting and facilitating innovative and 

sustainable industrial infrastructure solutions. 

JTC will collaborate with IES to engage suitable IES Members and 

Fellows to take on relevant roles, such as Project Managers, in JTC 

development projects, on a contract service agreement basis. 

JTC will also work with IES to form a Technical and Engineering 

Advisory Committee with suitable IES Members / Fellows, to review 

and provide inputs at the conceptual stage for selected JTC projects. 


11

IES UPDATE 

College of Fellows (CoF) Dialogue and 

Networking Session 

Er. Lim Soon Hock, Dean of the CoF & Chairman of the CoF Management Committee, presenting the CoF to IES Fellows. 

More than 30 Fellows turned up for the IES College of Fellows 

(CoF) Dialogue and Networking Session on 21 May 2012 at the 

IES Auditorium. This was the first event that was held after the 

official launch of the CoF. 

On hand to welcome the Fellows and introduce the Management 

Committee was Er. Lim Soon Hock, Dean of the CoF & 

Chairman of the CoF Management Committee. The Dean also 

wasted no time in presenting the Vision, Mission and the MC 

Terms of Reference to the members and gave an update on 

some of the projects that CoF will be embarking on. 

Mr David Tan, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Technical & 

Professional Services Group from JTC Corp was also invited 

to share with the Fellows, the projects that JTC was currently 

running in Singapore, as well as those in the pipeline. He also 

highlighted JTC’s keen interest in tapping the expertise of IES 

and CoF for its projects. 

IES Fellows having dinner and networking. 

The night ended with a lively short dialogue between IES Fellows 

and the CoF Management Committee, where the former 

expressed full support for the CoF and are looking forward to 

the roll-out of CoF programmes. 

Mr. David Tan, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Technical & Professional Services 

Group, JTC Corp, sharing some of JTC’s recent projects, with IES Fellows. 

IES Fellows were engaged in the Dialogue Session. 


The IES Journal Part A: Civil & Structural Engineering 

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The order form can be downloaded at http://www.ies.org.sg/publication/journals/ 

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Call 64695000 for any further queries! 


13

COVER STORY 

Marina Bay Sands - application of prescriptive and 

performance-based fire protection concepts 

Arup, the global design, engineering and business consultancy, received the National Fire 

& Civil Emergency Preparedness Council (NFEC) Fire Safety Design Excellence Award 

2011, for its outstanding work on Marina Bay Sands. 

The awards, jointly organised by NFEC and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) 

as part of the Fire Safety Asia Conference 2011 which was held in Singapore, from 12 to 

14 October 2011, give recognition to individuals and organisations, for their contribution 

towards achieving a high standard in fire safety design in Singapore. 

KEY FACTS ON MARINA BAY SANDS 

• Situated on 15.5 ha of land with 581,400 m 2 of Gross Floor Area. 

• Hotels: three 55-storey towers with 2,561 luxury rooms 

and suites, capped by the Sands SkyPark, the world’s largest 

cantilevered observation deck. 

• Expo and Convention Halls: 130,000 m 2 of flexible convention 

and exhibition space, featuring Southeast Asia’s biggest 

ballroom. 

• Shopping: 80,000 m 2 of retail and dining space. 

• ArtScience Museum: lotus-inspired gallery with nearly 800 m 2 

of exhibition space. 

• Theatres: two state-of-the-art theatres with a total of 4,000 seats. 

INTRODUCTION 

Conceived by Sheldon Adelson, Chairman and Chief Executive 

of Las Vegas Sands Corp, and designed by world-renowned 

architect Moshe Safdie, Marina Bay Sands integrated resort is an 

exciting new development at the heart of Marina Bay. 

It comprises three luxury hotels, a casino, convention and 

exhibition facilities, and theatres. The three hotel towers are 

crowned by the spectacular Sands SkyPark on the 57 th storey. 

Marina Bay Sands integrates Singapore’s prestigious waterfront 

promenade with retail, dining and entertainment facilities, and 

breathtaking city views, thereby transforming Singapore’s skyline 

and its tourism potential since its opening on 27 April 2010. 

Marina Bay Sands poses particularly challenging fire and life safety issues due 

to the large numbers of people accommodated within the development from the 

basement levels right up to the Sands SkyPark on the 57 th storey. These have 

been addressed adequately by the award-winning fire safety design by Arup. 

Image by Tim Hursley. 

Fire and life safety issues 

Marina Bay Sands poses particularly challenging fire and 

life safety issues due to the large numbers of people 

expected in its gaming, retail, and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, 

Conferences, and Exhibitions) facilities, and the prospect of 

having to evacuate them from multiple basement levels as 

well as several high-rise towers, including the Sands SkyPark 

and observation deck located on the 57 th storey. A key aspect 

of the fire safety strategy was based on minimising fire and 

smoke spread. A performance-based approach permitted the 

use of unprotected steel structure for the skypark and hotel 

atria, and the use of horizontal exits and monumental exit 

stairs for the first time in Singapore. 


COVER STORY 

Marina Bay Sands provides spaces for gaming, retail, and MICE activities. 

Images by Paul McMullin. 

DESIGN PROCESSES & SOLUTIONS FOR 

FIRE SAFETY 

The developer’s initial intent was for the fire safety design to 

be based on the requirements of the International Building 

Code (IBC), in line with its other properties in the region and in 

North America, as well as with the maintenance and operations 

strategies that it had developed over time. 

Permission was sought to adopt the IBC and, under SCDF’s 

instructions, a design was developed with the support of 

Singapore’s performance-based Fire Safety Act and Code of 

Practice for Fire Precautions in Buildings. 

The objective of the design thus became two-fold: 

• To design the facility according to the full requirements of the 

Singapore Fire Safety Act. 

• To address differences between the Singapore code and the 

IBC, by means of a combination of performance-based fire 

engineering solutions and waivers. 

This set in motion a design and approval process that sought 

to address the following key areas of the design, based upon 

performance-based solutions: 

• Evacuation of extremely large populations of people from all 

areas of the building. 

• Smoke control in all areas, and particularly the adoption of 

innovative methods such as natural ventilation and pressurisation. 

• Fire rating of structures supporting floors, walls and roofs. 

• The extent of fire and smoke compartmentation provided in 

the building. 

The following performance-based analyses and studies were 

carried out: 

• Comprehensive fire and evacuation modelling of all major public 

areas of the building, leading to a complete understanding of the 

performance of systems and the safe available evacuation time 

for people in an extremely large range of different fire scenarios. 

• Performance-based assessment of fire scenarios that could be a 

result of a potential arson situation, where a person purposely 

ignites a large amount of flammable liquid. Research shows that 

arson events caused by disgruntled employees are a credible and 

growing risk that buildings face. 

• Comprehensive blast analysis was used to inform the response of 

the design to various terrorist bomb blast scenarios and, where 

appropriate, the design was developed to include specific measures 

to increase its robustness to these scenarios. Marina Bay Sands is 

the first public building in Singapore to be designed adopting this 

approach, in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

The following design solutions were developed in response 

to the unique challenges posed by Marina Bay Sands’ complex 

architecture. 

• Adoption of natural ventilation smoke control in the retail arcade 

in place of mechanical systems. This is a significantly more reliable 

method of controlling smoke spread and one that naturally 

regulates to larger fire sizes, unlike mechanical systems. 

• Integration of the hotel corridor smoke compartmentation 

within the atrium, to minimise its visual impact when guests at the 

lobby look up towards the ceiling. 

• Omission of ‘wicket gate’ doors in fire barriers (accordion fire 

doors, or similar), thereby eliminating the risk of malfunction 

during a fire evacuation. This was achieved through the careful 

selection of door types and provision of pass doors in the line of 

the fire wall beside the accordion fire door. 

• Adoption of sidewall sprinklers in appropriate areas, where an 

overhead sprinkler protection would be technically unfeasible. 

• Adoption of beam smoke detector or UV/IR systems, in place 

of point-type smoke detectors in high bay areas (hotel and retail 

atria, for example), where maintenance and servicing is difficult 

and potentially unsafe due to the heights involved and the need 

to work from mobile work platforms. 

It would have been extremely difficult for the project team to 

achieve the desired results for such a fast-track project without 

important contributions by various professionals. 

Leadership 

The developer led the fire safety design process in a direct 

and personal way. An employee at director level within the 

developer’s organisation was appointed to be responsible for 

working with the design team to ensure the development of 

an appropriate strategy. The influence of this role was strong 

and positive as it exerted influence on the design team and 

provided credible representation to the developer during the 

approval process. The individual concerned, while based in 

North America, held similar responsibilities for the developer’s 

properties in Asia, and was actively engaged and present at all 

meetings with the SCDF. 

Collaboration 

Collaboration within the design team and between the designers 

and the SCDF was notable in this project. The early stages of 

the design were most critical and the SCDF worked with the 

design team to agree on the crucial aspects of the design, as 


15

COVER STORY 

expressed in the project’s ‘Fire Engineering Design Brief’. This 

approval, in principle, enabled the design process to continue by 

reducing the risk of approval issues later on. This was facilitated 

by a process of regular meetings and presentations attended 

by, among others, a dedicated SCDF officer, and in which the 

Director of Fire Safety was also personally involved. 

All key meetings involving discussion of key fire safety principles 

were attended by the architectural and M&E (Mechanical & 

Electrical) Qualified Persons as well as the FSE (Fire Safety 

Engineer). This enabled resolution and clarification of direction, 

on the spot. The design team comprised two architects and 

two MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) consultants - Moshe 

Safdie (design architect), Aedas Singapore (project and local 

architect), Vanderweil Engineers (concept MEP consultant), and 

Parsons Brinckerhoff (project and local MEP consultant). A series 

of design workshops were conducted in Singapore and Boston, 

and regular video conferences also enabled the team to work 

through the fire safety concepts which were then integrated 

early into the architectural design. 

Experience 

The developer insisted on a team of experienced designers and 

contractors. A key part of this was trying to align key aspects of 

the design with ‘tried and tested’ solutions adopted elsewhere. 

The developer’s primary consultants and insurance underwriter 

provided this continuity. All primary consultants in the design 

team included team members from North America, Hong 

Kong and Macau, and they were included because of their prior 

knowledge and experience with the developer and similar fasttrack 

projects. 

SPECIAL DESIGN FOR SAFETY 

The following provisions were included for the safe inspection / 

maintenance of fire safety elements: 

• Assessment of fire impact on the steel structure allowed for 

partial fire protection of the 60 m high hotel atrium and 340 

m long SkyPark steel structures, thereby minimising the need 

to inspect and maintain the applied fire protection works. 

• Use of special-purpose building maintenance access 

incorporated into the facade structure to service the fire 

sprinklers and smoke vents along the grand arcade. 

The following provisions were specially designed to enhance 

and facilitate occupants’ fire safety and fire fighters’ fire fighting 

and rescue operations: 

• Entry of fire fighters into hotel Tower 1 and 3 via open stairs 

accessible directly from Bayfront Avenue, leading to the 

Basement 1 fire-fighting core. 

• Direct access for fire fighters from Bayfront Aveune into the 

Fire Command Centre (FCC) located behind the theatres. 

The FCC includes the following: 

- Manual controls to all the smoke control zones sitewide. 

- Status and control to all lifts sitewide. 

- Supervisory/controls for other fire protection equipment, eg 

fire pumps. 

• Hundred percent fire pump system back up, in addition to the 

Singapore requirement: 

-Two sets, each comprising two water tanks, are provided at 

Podium North Basement 3 and hotel Basement 1. Each set 

has a total volume of 950 m 3 , to serve the podium and the 

hotel up to level 23. For water supplies above level 23 of 

the hotel, two water tanks with total volume of 260 m 3 are 

provided at level 55 of Tower 1. 

-The underground fire service main and storage tank 

arrangement has been installed to comply with the Code of 

Practice for Fire Precautions in Buildings 2007 and FM Global 

Property Loss Prevention Data Sheet 3-10. 

-The on-site secondary water supply has been installed to comply 

with the Code of Practice for Fire Precautions in Buildings 2007 

and FM Global Property Loss Prevention Data Sheet 3-2. 

-One set of diesel engine-driven, vertical turbine type fire pumps 

and one set of electrical pumps are provided. Each set of fire 

pumps is minimally rated to satisfy the requirements of the Code 

of Practice for Fire Precautions in Buildings 2007. The electrical 

pumps are the main fire pumps (at Podium North B4), and the 

diesel pumps are a complete back-up set (at hotel B1) (ie n + n). 

• Provision of one evacuation lift for each of the three 55-storey 

hotel towers to aid escape. 

• All smoke control systems are designed above the minimum 

acceptance criteria and are based upon providing longer periods 

of time for people to evacuate from the building in the event 

of a fire. This greatly facilitates search and rescue operations by 

the fire brigade, as the internal environment within the building 

will contain less smoke and heat, thereby enabling fire fighting 

operations to occur in a lower- risk environment. 

Grand arcade smoke vent test. Image by Arup. 


COVER STORY 

INNOVATION & ENHANCEMENT 

The project has a high level of complex, performance-based 

fire engineering solutions applied to it. As a result, high levels of 

public safety are achieved. New and innovative fire safety design 

provisions have been incorporated in several areas. 

Insurance and property protection strategy 

The design process benefitted greatly from the involvement of 

the developer’s insurance underwriter from an early stage. The 

insurance strategy for the building was based upon the concept 

of ‘maximum foreseeable loss’ (MFL). This concept requires 

judgement to be formed about scenarios that could lead to 

very large amounts of fire damage to the building. Insurance 

premiums are based on the MFL and engineering measures are 

adopted to limit the possibility of a fire scenario resulting in a 

larger than assumed MFL. 

The key impact of this strategy upon the design was that the 

building was sub-divided into several large fire compartments or 

MFL zones. These zones included MICE, Casino, Theatres, Retail, 

ArtScience Museum and Hotel. 

All MFL zones were separated from each other by a specific firerated 

wall that met the insurance underwriter’s requirements 

and no critical services were permitted to penetrate the walls. 

This enabled the designers to explore an evacuation strategy 

that was phased in nature and involved horizontal evacuation of 

people from a fire-affected area into a relatively safe area not 

affected by fire and protected by an MFL fire separation. 

This is a significant departure from conventional practice, 

where everyone in a building would be required to evacuate 

simultaneously in the event of a fire alarm via exit stairs, 

irrespective of whether the alarm was a false one. 

The key advantage of the design is that the number of staircases 

can be reduced while still ensuring adequate means of escape, 

and the strategy does not lead to the entire building being 

evacuated in the event of detectors generating false alarms. 

Smoke spread at the grand arcade. North view corridor interface (from fire 

dynamics simulator). Image by Arup. 

MICE facility cold smoke test. Image by Arup. 

Phased evacuation 

Due to its large interconnecting footprint, a horizontal exiting 

concept was utilised in many parts of the building where people 

would escape from a place exposed to the fire, heat and smoke, 

to a relatively safe place separated by distance and fire-rated 

construction. In most cases, the horizontal exit line was designed 

to coincide with the MFL separation required for insurance 

purposes to limit damage in a fire incident. 

While referenced widely in US-originated codes such as IBC 

and NFPA 101, the use of horizontal exits is uncommon in 

Singapore. 

The horizontal exits at the main entrances to the MICE and 

Casino also utilised another US-originated product - accordion 

sliding doors. Similar to horizontal sliding fire shutters, such 

doors are permitted under IBC to serve as part of the escape 

route, and are equipped to be automatically operable for people 

to escape and then to close. When not in use, the doors are 

discreetly stored in pockets recessed at the side. From a human 

behaviour standpoint, this design offers significant advantages 

since people evacuate primarily through the route that they first 

entered the building. Research shows that such an evacuation 

system results in a more efficient evacuation due to the greater 

familiarity that people have with the escape route. 

Another new concept is the use of monumental exit staircases 

within areas of the building that have extremely high populations. 

Exit staircases of up to 4 m in a scissor stair arrangement were 

provided for both the MICE and Casino to provide sufficient 

capacity for the expected 11,000 persons per floor. This differs 

markedly from the Code of Practice for Fire Precautions in 

Buildings 2007 which permits only up to 2 m of the exit stair 

width to be counted as capacity regardless of its width. 

Technical challenges included providing sufficient exits such that 

the failure of a single exit would not impact significantly on the 

overall means of escape from the space. As part of this, nonlockable 

doors were provided for escape at temporary partition 

walls within the MICE meeting rooms and ballrooms. 

Flexible design intent within MICE 

The following areas required flexibility to operate under a very 

large number of different configurations: 


17

COVER STORY 

• Meeting room levels: smoke and means of escape strategies 

to enable any combination of meeting rooms from a layout 

comprising 10 to eight large meeting rooms to a layout 

comprising 100 meeting rooms. 

• Grand ballroom: smoke and means of escape strategies to 

house the ‘largest ballroom in Asia’ on the topmost floor level 

of MICE. The design population for this area is in excess of 

11,000 people. Due to the architectural form of the roof, the 

opportunities for providing mechanical smoke control in this 

area were extremely limited. 

• Exhibition levels: smoke and means of escape strategies for 

a range of one to three exhibition halls per floor, as well as 

considering the impact of an exhibition being conducted 

in one area at the same time as an adjoining hall is being 

prepared for a separate exhibition. 

Grand arcade and view corridors 

In the event of a fire, smoke is vented directly outside through natural ventilation. 

The smoke vents are positioned at the top curve of the roof. Image by Arup. 

The grand arcade and view corridors are the only three zones 

that make up the Marina Bay Sands shops. Uninterrupted by 

smoke curtains, each of the retail smoke zones is formed by 

the curves and bends of the geometric design of the five-storey 

atrium design space. Smoke is vented directly outside through 

natural ventilators, in the event of a fire. 

Technical challenges associated with the design of the natural 

ventilation systems included determining the best location to 

place the smoke vents (at the top curve of the roof), to limit its 

visual impact to visitors on the 4 th storey roof terraces, without 

compromising the efficiency of the vents during a fire. The 

smoke hazard management strategy was based upon extensive 

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) smoke modelling of the 

building with and without wind effects. Large combinations of 

fire sizes and location were considered, to assess the impact of 

reduced buoyancy of smoke, along with assessment of whether 

the design was appropriate for prevailing wind conditions. 

Expert advice from wind engineers and wind tunnel analysis 

was received. 

The net result highlights the opportunity that performancebased 

fire engineering offers designers. The strategy is based 

entirely on natural ventilation and smoke zoning formed by the 

geometric design of the building. 

Crystal pavilions 

The crystal pavilions appear to float on Marina Bay, when they 

are actually connected by a sub-marine link to the retail part of 

the development. 

A key constraint of the early design was that the architect did 

not want a visible connection between the pavilions and the 

building. Therefore, the only escape route would be via the submarine 

link. 

From a fire safety point of view, a single means of escape was 

unacceptable and alternative designs were brainstormed and 

considered at length. Amongst the design options considered 

were the use of rescue boats, floating decks and submerged 

egress tunnels back into the podium. The final design allows 

alternative exiting from the pavilions at water level to the 

promenade. 

Hotel towers 

The smoke control strategy for the hotels was a critical aspect 

of the design. The three hotel towers all share a common atrium. 

From each hotel guestroom, there is an open path between the 

hotel corridor/internal balcony and the atrium. Therefore, if a 

fire was to occur in one of the food and beverage outlets in the 

base of the atrium, smoke could spread to the internal balconies 

and impact the evacuation of hotel guests. 

The performance-based solution adopted for the hotel atria 

develops a smoke control strategy from first principles. The 

design protects both evacuating hotel guests and people at the 

base of the atrium. It does this, primarily, through the provision 

of smoke curtains to prevent smoke spread onto the internal 

corridors of the hotel, creation of a positive pressure field on 

the internal corridor and then provision of mechanical smoke 

extract at the top of the atrium. Make-up air is provided for the 

smoke extract system by opening doors to the outside. 

The net result is an extremely simple and effective method of 

controlling smoke while enabling large amounts of flexibility 

to the type of activities that can be carried out in the hotel 

lobby. 

The three hotel towers are linked at ground level by 

triangular glass and steel structures up to 23 storeys high. 

The elegant steel trusses carrying the vertical loads are fireprotected 

up to 10 m above ground level. Beyond this point, 

the structures are unprotected. This solution was possible by 

studying a range of different fire scenarios and their impact 

on the ability of the structure to resist loads in the event of 

fire. It was found that above a critical height, the impact of 

fire was negligible and it was safe for the structure to remain 

without fire protection. 


COVER STORY 

the designated exits, identifying areas of potential bottleneck 

and high densities of people. These drawings proved to be 

essential to communicating the basis of the exiting design to the 

developer and their operations team. It is also intended to be a 

one-stop point of reference for assessing the impact of possible 

changes to the building, and its use in the future. 

Secondly, the entire fire safety design, including the prescriptive 

and performance-based requirements, was documented in a 

single report. This report presented the overall strategy for the 

integration of fire safety systems, along with management and 

operational requirements. 

Hotel atrium steel structural analysis. Image by Arup. 

Sands SkyPark 

Where the hotel skypark spans between each tower and 

cantilevers beyond Tower 3, the huge structural steel members 

are without applied fire protection, though this would be a 

requirement under a prescriptive design. Using a performancebased 

approach, it was determined that any structure outside 

an immediate zone around a possible worst-credible fire within 

the towers could remain unprotected and yet still maintain its 

stability in a fire. 

A performance-based approach was also applied to the skypark 

evacuation. With a possible population of up to 3,900 persons 

within level 56 and 57, the overall evacuation strategy is to 

evacuate people from the skypark deck to floors below and 

horizontally from the shadow of one tower to another. This 

solution provides maximum flexibility to the developer in the 

different types of events that they may wish to hold on the 

skypark levels. 

QUALITY DOCUMENTATION 

The developer insisted that Arup provide three different types 

of documentation that are not typically prepared for projects 

in Singapore. 

Firstly, as part of the fire safety documentation, means of 

escape drawings were produced to enhance understanding 

of the overall escape provisions from each component of 

the development. These drawings are, in essence, a graphical 

representation of populations and flow of people in the building 

in an emergency, through the available escape routes and onto 

Finally, the entire smoke control design for all areas of the 

building was documented, for the purposes of the design team 

and developer, adopting a North American approach. These 

drawings presented the entire set of requirements associated 

with the smoke control systems, including any and all interfaces 

with other systems and trade packages. The intention is that 

existence of these drawings prevents the loss of essential design 

requirements, especially when the full extent of the requirements 

of an entire smoke control system is actually expressed on a 

number of different documents. 

FIRE-FIGHTING OPERATIONS 

As part of the phased TOP (Temporary Occupation Permit) 

process, arrangements were made by Marina Bay Sands to 

have the FSSD (Fire Safety and Shelter Department) inspect 

and familiarise itself with the many fire and life safety provisions 

made in the development, including vehicle access around 

the site. CCTV coverage is also duplicated (from the security 

surveillance) to permit observance of evacuation lobby areas in 

the hotel towers. Zoning information (smoke zones, fire alarms) 

as well as the lift status (normal, fire) are provided in the FCC 

for ease of coordination of fire fighting operations. 

Expertise and creativity pushed engineering boundaries and paved the way for 

innovation in the fire safety design of Marina Bay Sands. Image by Paul McMullin. 


19

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 

Taking a second look at present day earthinggrounding 

practice and electrical safety issues 

Er. Lee Keh Sai clarifies some 

of the misconceptions and 

suggests a proper course of 

action. 

Er. Lee Keh Sai. 

INTRODUCTION 

Earthing-grounding is an important element for the safe 

operation of an electrical power system. The basic principles of 

grounding have been developed and refined from an early artrules 

based practice to the science based practice of to-day. 

There are three schools of thought with regard to ground-rod 

length. The first approach states that extending the ground-rod 

length beyond 3 m is of little value for most types of soil. The reason 

is that beyond 3 m length, a point of diminishing returns is reached. 

The second school of thought concludes that the optimum earthto-rod 

interface is achieved with longer (12 m or more) rods, driven 

to penetrate the ground until it reaches the water table. 

The third school of thought concludes that the optimum groundrod 

installation is achieved by using the longest possible rod length. 

Given these three conflicting approaches, it is no wonder that 

the current practice of relying on the use of conventional 

ground-rods as earthing-grounding electrodes, may be far from 

satisfactory, in terms of the performance and fulfillment of their 

designed function in the electrical power system for present day 

commercial and industrial buildings, where sensitive electronic 

equipment and computers etc are installed and used. Hence, 

a review of the current earthing-grounding practice is not only 

necessary but also timely. 

EARTHING-GROUNDING 

Examining the reasons and the requirements for earthinggrounding, 

IEEE and IET both define grounding as a conducting 

connection, whether intentional or accidental, by which an 

electric circuit or equipment is connected to the earth or to 

some conducting body of relatively large extent, that serves 

in place of the earth. Its purpose is to establish and maintain 

the potential of the earth at near zero or approximately that 

potential on the conductor connected to it, and for conducting 

of ground current to and from the earth. 

Key components 

Any earthing-grounding system must consist of two key 

components - the earth-to-ground electrode interface outside 

the building/facility, and an AC power and signal-wiring system 

inside the building/facility. 

Specific purposes 

Earthing-grounding schemes can be simple or complex, but any 

scheme chosen must serve the following purposes: 

• Electrical system and winding earthing-grounding. 

• Equipment and enclosure earthing-grounding. 

• Provide safety protection to operators. 

• Provide protection to electronic equipment from damage 

caused by transient disturbances. 

• Divert stray radio-frequency energy away from sensitive 

electronic equipment. 

Justification for a well-designed system 

The 400 V or 230 V 50 Hz AC line current that powers most 

commercial and industrial equipment can be dangerous or even 

deadly, if not handled properly. Therefore, the attention given 

to its proper design and installation, including provision of an 

effective earthing-grounding system, is key to the safe operation 

and day-to-day reliability of any electrical power system. But a 

well designed and installed earthing-grounding is often invisible, 

and when everything goes well, it is forgotten or even neglected. 

On the other hand, a marginally designed and installed earthinggrounding 

system is most likely to cause problems on a regular 

basis, often with unpredictable consequences. 

Effective earthing-grounding of equipment enclosures and 

structures provides protection against wiring errors or faults 

that could endanger human life. Too often, these facts are not 

well recognised and sometimes inadequate attention is given 

to details in the design and installation of a facility’s earthinggrounding 

system, 

Earth-grounding of electrical systems and equipment 

enclosures 

There are only two reasons why electrical systems and 

equipment enclosures are connected to earth-ground. The first 

reason is for system earthing-grounding, where the intentional 

earthing performs a continuous and intended function during 

normal operation of an electrical system. The second reason 

is to install and provide an earthing-grounding system, which 

only comes into effect if an accidental or unintentional voltage 

is applied to a non-current carrying part of the equipment, 

for the safety and protection of operators. It is for these very 

reasons that the electrical code CP5 dealt with this particular 

aspect of safety and other requirements for effective earthinggrounding 

in such great detail. Hence, all electrical workers 

who are responsible for the design, installation, operation and 

maintenance of electrical power systems must have a thorough 

understanding of and be familiar with the requirements of the 

electrical code. 

Electrical circuit earthing-grounding 

Essentially, electrical circuits are grounded to limit the maximum 

potential difference to earth due to the normal voltage for which 

the circuit is designed. The concern is with the magnitude of the 

potential difference which could be accidentally applied to a person, 

as this could mean the difference between life and death. 



Safety requires not only the right equipment but also its proper 

installation and effective earthing. If we consider an average 

individual with, say, 820 ohms body resistance, we can see 

that an increase in voltage will give rise to increased current. 

Experimental studies have established that a current of around 

150 Ma would be considered as dangerous fibrillation current. 

However, time is also a critical factor. For 150 Ma, beyond 1 

sec duration, it must be considered as very dangerous. With 

reference to cardiac arrest, previous studies have shown that 

loss of muscle control, that is, the inability to let go a 50Hz 

current-carrying conductor occurs at around 10-15 Ma with 

stoppage of breathing occurring at around 20 Ma. From this 

observation, it can be concluded that any small flow of current 

through a person can be dangerous. It is this information and 

observation that creates the background and places the design 

of earthing-grounding systems in a proper perspective. 

Ground-rod electrode and earth resistance 

In practice, all voltage measurements are made with the earth 

as the reference, which is always assumed to be maintained at 

absolute zero potential, but this is not truly correct. The only 

truly absolute zero potential spot on earth is at the centre of 

the earth, which is remote and inaccessible from the surface 

of the earth. So, any other location inside the earth will have 

a non-zero potential. Therefore, any object such as earthing 

rods, buried hemispheres, buried bare copper wire conductors, 

copper plates, building foundations and steel structures on the 

surface of the earth will likewise have non-zero potential. 

Objects like ground rods and hemispheres, which are in contact 

with the soil, will have a potential higher than zero. Hence, the 

potential difference ‘V’, between the object, like the ground rods 

or hemispheres, and the centre of the earth, can be represented 

by Ohm’s law V= IR, where ‘I’ is the current flowing from the 

object like the ground rod or hemisphere to the centre of 

the earth, and ‘R’ is the resistance between the object like the 

ground rod and or hemisphere and the centre of the earth. This 

resistance ‘R’ is called the earth resistance. 

The exact computation of the earth resistance of an object-like 

the ground rod or hemisphere is a very tedious task and requires 

the knowledge of highly varying parameters, some of which 

are often non-linear and are hard to measure. Nevertheless, a 

simplified computation of the earth resistance of an object, like a 

ground-rod or hemisphere can be made with a reasonable and 

fair degree of accuracy for practical use. 

Taking the case of a copper hemisphere, buried 1 m deep in 

homogeneous soil with a soil resistivity of ‘ρ’ ohm-metre, if the 

hemisphere is connected to a conductor that carrys a current 

‘I’, the current enters the hemisphere and is then distributed 

uniformly through the earth. The current density at the surface 

of the hemisphere ‘J’, is the current leaving the hemisphere 

divided by the surface area of hemisphere: 

I 

J = 

where r = radius of the hemisphere 

2π r 2 

Since the soil is homogenous, the current density at any point ‘x’ 

from the centre of the hemisphere, and outside the hemisphere, 

can be computed as: 

I 

J (x) = 

where x ≽ r 

2π x 2 

Ohm’s law states that the current flowing in a medium also 

creates an electric field intensity ‘E’ that is equal to the current 

density ‘J’ multiplied by the soil resistivity (ρ). Hence, the electric 

field intensity ‘E(x)’ at any distance ‘x’ outside the hemisphere is: 

E(x) = ρ.J(x) 

where x ≽ r 

For homogeneous soil, the potentials of all points located at the 

same distance from the centre of the hemisphere are all equal, 

hence the potential difference between any two points ‘a’ and 

‘b’ inside the earth can be computed by integrating the electric 

field intensity between these two points. Hence: 

X=b X=b ρ.I 1 1 

V ab = ∫ x=a E(x)dx = ∫ x=a ρ.J (x)dx = 

- 

2π r a r b 

V ab 

R ab = = 

I 

R ab = 

ρ 

2π 

ρ.I 

2π 

1 

r a 

- 

1 1 1 

- x 

r a I 

It follows that to compute the earth resistance of the 

hemisphere, having a radius of ‘r’, making r a = r and r b = ∞ 

Therefore, the earth resistance of the hemisphere, Rg, can be 

computed as follows: 

ρ 

R g = ohms 

2πr 

Now taking this copper hemisphere, 2 m in diameter, buried 

1 m deep in a wet organic soil as an electrode, with ρ = 10 

Ω-metre, to its obvious conclusion, it is possible to compute: 

1) The earth resistance of the hemisphere. 

2) The earth resistance at 2 m, 10 m, and 100 m from the 

centre of the hemisphere. 

Solutions 

2a) At 2 m: 

ρ 

R g = 

2π 

2b) At 10 m: 

10 

R g2 = 

2π 

2c) At 100 m: 

10 

R g3 = 

2π 

r b 

1 

ohms 

r b 

Earth Resistance is R ab = 

ρ 

2ρ 

1 

- 1 = 10 

r a r b 2π 

1 

1 - 1 10 

1 

1 - 1 

100 

= 1.43 Ω 

= 1.57 Ω 

1 

γ a 

- 1 γ b 

1 

1 - 1 2 

ohms 

= 0.8 Ω 


21


The 2.2 rule for location and placing of electrodes 

From these computation results, it can be concluded that the 

change in earth resistance is insignificant when the distance 

from the centre of the hemisphere increases beyond 10 m. 

So practically, the earth resistance of an object, in this case, 

a hemisphere, is a function of the immediate distance rather 

than the distance to the centre of the earth. Hence, the basic 

measure of the effectiveness of an earth electrode resistance 

is the immediate distance from the centre of the hemisphere 

and not the distance to the centre of the earth. 

In short, it is the resistance between the point of connection 

to the hemisphere earth electrode and a distance point of 

about 2.2 times the depth of the hemisphere or the length of 

the ground rod as the case may be. This is known as the 2.2 

rule for the installation and location of earth electrodes to 

achieve adequate low values of earth resistance for effective 

earthing-grounding of an electrical power system. 

However, providing and installing an effective earthinggrounding 

system to achieve a good ground-electrode 

interface is only half the battle for a system/facility planner 

or designer. The second, but equally important element 

of any effective earthing-grounding system is the layout 

or configuration of earthing-grounding conductors inside 

the building, particularly those for data centres, computers 

and other sensitive electronic equipment usually found in 

commercial and industrial buildings/facilities. 

There are many different methods that can be used to 

implement and achieve an effective earthing-grounding 

system, but some conventions should always be followed to 

ensure a low resistance and low inductance layout that will 

perform as required. Proper and effective earthing-grounding 

is important in present day commercial and industrial 

buildings/facilities, whether or not the building/facility is 

located in a high radio frequency field area or location. 

So, given the importance of effective earthing-grounding 

in today’s facilities, and the conflicting approaches to the 

selection and adoption of proper earth electrode systems, 

the benefits of hiring an experienced, licensed professional 

electrical engineer, to plan and design a proper and effective 

earthing-grounding system for a facility or plant installation, 

can be readily appreciated. 

Calculating the earth resistance 

Although an equation has been developed to calculate the 

earth resistance of an hemisphere electrode, it can only be 

taken as an approximation for practical purposes. Other 

equations have also been similarly developed for various 

systems of electrodes, and in all cases, are also approximations. 

The exact formulation of equations is quite complicated. 

All equations are derived from the general relation, R = PL / 

A, and are based on the assumption of uniform soil resistivity, 

although this is seldom the case in the real world. 

Now assuming that a ground rod, 4 cm diameter, is used 

instead of the hemisphere electrode mentioned above, and 

is driven 1 m into the ground with the same soil resistivity as 

in the case considered earlier. 

The earth resistance of the ground rod is computed as: 

R g rod = 

ρ 

2πL 

log 

ρ 

= log 

2π x 1 

= 7.345 ohms 

2 L + r 

r 

2 + 0.02 

0.02 

Comparing this value of 7.345 ohms with that of the 

hemisphere electrode (1.6 ohms), it is very much higher. This 

means that using the ground rod as the grounding-earthing 

electrode is very much less effective than the hemisphere, 

and more ground rods would be needed to achieve the 

same low value of earth resistance as derived from using the 

hemisphere electrode. 

The following equations have been developed and used to 

calculate the earth resistance of some common objects used 

as earth electrodes: 

Object Earth Resistance Parameters 

Rod 

ρ 

2πL 

log 

2 L + r 

r 

L= length of rod 

r = radius of rod 

Circular Plate on surface 

ρ 

4r 

r = radius of disk 

Buried bare 

conductor wire 

ρ 

2πL 

log 

L 

r 

+ log 

L 

2d 

L= length of wire or conductor 

r= radius of wire or conductor 

d= depth of wire or conductor is buried 



Typical soil resistivity 

Soil Composition 

Wet organic Moist 

Ground resistance of people 

A person standing on the ground and a person walking on the 

ground have different ground resistance. A person standing 

on the ground normally has his/her feet close enough to 

each other, whilst a person who is walking or running would 

normally have his/her front and rear feet far apart. 

For a person who is standing, each foot has a ground 

resistance R f between the bottom of the foot and the centre 

of the earth. Using a circular plate that has the same area as 

the footprint of an average person, as a model, the ground 

resistance equation for the circular plate can be used to 

calculate a person’s single foot ground resistance R f , which is 

ρ 

R f rod = ohms. 

4r 

Now, the commonly accepted 

area of an average person’s single 

footprint is about 0.02 m 2 and the 

area of a circular plate is A = π r 2 , 

where ‘r’ is the radius. Therefore, 

A single foot ground resistance is R fg = 

4r 

Ground resistance for a standing person is R o = 0.5R f = 1.5ρ 

The total ground resistance of a 

person who is walking or running, 

and of a person who is standing, 

are: 

R f standing = 0.5R f 

= 1.5ρ ohms 

R f walking = 2 R f ohms 

Ground resistance for a person who is walking, 

is R g = 2R f = 6ρ 

Dry Bedrock 

Resistivity (ρ) (ohm-m) 10 100 1000 10,000 

r = 

A 

π, 

Hence R f = 

1/2 

4. 

ρ 

A 

π 

1/2 

= 

ρ 

= 3p 

1/2 

0.02 

4. π 

Body resistance 

The body resistance of human beings is highly non-linear 

and is a function of several factors such as the hydration 

condition of the body, skin condition, and fat concentration. 

The IEEE had established the ranges for various body 

resistance values. 

ρ 

Body Resistance in ohms – IEEE Standard 1408-1990 

Hand to Hand 

Electric shock 

Electric shocks occur when people become part of a 

functional and active electrical circuit and according to 

Ohm’s law, a current will flow through the body. The degree 

of injury depends on several factors, such as the duration of 

the shock, types of shock and the pathway of the current and 

its frequency. 

Electric shocks are generally classified into two categories - 

the secondary shock and the primary shock. The secondary 

shock is due to low current that may cause pain without 

physical harm. The primary shock, however, is due to a higher 

current that produces direct physical harm and/or death. 

The question is then how to find out the safe limit of the 

electrical current passing through the body. It is hard to find 

human volunteers for primary shock experiments. Early 

researchers, however, did their secondary shock studies on 

humans and primary shock studies on animals with similar 

weight and biological characteristics as human beings. 

Among the many highly respected researchers who did 

research work in this area was Charles Dalziel of the US. In 

one of his papers published in 1972, he summaries the results 

of his findings which until to-day are being used as the defacto 

limits. They were adopted in 1993 as the IEEE Standard 

524a for secondary shock current limits. 

Effects of AC and DC secondary shock current - 

IEEE Standard 524a-1993 

Hand to Feet 

Resistance Dry Wet Wet 

Condition Condition Condition 

Maximum 13,500 1,260 1,950 

Minimum 1,500 610 820 

Average 4,838 865 1,221 

Current (ma) 

Reaction DC AC 

Men Women Men Women 

No sensation on hand 1.0 0.6 0.4 0.3 

Tingling 5.2 3.5 1.1 0.7 

Shock : Uncomfortable, 9.0 6.0 1.8 1.2 

muscular control not lost 

Painful shock, muscular 62.0 41.0 9.0 6.0 

control is not lost 


23


Threshold limit of AC primary shock current - 

IEEE Standard 1048-1990 

Current (ma) 

Threshold 0.5% of 50% of 

population population 

Men Women Men Women 

Let go: Worker cannot 9 6 16 10.5 

release wire 

Respiratory tetanus: - - 23 15 

Breathing is arrested 

Ventricular fibrillation: 100 67 - - 

Heart stops 

Charles Dalziel also carried out research on the time-current 

relationship for primary shock on animals with weight and 

organ sizes similar to that of humans. Based on these studies, 

he developed the following current duration formula for 

ventricular fibrillation: 

K 

I = 

1/2 

t 

Where ‘I’ is the ventricular fibrillation current in milliamps 

‘t’ is the time duration of the current in seconds 

‘k’ is a constant value that depends on the weight of the 

test object 

Note: For people less than 70 kg, k= 116. For people more than 

70 kg, k = 157. 

Charles Dalziel’s experimental studies concluded that the longer 

the duration of the shock, the higher is the likelihood of death. If 

the current interferes with the operation of the heart or lungs, 

the higher is the chance of death. Also, when the current is 

above the let-go threshold, people are incapable of releasing 

their grip on the wire and the shock duration is often long. 

Now considering a scenario where a 400V, 3 phase, 50 Hz main 

switchboard operates in a humid and dusty environment, and 

the surface of a bus bar insulator became contaminated with 

dampness and dust. These mix conditions and environment 

caused the insulator to fail partially and allowed a 10 Amp 

current to pass through the switchboard structure to the 

ground. Assuming that the switchboard is grounded through 

a hemisphere electrode with a radius of 0.5 m, and the soil 

surrounding the hemisphere is moist with soil resistivity ρ = 

100 ohm-metre, under this scenario, if an electrical worker with 

a body resistance of 3000 ohms touches the metal frame of 

the main switchboard while standing on the ground within the 

switchroom, what magnitude of current would pass through the 

electrical worker and for how long can he/she take the shock? 

Calculations 

1) First, computing the ground resistance of the hemisphere: 

ρ 100 

R g (hemisphere) = = = 32 ohm 

2πr 2π x 0.5 

2) The voltage of the main switchboard is the ground potential rise: 

V = I R g (hemisphere) = 10 x 32 = 320 V 

3) To compute the current through the electrical worker, it is 

necessary to determine first Rf with he/she standing on 

the ground. 

R f = 3ρ = 3 x 100 = 300 ohms 

The current through the electrical worker’s body would be: 

I . R g 

I (Elect worker) = 

R g + R worker + 0.5 R f 

10 . 32 

= 

32 + 3000 + 150 

= 100 Ma 

4) According to Charles Dalziel’s formula, the electrical worker 

can survive for: 

2 2 

K 

t = = 

157 

= 2.5 sec 

I Worker 100 

Now considering a grounding rod, 4 cm in diameter, driven 1 m 

into the ground, is used instead of the hemisphere, it is possible to 

determine the effect and impact on the electrical worker: 

Calculations 

1) Ground resistance of the rod 

ρ 2 L + r 

R g rod = log 

2πL r 

100 

= log 

2π x 1 

= 73.45 ohms 

2) Voltage of the main switchboard due to ground potential rise is: 

V = I R g (rod) = 10 x 73.45 = 734.5 V 

3) The current passing through the electrical worker is: 

I . R g 

I(Worker) = 

R g + R Worker + 0.5 R f 

10 . 73.45 

= 

73.45 + 3000 + 150 

= 227.9 Ma 

4) According to Charles Dalziel’s formula, the electrical worker 

can survive for, 

2 2 

2 + 0.02 

0.02 

K 

t = = 

157 

= 475 msec 

I Worker 227.9 



From these calculations, it can be concluded that the grounding 

rod provides less protection than the hemisphere and there is 

a high chance that the electrical worker will not survive under 

these circumstances. 

Next, considering another scenario - a short circuit current 

of 1000 A passes through a hemisphere ground. A person is 

walking 5 m away from the centre of the hemisphere. Assuming 

that the leg to leg body resistance of the person is 2000 ohms 

and the soil surrounding the hemisphere is moist, the magnitude 

of the current through the person and his step potential with a 

step distance of 0.6 m, can be determined. 

Calculations 

1) The leg to leg potential across the person is 

Since R f = 3ρ = 300 ohms 

The current through the man’s legs is: 

V th 

341 

I man = = = 131 Ma 

2R f + R man 600 + 2000 

The step voltage is the leg to leg potential, 

Vstep 

V th = 

I.ρ 

2π 

= Iman Rman 

1 

r a 

1000 x 100 

= 

2π 

= 341 V 

= 131 x 2000 

= 262 V 

- 1 r b 

1 

5 - 1 

5.6 

It should again be noted that the ground rod provides less 

protection than the ground hemisphere. But in this case, the 

current is passing through his/her legs and not through his/her 

body, he/she may survive this severe shock. However, if he/she 

falls then there is a high possibility that the current will flow 

through his/her body, then death is a certainty. 

Neutral versus ground 

One of the most confusing issues in electrical safety is the 

difference between the neutral and the ground terminals. They 

are both grounded, so why do we sometimes use both of them? 

To answer this question, one needs to go back to the basics 

and examine the constructional and functional features of the 

internal electric circuit of the equipment, which is usually housed 

inside a metallic chassis. As always, this internal electric circuit is 

electrically isolated from the metallic chassis. 

On examination of these constructional features, we know from 

basic principles that a difference of potentials would always 

exist between two adjacent conductive elements due to the 

presence of parasitic capacitance between them. The existence 

of this capacitive coupling, between the internal electric circuit 

and the metallic chassis, causes the elevation of the potential 

of the chassis. The current of the internal electric circuit would 

likewise produce magnetic fields that link the chassis and would 

induce an elevated voltage on the chassis. Last, but not least, if 

there is any fault inside the internal electric circuit, this could 

also result in the chassis touching the internal electric circuit 

components at elevated voltage. 

Potential of chassis elevated through parasitic capacitance and 

magnetic field of internal electric circuit or through a fault. 

Now, if the ground rod is used instead of the hemisphere, the 

open circuit step voltage across the person’s leg is: 

V th = 

I.ρ 

2πL 

log 

2 L + r 

r a 

- log 

2 L + r b 

= 

1000 . 100 

2π.1 

log 

2 + 5 

5 

- log 

r b 

2 + 5 

5.6 

The current through the man’s legs is: 

V th 

495 

I man = = = 190 Ma 

2R f + R man 600 + 2000 

The step potential of the man is, 

Vstep 

= 495 V 

= Iman Rman 

= 190 X 2000 

= 380V 

Now, if a person standing on the ground touches the chassis, 

that person would form part of the closed electrical circuit and 

a current would flow through the leakage capacitance, his/her 

body resistance, and finally to the ground. The magnitude of this 

current could be very small and the person may just feel it with a 

skin sensation or nothing. However, if the internal electric circuit 

is faulty, the current could reach an unsafe level. To protect that 

person from this form of hazard, the neutral of some equipment 

is sometimes connected to the chassis (TN-C-S System). In this 

way, the chassis is held at the potential of the neutral wire and 

no current flows through the person. 


25


When a person standing on the ground touches the chassis, 

that person would form part of the closed electrical circuit. A 

current would flow through the leakage capacitance to his/her 

body and finally to the ground. 

In another example, assuming the electrical equipment is powered 

by a 230V single phase supply and the resistances of phase and 

neutral conductors are each 0.5 ohm, and assuming that the 

resistance of the man plus the ground resistance is 1500 ohms, if 

the equipment draws 20 Amp and the man standing on the ground 

touches the chassis of the equipment, the magnitude of the current 

flows through the man would be calculated as follows: 

I man = 20 . 0.5 

= 6.7 Ma 

0.5 + 1500 

To protect that person from this form of hazard, the neutral is 

connected to the chassis (for some equipment). In this way, the I man = 50 . 0.5 

= 16.75 Ma 

chassis is held at the potential of the neutral wire and no current 

0.5 + 1500 

flows through the person. 

But, this practice is not always safe, particularly when the wires 

that supply the electrical power to the equipment are long and 

far from the source or distribution panel. The current from the 

source is now able to return to the ground through two paths 

- one through the neutral wire ( I N ) and the other through the 

person ( I man ). 

The magnitude is calculated as I man : 

I.R N 

I man = 

R N + R man 

Where R N is the resistance of the neutral wire 

R man is the resistance of man plus the ground resistance 

I is the current flowing from the source to the electrical equipment 

If however, the electrical equipment develops an internal fault 

and draws 50 Amp from the line supply without tripping the 

circuit breaker, the current flows through the man can be 

calculated as follows: 

These examples shows that the neutral wire may not provide 

the man adequate protection from electric shock. To correct and 

overcome this problem, the chassis must be connected directly 

to the local ground-earth. The local ground-earth is established 

by driving a separate ground rod or hemisphere electrodes into 

the local ground close to the facility independent of the utility 

transformer Neutral grounding-earthing electrodes. In this way, the 

current can have two paths to flow, one through the neutral wire 

(I N ) and the other through the local ground (I G ). The resistance 

of the man is usually very much higher than the local ground and 

almost no current flows through his body. This is the main reason 

why in Singapore, this method of earthing-grounding system for all 

non-current carrying conductors and enclosures, has been chosen 

as the preferred earthing-grounding system for protection against 

electric shocks. This form of earthing-grounding is commonly 

known as the ‘TT’ system. 



In ‘TT’ system earthing-grounding, the transformer neutral is 

connected to grounding-earthing electrodes normally at the 

transformer station, and the chassis or enclosures (non-current 

carrying conductive parts) of the electric equipment are 

connected to the local earthing electrodes. In case of a short 

circuit between the phase conductor and chassis or enclosure, 

the resistance of the earthing electrodes will limit the short 

circuit current, but dangerous voltage can still rise between the 

enclosures and earth. For this reason, residual current protection 

with instantaneous operation is required to ensure adequate 

protection against electric shock. 

CONCLUSION / REMARKS 

• An earthing-grounding system selection and design starts 

with site analysis and collection of soil resistivity data of the 

area, once the need is established. 

It is strongly recommended that prior to selecting the type of 

electrodes to be used, soil resistivity tests of the site be carried 

out to confirm the actual soil resistivity values. 

• One of the key factors in any electrical protection scheme 

is achieving effective low ground resistance. If any acceptable 

measure of safety is to be attained, correct earthing-grounding 

design and application must be strictly followed. 

• An effective earthing-grounding system must satisfy the 

following conditions: 

a) It should provide a low resistance path to ground for 

personnel and equipment protection. 

b) It should be relatively corrosion-free and able to 

withstand large surge currents. 

c) It must be able to provide adequate protection to all sensitive 

electronic or computer equipment to ensure their proper 

operation and ensure the safety of operating personnel, 

by effective earthing of power frequency equipment in 

accordance with CP5 and the use of signal reference grid 

(SRG) forms of earthing for higher frequency equipment, 

such as sensitive electronic equipment and computers. 

• The question always asked is “How low should the earth 

resistance be?”. It is difficult to determine this in ohms. But 

from field experiences, the lower the resistance value, the 

more effective and safer is the earthing-grounding system. 

For personnel and equipment protection, it is worth the 

effort to aim for a ground resistance of less than 1 ohm. 

However, in exceptional circumstances a high value of > 5 

ohms may be allowed. 

• The current practice of relying on the use of conventional 

ground rods as earthing electrode provides far less effective 

earth resistance as compared with the hemisphere electrode, 

as demonstrated by calculations in the examples included in 

the article. 

• Since, it is now established that ground rods are less effective 

as earth electrodes, should the electrical engineering 

profession initiate a call for change? 

(Er. Lee Keh Sai, Principal of K. S. Lee & Associates, is a Professional 

Engineer with more than 40 years of experience in Electrical 

Engineering. He can be contacted at Tel: 63345796 and email: 

LeeKehSai@gmail.com) 

APC by Schneider Electric claims title 

APC by Schneider Electric has been selected as the 2012 

Frost & Sullivan ‘UPS Vendor of the Year’ for the Southeast 

Asian market. 

The award will be presented at the 2012 Frost & Sullivan 

Best Practices Awards banquet, to be held on 19 July 

2012. These awards identify exemplary achievements, best 

practices and world-class performances in a multitude of 

industries and disciplines. 

Judging criteria involves Frost & Sullivan analysts measuring 

market penetration, leadership in customer value, growth 

strategy and implementation, in addition to product and 

service innovation. 

“In the Asia Pacific market, APC has proven its mettle by 

exhibiting a revenue growth that was significantly higher 

than the market growth amidst stiff competition from 

some of the leading multinational companies in 2011. The 

company extensively leveraged its strengths in its rich 

product portfolio including green solutions, which is the 

need of the hour in ever growing carbon footprint in the 

region. APC has been in the forefront to develop high 

efficiency power quality products and services to address 

the major challenges in the market and helped customers 

realise the ‘Return on Investment’ faster,” said Mr Amit 

Singh, Senior Research Analyst, Asia Pacific Energy & 

Power Systems Practice, Frost & Sullivan. 

“The Southeast Asian region promises strong growth 

in the UPS market, and we are aligned to capitalise on 

the growth opportunities in this region. We understand 

that IT decisions today are strategic business decisions 

that impact our customers’ business budget, performance 

and growth. We are poised for leadership in customer 

value - creating responsible infrastructure that can adapt 

easily and efficiently, encouraging business growth and 

accommodating a company’s future plans”, said Mr. Khoo 

Teng Seen, Vice President, ASEAN, Schneider Electric. 

“Furthermore, as part of Schneider Electric, we are in a 

unique position to offer not only intelligent and energy 

efficient solutions in data centres but beyond - not just a 

complete portfolio of ‘rack to row’ solutions but ‘room to 

building’ solutions”, he added. 


27

SUSTAINABILITY 

New industrial power supplies with lower 

energy consumption 

Small and energy-efficient products help to reduce carbon emissions. 

In the search for potential savings to be realised by industries, 

the cost of energy is becoming an increasingly important factor. 

Plant operators are forced to scrutinise the energy consumption, 

not only due to cost pressures, but also legal requirements for 

protecting the environment call for that. Besides the typical 

energy guzzlers, the ‘little ones’ such as low-wattage power 

supplies, must not be overlooked. With energy-efficient switching 

power supplies, considerable savings are still possible here. 

Global climate change is one of humanity’s greatest challenges. 

With the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, leading industrialised 

countries agreed to reduce their collective annual greenhouse 

gas emissions by an average of 5.2% from the levels of 1990 

over the time period between 2008 and 2012. This brought 

about a decisive turnaround in the way we deal with energy 

and raw materials. 

Siemens is said to be the world’s largest supplier of environmentfriendly 

technology. By utilising products and solutions from its 

environmental portfolio, Siemens’ customers have reduced 

carbon dioxide emissions by 210 million tons in the same time 

period, which equals the combined amount produced by the 

cities of New York, Tokyo, London and Berlin. The environmental 

portfolio of Siemens also includes SITOP regulated industrial 

power supplies which have operated reliably in a wide range 

of applications relating to production, process, and building 

automation, for over 15 years. 

Energy efficiency as competitive advantage 

Aside from the careful treatment of the environment and 

resources, it is, above all, the ever-growing cost pressure 

that forces industrial companies to examine their energy 

consumption. Especially in the production environment, 

the efficient use of energy has long ago become a decisive 

competitive factor. This affects the large electricity consumers, 

eg electric drives of primary and ancillary systems, as well as the 

power supplies responsible for providing electricity - and here, 

not only the large ones, but also those that transfer relatively 

little to very little power. 

For some time now, industries have primarily been using 

switching power supplies for supplying electricity, which 

are inherently energy-efficient and possess a much higher 

efficiency compared to conventional linear power supplies. As 

a leading supplier of industrial power supplies, Siemens offers 

a functionally tiered product range of switching power supplies 

which are characterised by their reliability, compactness and 

energy efficiency. However, significant savings can still be had 

here - as Siemens is demonstrating with the development of the 

new product line, SITOP compact. 

Low losses throughout the relevant load range 

Power supplies for industrial applications or building services 

continue to be designed in such a way that they offer the 

highest possible efficiency at maximum load, eg when turning 

on capacitive electricity consumers. Simply stating the efficiency 

at nominal load is not an indicator for an efficient power supply. 

This is because power supplies are normally run in a load range 

between 30% and 70% of the nominal or maximum output, 

depending on the process, eg the switching of motors, actuators 

or sensors. In addition, there are production-free or idle times 

when individual electricity consumers or plant sections are 

switched into a ‘standby mode’ to save energy. This requires the 

power supply to minimise the energy consumption during noload 

times. 

As a result, several requirements were addressed during the 

development of the new SITOP regulated power supplies 

product line. 

In particular, the power supplies should: 

• have a high efficiency over the entire load range and therefore 

low power dissipation. 

• be designed for input voltages between 85 V AC and 265 V 

AC (wide-range) so that they function on 1-phase 120 V AC 

and 230 V AC power networks without switching. 

• also be operational on DC power networks with 110 V DC to 

300 V DC 

• have minimum no-load losses. 

As a technical approach, the quasi-resonant operation of a flyback 

converter was chosen. In particular, for the wide-range input 

with power ratings up to 100 W, this promises an optimal priceperformance 

ratio. Furthermore, the power dissipation is greatly 

reduced, since the switching losses are exceptionally low. In the 

case of a quasi-resonant converter, the actual ‘parasitic network’ 

of transformer and power semiconductor is exploited. By means 

of an energetically optimal activation of the semiconductor, it 

is restarted at a time when the switching voltage reaches a 

minimum, ie significant load shedding is present. Characteristically, 

in doing so, the energy storage devices involved in the resonance 

mutually exchange their energy, and not convert it into heat in a 

resistor. Another benefit of the quasi-resonant topology is that 

the electromagnetic interference (EMI) is considerably lower 

than in applications with direct switching. 

Low losses also during no-load 

To keep the no-load losses to a minimum, a control IC specifically 

developed for this was integrated into the switching electronics 

of the power supply. The IC itself is designed to consume only 

a fraction of the power compared to earlier components. The 

entire switching electronics is thus considerably more energyefficient. 

With it, the SITOP compact power supplies meet the 

requirements concerning standby losses which cannot exceed 

1 W as defined in the ‘Eco-Design Directive’ 2009/125/EC for 



household and office appliances. The objective of this directive 

for energy-using products (EuPs) is to improve their energy 

efficiency, thus supporting the realisation of the European 

climate protection goals. 

Another challenge was the adherence to industrial requirements 

concerning the output voltage regulation at partial to no load. 

Unlike in the consumer sector, it is not specified from the outset 

as to which electricity consumers are to be supplied with electric 

power by the industrial power supply. This means that it is also 

not clear what kind of voltage fluctuations can be tolerated by 

the individual electricity consumers. In the consumer sector, a 

defined electricity consumer is usually connected to the power 

supply which can normally handle a higher degree of voltage 

ripples or fluctuations, especially with regard to the two states 

of no load and full load. 

Industrial devices thus have to be prepared for any load, ie the 

power supply has to deliver a constant output voltage under all 

load conditions, and with minimum energy losses irrespective of 

their sensitivity to voltage fluctuations. 

Impressive result 

Measurements under real operating conditions have shown that 

the development of the regulated power supplies in the new 

product line, SITOP compact, has been more than successful. 

When compared to conventional power supplies, energy savings 

of approximately 28% during load operation and approximately 

53% during no-load operation were achieved. During normal 

use, characterised by a mix of load and standby operation, up to 

35% of energy can be saved. The SITOP compact power supplies 

are thus also optimally suited for supplying power to machines 

and plants that are in standby mode temporarily or for longer 

periods. Besides high energy efficiency and correspondingly 

low power dissipation during load and standby operation, the 

SITOP compact power supplies offer several other benefits. 

For instance, their compact construction (they measure from 

22.5 mm to 52.5 mm in width, which is up to 33% lower than 

During normal use, characterised by a mix of load and standby operation, the 

high energy efficiency of SITOP compact enables energy savings of up to 35%, 

compared to conventional power supplies. 

the widths of comparable power supplies) and their minimal 

generation of heat make them suitable for use in control boxes 

or small control cabinets in decentralised applications. The 

method of connecting them, via removable, screw-type plugin 

terminals, with spring-type terminals available as accessories, 

makes the power supplies user-friendly. On the one hand, this 

enables a pre-assembly of the wiring, and on the other, a very 

fast exchange of the device. And no tools are needed for the 

mounting to or removal from the DIN rail. As with all CE-, UL-, 

CSA- and ATEX- certified SITOP power supplies by Siemens, 

great importance was attached to reliability and availability 

during the development of the SITOP compact product line. At 

temperatures between -20 °C and +70 °C, the SITOP compact 

power supplies always reliably supply 24 V - even during brief 

power failures or overloads. 

Significant contribution towards energy savings 

Even power supplies with a low output and correspondingly 

low power dissipation 

can make a significant 

contribution towards 

energy savings, and the 

cost of the energy saved, 

can surpass the actual 

device price, depending 

on the operating mode 

and duration. For instance, 

large numbers of lowoutput 

power supplies are 

often used in the building 

automation of functional 

buildings. Just the control 

for the blinds of an office 

building utilises several 

The SITOP compact power supply is very 

efficient with regard to space and energy 

requirements. 

hundreds of such power supplies. Compared to conventional 

power supplies, using the new SITOP PSU100C in this application 

can result in energy savings of over 8000 kWh per year, which 

corresponds to a reduction in CO 2 emissions by about 5 t. 

SITOP PSU100C 

The new power supply series for the lower power range is 

especially suited for decentralised applications in control boxes 

or control cabinets. 

The highlights of the series include: 

• Small mounting surface, thanks to a slim form factor (22.5 mm, 

30 mm, 45 mm or 52.5 mm) 

• Models with DC 12 V / 2 A and 6.5 A 

• Models with DC 24 V / 0.6 A, 1.3 A, 2.5 A and 4 A 

• Wide-range input for 85 V AC to 265V AC or 110 V DC to 

300 V DC 

• High efficiency over the entire load range - up to 28% energy 

saving compared to similar devices 

• Low energy consumption during no-load or standby - up to 

53% energy saving possible 

• Adjustable output voltage 

• Green LED for ‘Output Voltage OK’ 

• Plug-in terminals 

• Temperature range from -20 °C to +70 °C 

• Extensive certifications including ATEX 


29


Greener living through technology 

A Singapore-based company seeks to make the built environment more energy-efficient 

and productive. 

LGM, a distributor of green building technologies, was set up in 

2009, by the Kirkham Group which has been leading the building 

performance industry in Asia for over 60 years. 

LGM stands for Little Green Men - a reference to aliens and 

outer space, which underlines the company’s spirit and passion 

for venturing into the unknown and for always looking that little 

bit further. 

The company also provides consultancy, system design, turnkey 

solutions and even after-sales service and maintenance to ensure 

that the innovative technologies it offers are specified, installed, 

and maintained correctly. 

LGM has operations and projects in Singapore, Malaysia, 

Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, China and Taiwan. 

The company is a member of the Singapore Green Building Council. 

Platinum-rated office in a Platinum-rated building 

The LGM headquarters is located in the Solaris building, 

at Fusionopolis. 

Designed by Dr Ken Yeang, the internationally renowned 

architect, famous for the concept of the ‘sustainable bioclimatic 

building’, Solaris, which was completed in October 2010, received 

the Green Mark Platinum Award from Singapore’s Building and 

Construction Authority. 

The LGM office takes up the mezzanine floor at Solaris, 

together with sister companies One For You (a luxury property 

developer) and Kaer (an Energy Services Company). 

The 8,000 ft 2 (740 m 2 ) completely open plan office encourages 

collaboration between teams and incorporates numerous 

creative spaces. 

The main features of the LGM office include the absence 

of walls and individual rooms, three collapsible meeting 

rooms, a hot-desking booth for directors, five LCD panels 

for presentations and video streaming, a pool table, vending 

machines, a relaxation bar, a time-out room, and completely 

wireless communication systems. 

LGM uses the office as a ‘living, breathing test lab’. The office 

features many of the products that the company represents, and 

the management is continuously tweaking the M&E systems to 

find new ways to bring efficiency and comfort to the staff. 

In recognition of its design, the LGM office was amongst the 

first to receive the prestigious Green Mark Platinum Award for 

Office Interiors. 

The green features of the LGM office include: 

• Flexibility for future manpower expansion, of at least 30%, without 

major renovation or need to move to another location. 

• Potted plants covering 2.06% of the office area. 

• ‘Euro Air’ fabric ducting (which reduces air-conditioning energy 

consumption by 20%). 

• ‘Gelair’ air treatment blocks (which improve Indoor Air Quality 

through control of mould, bacteria and viruses). 

• Recycling bins for paper, plastics, and cans, at strategic locations 

(recycling 50% of all office waste). 

• ‘Switch’ energy and water monitoring platform. 

• Water-efficient fittings rated WELS ‘Excellent’. 

• Use of SGLS products where possible. 

• System furniture with >30% recycled material. 

• Light zoning and motion sensors. 

• Green education corner for promoting staff awareness and 

empowerment. 

The LGM office received the prestigious Green Mark Platinum Award for Office Interiors. 



PRODUCTS REPRESENTED 

In order to ensure holistic building performance, LGM represents 

and works with various products that align with regional green 

schemes, covering all areas, including air-side energy efficiency, 

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), energy and water monitoring, comfort, 

water efficiency, pumping efficiency, and lighting solutions. 

Euro Air 

The use of Euro Air systems is an alternative to traditional steel 

ducting and diffusers. Due to advances in technology, instead of 

transporting air through steel duct work, it is now possible to 

use ducts made of permeable fabric. 

The heat load calculations and equipment sizing remain the 

same as those for traditional systems, but instead of using metal 

ducts to transport the air, patented fabric ducts are used. This 

allows air-conditioning systems to be designed, which achieve 

better air distribution and save energy. 

Due to the ease of working with fabric, Euro Air systems can 

also be installed in a fraction of the time required to install 

traditional ducting, resulting in significant cost savings. 

Euro Air ducting has been used extensively in Singapore in a number 

of Green Mark projects (including in the Platinum-rated Rolls- 

Royce facility at Seletar Aerospace Park and in LGM’s Platinumrated 

office). By using Euro Air, it is possible for an air-conditioning 

system to save 10% to 40% of the energy consumption. 

Gelair 

Asian buildings are highly susceptible to mould and bacteria 

build-up. The hot and humid conditions mean that fresh air is 

continuously introduced into air-conditioned spaces, bringing 

with it warmth and moisture. Thi s air causes condensation, 

creating ideal conditions for bacteria and mould to grow. 

The use of Gelair is the simplest way to improve IAQ, by 

killing the mould, bacteria, and viruses that build up in airconditioning 

systems. 

It is a gel-based product that is placed in the AHU or FCU, 

where it delivers a patented, tea tree oil vapour throughout the 

air-conditioning system. Tea tree oil is a 100% natural essential 

oil, known for centuries to be a biocide that kills mould, bacteria, 

and viruses. 

Euro Air ducting has been installed in several Green Mark-rated projects in Singapore. 

Euro Air systems use ducts made of permeable fabric to transport air. 


31


Gelair delivers a patented, tea tree oil vapour throughout the air-conditioning system, which kills mould, bacteria, and viruses. 

Comparison of Gelair and UV technology. 

Gelair is used for three main reasons: 

• To improve the HVAC air-side efficiency. It does this by 

inhibiting biofilm build up on the cooling coil. This means there 

is less resistance in the system, so the fans do not need to 

work as hard, and, more importantly, it improves heat transfer 

on the coil surface. 

• To help customers achieve Green Mark certification. An IAQ 

audit makes up an important part of the Green Mark scheme. 

Many customers use Gelair to target key areas that may have 

failed an IAQ audit. 

• To further improve IAQ, Gelair kills mould, bacteria and viruses. 

This reduces the possibility of the Sick Building Syndrome, 

increases productivity, reduces sick leave, and gets rid of 

musty smells. 

Switch 

Switch provides real-time energy and water monitoring that can 

be accessed anytime from anywhere in the world. As a result, 

information on the use of these resources is communicated beyond 

BMS rooms and board rooms, to occupants of a building who can 

then easily see their consumption habits and take appropriate 

measures where necessary. 

There are two main differences between Switch and other 

energy monitoring systems. 

• Switch is hardware-neutral. This means it can get energy data 

from any power meter or even a BMS. This drastically reduces 

installation time and cost, and gives the flexibility to work with 

existing hardware. 

• Switch is cloud-based. This means the data can be viewed on 

consumer-friendly devices from anywhere in the world, such 

as a computer, smart phone, or iPad. 

With Switch, real-time energy and water monitoring data can be accessed from a 

computer, smart phone, or iPad. 



Krantz 

Krantz provides a wide range of air diffusers (ceiling, sidewall, 

floor, displacement, assembly, linear, radial) as well as radiant 

cooling equipment (chilled beams/ceilings). 

In designing the HVAC systems for a building, time and resources 

are deployed to ensure that the AHUs have the right capacity, 

ducting networks are optimised, and diffusers are appropriately 

placed to get air into rooms. 

Krantz has taken this one step further. 

The diffuser is not the only consideration. The conditions in 

the room should be of equal concern. Often, in hotels, meeting 

rooms, lobbies, libraries, and airports, although everything looks 

perfect, it can be very cold at certain locations because of ‘cold 

dumping’, or locations can be ‘hotspots’, with little air movement. 

This is what Krantz has focused on eliminating, in its approach 

to developing air diffusers. When air comes out of a Krantz 

diffuser, it mixes with air in the room, resulting in the correct 

temperatures and air velocities throughout the entire space. 

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 

LGM does not restrict its scope of work to product distribution. 

As well as providing consultation and turnkey services, LGM also 

works with product developers and manufacturers to design 

products for the Asian region. 

Currently LGM is running an energy efficiency study and a 

proof-of-concept study. One is for a European manufacturer 

looking for energy efficiency data in Asia, and the other is on 

a cooling coil treatment technology to be launched next year. 

PASSION FOR GREEN BUILDING 

TECHNOLOGY 

For LGM, going green and embracing green technology is about 

doing things differently so that better buildings are built with 

less resources. Saving the environment is a by-product of true 

building performance. 

The company believes that in order to build green buildings, it is 

not correct to just take the template from the previous project 

and bolt on some green features. Instead, it is necessary to relook 

at fundamentals for each project. This makes the company’s 

solutions more appealing to clients and results in maximum 

efficiency. 

CLIENTS 

LGM has projects and partners in all Asian countries and has 

even managed projects as far afield as the Middle East. 

Among the company’s customers are Keppel FMO, Dyson, 

EMAS, Rolls-Royce, Halliburton, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 

M Hotel, Trisara Resort, Canadian International School, St 

Joseph’s Institution International, United World College, Aviva, 

and Salvation Army. 

Air from a Krantz diffuser mixes with air in the room, resulting in the correct 

temperatures and air velocities throughout the entire space, and in the elimination 

of ‘cold dumping’ and ‘hot-spots’. 

All images by LGM. 


33

PROJECT APPLICATION 

Saving energy in a manufacturing plant 

An electrical and thermal energy audit led to the adoption of several measures that 

yielded positive results. 

SCPL manufactures spray-dried, non-dairy creamers. Image by SCPL. 

Super Continental Pte Ltd (SCPL) is a Singapore-based manufacturer 

of specialised ingredients for instant beverages. Currently, the 

company focuses on producing spray-dried, non-dairy creamers. 

SCPL had already implemented some energy conservation 

measures at its plant, such as installing motion sensors, variable 

speed drives in air compressors, and new energy-efficient LED 

tube-lights at some locations. Although the efforts taken by the 

plant for conserving electricity were commendable, there were 

still some areas that could be addressed in order to realise more 

energy savings. 

The contracted demand for the plant is 1,100 KW and its annual 

electricity consumption is 6,360 MWh. 

SCPL wanted the services of energy consultants who could 

provide a utility bill analysis and identify opportunities for energy 

savings in the plant, focussing on major energy consuming areas 

like water cooled chillers, chilled and condenser water pumps, 

cooling towers, air compressors, high pressure pump, diesel fired 

boiler, and lighting. 

The solution 

Siemens Pte Ltd conducted an electrical and thermal energy 

audit for SCPL. The objective of the study was to identify the 

major energy consuming equipment, understand the operation 

of the utility systems and plant, shortlist potential energy 

saving areas, and determine possible energy savings from these 

areas. SCPL selected Siemens for the energy audit because 

of the technical capabilities of Siemens in the electrical and 

thermal areas. 

Special attention was given by Siemens to SCPL’s base load and 

the production-dependent load. Existing savings potential was 

estimated and integrated in the final Energy Efficiency Report 

which contains: 

• An overview of energy efficiency measures and optimisation 

potentials. 

• First estimation of the potential energy savings, the necessary 

investment for each efficiency measure, and the resulting ROI. 

Some of the measures were implemented immediately and 

others are in the process of implementation. 

The result 

Based on the detailed energy study carried out, 10 projects with 

energy savings amounting to 1,375 MWh (corresponding to energy 

cost savings of S$ 355,700 per annum) were identified for SCPL. 

The implementation of the proposed energy saving measures will 

bring a reduction of 9.9% in the existing utility bills. The ROI ranges 

from 1.1 years to 6.2 years, with a mean value of 3.3 years. 

Furthermore, an environment-friendly refrigerant is being used 

in the new chiller. The replacement of the old chiller has resulted 

in monthly energy savings of 48,000 KWh. 

The replacement of the old chiller with a new one has resulted in monthly energy 

savings of 48,000 KWh. Furthermore, an environment-friendly refrigerant 

is being used in the new chiller. Image by Siemens Pte Ltd. 


PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS 

TYCO Model EC-25 Sprinkler offers benefits 

TYCO Model EC-25 Sprinklers are said to provide lower installed cost and better fire protection. 

Tyco Fire Protection Products (TFPP), a global leader in 

water-based fire suppression technology, recently announced 

enhancements to existing Factory Mutual (FM) Global Approvals 

of the TYCO Model EC-25 Extended Coverage Sprinkler 

in extra hazard and storage occupancies. With the enhanced 

FM Approvals, the Model EC-25 Sprinkler provides advanced, 

cost-effective solutions for higher density, extended coverage 

applications. 

According to TFPP, the Model EC-25 Sprinkler provides lower 

installed cost and better fire protection when compared to 

standard coverage sprinkler systems because of the following: 

• Fewer branch lines and fewer sprinklers as a result of the 

extended coverage area. 

• Lower operating pressures in accordance with the S x L 

Spacing Rules defined by NFPA 13, Section 8.5.2. 

• Lowest hydraulic system demand provided in FM Global 

Property Loss Prevention Data Sheet 8-9 July 2011 Revision 

and Engineering Bulletin 06-11. 

• Fewer opened sprinklers and fewer consumed pallets than 

standard coverage sprinklers as shown in full-scale fire tests. 

According to TFPP, with the latest information from FM, the 

Model EC-25 Sprinkler has the minimum water requirement, 

and combined with the extended coverage, offers the lowest 

installed cost solution for ceiling heights of 35 ft (10.5 m) or 

less. The expanded use of the Model EC-25 Sprinkler further 

demonstrates the company’s commitment to provide marketleading 

solutions for the protection of storage facilities. 

In support of the new ceiling heights, combined with the benefits 

of the UL Listed and FM Approved Model EC-25 Sprinkler, TFPP 

has reviewed its complete storage product line. The company 

will focus sales, applications, and technical service efforts around 

this significantly improved product. 

A set of white papers, available on www.tyco-fire.com, provides 

additional information on the cost-saving benefits and expanded 

applications of the Model EC-25 Extended Coverage Sprinkler. 

The technical data sheet, TFP213, also available on the website, 

provides detailed technical information on the product. 

Tyco Fire Protection Products 

TFPP is a strategically aligned business unit of Tyco International 

with globally recognised products sold under leading brands, 

including ANSUL, CHEMGUARD, DBE, EZCare, FLAMEVision, 

GRINNELL, HYGOOD, NEURUPPIN, PYRO-CHEM, RAPID 

RESPONSE, SIMPLEX, SKUM, SPRINKCAD, THORN SECURITY, 

VIGILANT, Williams Fire & Hazard Control, and ZETTLER. 

TFPP produces fire protection, detection, and mechanical building 

construction solutions for commercial, industrial, institutional, 

governmental, and residential customers. Heavy emphasis is 

placed on research and development, resulting in innovations 

and global approvals. Key products include manual fire-fighting 

equipment, detection/suppression systems, extinguishing agents, 

sprinkler systems, valves, piping products, and fittings. 

Enquiry no: 05/101 


35

EVENTS 

Singapore takes the lead in exploring integrated 

solutions for global cities 

An overview of last year’s Water Expo. 

Singapore is taking the lead in encouraging cities to find new 

integrated solutions in resolving pressing urbanisation challenges 

around the world. The third edition of the World Cities Summit, 

the fifth Singapore International Water Week, and the inaugural 

CleanEnviro Summit Singapore will be held together from 1 to 

5 July 2012, at Sands Expo & Convention Center, Marina Bay 

Sands, Singapore. 

The three events provide an integrated global platform for 

government and industry leaders to share solutions for 

sustainable urban development and the latest innovations in 

water and clean environment solutions. 

The co-location of the three events will enable exhibitors and 

participants to explore synergies, network and forge partnerships 

with a wider range of global industry leaders, policy makers and 

experts. Together, the three events will showcase Singapore’s 

global thought leadership in sustainable development. 

Some 15,000 high-level visitors and delegates are expected 

to attend. Prominent mayors and government and industry 

leaders will speak on wide-ranging topics like investing in cities, 

smart cities of the future, water planning for sustainable and 

liveable cities, and urbanisation trends and challenges in the 

next 20 years. 

Cutting-edge technologies and best practice models will 

be showcased on water, waste management and urban 

planning, with integrated solutions perspectives. New business 

partnerships may be formed, with the three events enabling 

government officials and industry solutions providers to discuss 

financing models and new business ventures. 

NEW FOCUS ON INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS 

Integrated solutions is the new focus for these three events. It 

is no longer enough to invest in separate solutions on water, 

environment or waste. Cities are increasingly taking on a 

more holistic approach to tackling urbanisation challenges, for 

sustainable growth and a better quality of life for all. 

Singapore is taking the opportunity to facilitate greater 

discourse and action in this important area with the co-location 

of these three global events. It is already making inroads in 

integrated solutions with its comprehensive, long-range and 

holistic approach in urban planning, combining it with resourceefficient 

policies and technologies. It has also been researching 

and test-bedding ideas for new urban solutions that can be 

commercialised and replicated elsewhere. They cover six areas 

- green buildings, energy, waste and water management, usage 

of technology for public safety, green networks, and developing 

smart transport systems. 

Explaining the reason to hold all three events together, Mr Khoo 

Teng Chye, Executive Director of the Centre for Liveable Cities 

said, “The World Cities Summit and the Singapore International 

Water Week are already established events on the global 

calendar. Their co-location this year along with the inaugural 

CleanEnviro Summit Singapore is just one of the ways in which 

Singapore is taking the lead to find new and more holistic ways 

to achieve clean and sustainable development for global cities. 

By holding the three events together, we are able to offer a 

truly integrated platform for the first time, for world leaders to 

discuss challenges, opportunities and share best practices for 

sustainable and liveable cities of the future”. 


EVENTS 

Mr Ng Lang, Chief Executive Officer of the Urban Redevelopment 

Authority said, “The World Cities Summit has been attracting 

top government and industry leaders from around the world 

since it started in 2008. The third run this year is taking place 

at an exciting time when the pace of urbanisation in the region 

is accelerating, and cities are looking for solutions to address 

urbanisation challenges. Topics discussed are on the pulse of 

challenges cities are facing. Discourse is expected to be richer 

and more in-depth, with new insights on the future of sustainable 

cities. We also hope to facilitate meaningful dialogue between 

government and industry providers to find new business and 

collaboration opportunities in integrated solutions”. 

Representing the Singapore International Water Week, Mr Chew 

Men Leong, Chief Executive of PUB, Singapore’s national water 

agency, said, “This strategic co-location of the three events allows 

for an integrated look at the co-creation of water solutions in 

the broader context of sustainable and liveable cities which 

will offer participants richer discussions and more networking 

opportunities. Henceforth, SIWW will also move in sync with 

the co-location of the three events on a biennial basis, to provide 

a holistic and integrated approach in co-creating solutions for 

sustainable urban development, and deliver even greater value 

to our delegates. This also provides greater opportunities for 

cross pollination of ideas and technologies, access to integrated 

solutions as well as outreach to a wider pool of policy-makers, 

industry players and other key stakeholders. We have sought 

preliminary feedback from our partners and stakeholders and 

they are supportive of a biennial event”. 

“The overall outlook for the global water industry is positive, 

with innovation/R&D, industrial water solutions and water reuse 

as the key growth areas. SIWW has managed to ride on this 

growth - we welcomed 13,500 participants from 99 regions/ 

countries in 2011, a growth of almost 60% from the inaugural 

event in 2008”, added Mr Chew. 

Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive Officer of the National 

Environment Agency said, “Awareness of the environment 

is growing in Asia and Singapore is well-positioned to foster 

greater dialogue and cooperation in this area. The inaugural 

CleanEnviro Summit Singapore hopes to provide such a 

platform for high-level decision makers, regulators, industry 

players as well as community stakeholders to come together to 

develop practical and innovative solutions for sustainable growth. 

In particular, growing waste volumes in the region as a result 

of rapid urbanisation and growing affluence and unsustainable 

waste management practices could undermine the quality of 

life in the region. We hope that through the unique combination 

of CleanEnviro Summit Singapore and WasteMET Asia, we can 

promote better waste management practices and encourage 

greater use of waste as a resource in the region. We believe 

that both growth and sustainability can co-exist if we adopt an 

integrated approach to development”. 

More information can be obtained from the following websites: 

www.worldcitiessummit.com.sg 

www.siww.com.sg 

www.cleanenvirosummit.sg 

WORLD CITIES SUMMIT 2012 

To be held from 1 to 4 July 2012, the World Cities Summit is a 

biennial global event for world leaders and experts to exchange 

new ideas on liveable and sustainable urban solutions, explore the 

latest technologies and forge new business partnerships. Based on 

the theme of ‘Liveable And Sustainable Cities - Integrated Urban 

Solutions’, the third edition of the summit is expected to share new 

insights and trends on urbanisation challenges around the world. 

The summit offers a platform for dialogue and learning through 

sharing of best practices, that offers new perspectives to 

addressing cities’ unique problems and challenges. 

The World Cities Summit is co-organised by the Centre for 

Liveable Cities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority. 

A bigger turn-out of more than 3,500 top global leaders is 

expected for this year’s summit. 

The summit is expected to generate new directions for 

the future of sustainable cities. There will be discussions on 

urbanisation opportunities and challenges over the next 20 

years. Other interesting topics that will be raised are investing in 

cities and new smart cities solutions. There will also be a special 

focus on development opportunities in India. Major topics that 

will be covered at the summit are the following: 

• Intense Cities: Achieving levels of urban intensity, not merely density. 

• Eco-Cities: Fad or a sustainable option for cities? 

• Biodiverse Cities: Sustaining a model of co-existence 

and conservation. 

• Resilient Cities: Designing System-wide responses to external forces. 

• Smart Cities: Harnessing technology, improving efficiency. 

• Mobile Cities: In search of new urban mobility models. 

• Inclusive Cities: Supporting and integrating a productive ageing 

community. 

• Investing in Cities: Re-inventing and sustaining cities through 

public-private partnerships. 

One new aspect of this year’s summit is a stronger facilitation of 

business collaborations. New In-Focus sessions will be offered 

as a platform for government leaders and industry solution 

providers to share opportunities and solutions on urban 

infrastructure and services for the emerging economies of Asia. 

The World Cities Summit Expo will showcase model cities’ 

best practices, innovative urban solutions and technologies for 

smarter cities of the future. 

The expo has also attracted strong participation from 

governments and from the private sector. 

Mayors Forum 

The Mayors Forum is an annual international platform for mayors, 

government officials and urban experts, to share best practices 

in urban development. This year, it will focus on solutions to highrise, 

high-density living in cities. The forum is a key highlight of 

the World Cities Summit and has gained international traction, 

with 54 mayors already confirming their attendance, up from 32 

mayors in 2010. Half are new participants from ASEAN, Africa, 

South America, India and Russia. 


37

EVENTS 

Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 

Another major highlight of the summit is the Lee Kuan Yew 

World City Prize. The Prize honours outstanding contributions 

towards the creation of vibrant, liveable and sustainable urban 

communities around the world. This prestigious prize is named 

after Singapore’s first Prime Minister who was instrumental in 

transforming Singapore into a distinctive, clean and green garden 

city, within a few decades. 

The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize 2012 will be awarded 

to New York City for its remarkable transformation since 

September 11, 2001. 

Six other cities and organisations have been given Special 

Mention. They are: 

• Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Ahmedabad, India 

• AHT Group AG & SUN Development, Khayelitsha, Cape 

Town, South Africa 

• Brisbane City Council - Urban Renewal Brisbane, Brisbane, Australia 

• City of Copenhagen (and Lord Mayor), Copenhagen, Denmark 

• City of Malmö, Sweden 

• City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada 

Asian Network of Major Cities 

Another major event co-located with the World Cities 

Summit is the Asian Network of Major Cities. Led by Japan, it 

is a platform to promote collaboration amongst 11 member 

cities (including Seoul, Taipei, Delhi, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, 

Hanoi, and Bangkok) on crisis management, environmental 

countermeasures and industrial development. Singapore will 

host the 11 th plenary meeting on 30 June 2012. 

SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL WATER 

WEEK 2012 

Singapore International Water Week is a global platform for 

water solutions. It brings policymakers, industry leaders, experts 

and practitioners together to address challenges, showcase 

technologies, discover opportunities and celebrate achievements 

in the water world. 

In the face of global urbanisation and climate challenges, the 

2012 theme ‘Water Solutions for Liveable and Sustainable Cities’ 

reinforces the pressing need to integrate sustainable water 

management strategies into the urban planning process. 

At the event, trade visitors and exhibitors will have more 

opportunities to promote practical and sustainable water 

solutions and tap into a vast network of public and private 

sector players in urban solutions. 

Singapore International Water Week’s flagship programmes 

include: 

• Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 

• Water Leaders Summit 

• Water Convention 

• Water Expo 

• Business Forums 

Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, named after Singapore’s first 

Prime Minister, is the highlight of the Singapore International 

Water Week. Launched in 2008, this prestigious water prize 

recognises outstanding contributions towards solving global 

water problems by either applying ground-breaking technologies 

or implementing innovative policies and programmes which 

benefit humanity. 

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2012 has been won by Prof Mark 

van Loosdrecht, Professor and Group Leader of Environment 

Technology at Delft University of Technology, in the Netherlands. 

At an award ceremony both the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 

and the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize will be awarded to the 

respective winners who will also deliver lectures. 

Water Leaders Summit 

The Water Leaders Summit is an arena for influential stakeholders 

to engage in focused dialogues aimed at good governance, 

innovative technology and sound financing strategies. 

Water Convention 

The Water Convention continues its focus on case studies and 

practical applications along four main themes: 

• Delivering Water from Source to Tap 

• Effective and Efficient Wastewater Management 

• Planning for Sustainable Water Solutions 

• Water Quality & Health 

Water Expo 

The Water Expo is a major trade show on innovations, products 

and services. Visitors can look forward to a one-stop platform 

for integrated solutions for water, urban and environmental 

challenges as the Water Expo will be held in conjunction 

with the World Cities Summit Expo, and CleanEnviro Summit 

Singapore’s WasteMET Asia Expo. The exhibit portfolio will be 

further expanded by the products and services at Trenchless 

Asia 2012, which will include new innovations, machinery and 

products on trenchless technology. 

Business Forums 

The Business Forums offer industry leaders an extensive spread 

of business networking, partnership information and lucrative 

deal-making opportunities across global markets. 

2nd TechXchange Workshop 

The 2nd TechXchange Workshop returns in 2012 with a full-day 

programme. Invited attendees from the investment community 

can expect to network and exchange ideas in water and 

wastewater related technologies. Highlights of the workshop 

also include business pitches from innovators, targeted business 

matchmaking, panel sessions and prototype displays at the 

Water Expo. 

Industrial Water Solutions Forum 

The inaugural Industrial Water Solutions Forum will examine 

challenges faced by industrial sectors, such as energy and 

manufacturing, in water management and how innovative 

solutions could address such challenges. 


EVENTS 

TRENCHLESS ASIA 2012 on track for success 

The sixth TRENCHLESS ASIA 2012 exhibition will be held 

at Sands Expo & Convention Center, Marina Bay Sands, 

Singapore, from 2 to 4 July. 

Singapore is a regional centre of excellence for trenchless 

technology, established through the major microtunnelling 

projects undertaken by PUB, Singapore’s national water agency. 

Exhibitors from 10 countries will display a range of 

machinery, products and methods at this specialist event 

which is being co-located with Singapore International 

Water Week 2012. 

Alongside the exhibition will be a two day conference 

programme on 3 and 4 July, organised in conjunction with 

International Society for Trenchless Technology (ISTT) and 

featuring a number of technical papers that will provide an 

insight into many new techniques and technologies. 

The opening keynote address will be given by Mr Mohd 

Akhir bin Md Jiwa, Director General Sewerage Services, 

Ministry of Energy, Green Technology & Water, Malaysia. Dr 

Samuel Ariaratnam, Chairman of ISTT and a representative 

of PUB will also give keynote presentations. 

TRENCHLESS ASIA 2012 is organised by international 

event organisers Westrade Group. Registration 

details and other information can be obtained from 

www.nodigsingapore.com or by calling 0845 0948066. 

CLEANENVIRO SUMMIT SINGAPORE 

The inaugural CleanEnviro Summit Singapore (CESS) is a global 

platform for government leaders, policy makers, regulators 

and industry captains, to connect, examine and discover 

practical solutions to address environmental challenges for 

tomorrow’s cities. 

In the face of global urbanisation and climate challenges, the 

CESS 2012 theme ‘Innovative Clean Enviro-Solutions for Asia’s 

Growing Cities’ provides a platform for the sharing of insights 

on the latest environmental policy thinking, market trends and 

technological innovations, through the following components: 

• Clean Environment Leaders Summit 

• Clean Environment Regulators Roundtable 

• WasteMET Asia 

The Clean Environment Leaders Summit will explore how 

policies and strategies, as part of a comprehensive and integrated 

approach to urban planning, would promote clean environment 

outcomes and stimulate green growth by engaging the various 

stakeholders in planning, implementing effective legislative 

frameworks, and application of technological solutions. 

Co-organised with the World Bank, the Clean Environment 

Regulators Roundtable provides a platform for policy-makers 

and regulators to share environmental regulatory experience 

and best practices on sustaining a clean environment. Participants 

will be encouraged to discuss the challenges faced in dealing 

with environmental pollution and waste management issues. 

Jointly organised by the National Environment Agency and the 

Waste Management and Recycling Association of Singapore, 

and partnered by the International Solid Waste Association, 

WasteMET Asia 2012 is dedicated to practitioners in the waste 

management and recycling industries, to keep abreast of the 

latest developments in solid waste management solutions and 

environmental technologies. 

Themed ‘East Meets Waste: Solid Waste Management Solutions 

for a Growing Asia’, the event is expected to bring together 

over 7,000 buyers and decision-makers with responsibilities in 

recycling, and waste and resource efficiency responsibilities, from 

the region. Key components of WasteMET Asia 2012 are: 

• WasteMET Asia Trade exhibition 

• WasteMET Asia - ISWA Beacon Conference 

• Site visits 

• Networking Functions and Business Exchange Sessions 

The Singapore Engineer 

Products & Solutions Enquiry Form 

Product Information 

I wish to receive more information on the following 

products that were featured in this issue of ‘The Singapore 

Engineer’ magazine. 

Please list the enquiry number(s) of the product(s) that 

you are interested in. (Information is provided free-ofcharge 

to all readers) 

________________________________________________ 

Full Name: (Dr/Mr/Mrs/Ms/Er) ________________________ 

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Please complete the enquiry form and fax to 6467 1108 or 

email Jeremy@iesnet.org.sg. 


39

EVENTS 

POWER-GEN Asia returns to Bangkok for annual 

gathering of power industry professionals 

POWER-GEN Asia, the region’s premier conference and 

exhibition for the power generation, transmission and 

distribution industries, will return to Bangkok, Thailand, from 3 

to 5 October 2012. 

For its 2012 presentation, the event will have the support 

of Thailand’s top industry utilities, government energy 

organisations, and industry trade bodies. 

POWER-GEN Asia 2012 has the endorsement of the Ministry 

of Energy, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Provincial 

Electricity Authority, Metropolitan Electricity Authority and PTT. 

This is complemented by the support of top organisations 

such as the Asian Institute of Technology, Consulting Engineers 

Association of Thailand and Independent Power Producers 

Forum (IPPF). 

Event Director, Mr Glenn Ensor, said, “We are delighted that 

POWER-GEN Asia will be returning to Thailand from 3 to 5 

October 2012. In 2009, we enjoyed the most successful event 

during the event’s history. The enthusiasm and support of 

the Thai industry and authorities will ensure the success of 

POWER-GEN Asia and we hope to break more records for 

the event in Bangkok this October”. 

Towards a secure energy future 

Thailand’s GDP is predicted to see a 5.6% growth, leading to a 

6% growth in peak power demand between 2012 and 2016, to 

35,600 MW and this figure is expected to reach 42,000 MW 

by 2021. With current capacity of around 28,500 MW, and 

despite energy imports from neighbouring countries, Thailand 

will see a shortfall in power supply in the next few years. 

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand generates 

around 50% of Thailand’s electricity and expects to invest 

around 100 billion Baht (US$ 3.5 billion) in energy markets in 

the coming years, as the Ministry of Energy looks to address 

the energy security issues. 

Thailand wants to be a leading country in exporting carbon 

credits in Asia, by developing carbon capture and storage 

(CCS) technologies, and thereby enabling the country to 

submit energy projects for certification under the Clean 

Development Mechanism (CDM), to the extent of one million 

tons CO 2 per year. 

Despite putting on hold the building of nuclear plants, for three 

years, whilst a review is undertaken, Thailand is still interested 

in pursuing this option, with the Ministry of Energy looking to 

undertake a detailed feasibility study on the development of 

nuclear power plants, using relevant IAEA guidelines. 

As a net importer of energy, Thailand is central to the power 

development plans of the region which is undergoing rapid 

change and which has attracted US$ 100 billion of investment 

in the energy industry and its infrastructure. 

Conferences and exhibitions 

The POWER-GEN Asia conference is a key forum for senior 

executives, industry leaders and senior engineers to discuss 

a range of important topics, the latest issues, and solutions, 

in order to meet the challenge of the growing demand for 

electricity in the region. 

Conference Director, Mr Nigel Blackaby, said, “The recent 

developments in the region, especially the impact of last year’s 

floods and the damage to the Thai infrastructure, have given 

the industry much to discuss in terms of the options available 

to meet shortages of power”. 

“Thailand is well positioned with diverse options, from 

traditional fuels to renewable energy, but is the rest of the 

region set to overcome these challenges? We look forward to 

some lively and interesting debates at this year’s POWER-GEN 

Asia conference”, he added. 

The new Challenger Hall 1 at the IMPACT Exhibition & 

Convention Center in Bangkok, will host POWER-GEN Asia 

2012 and the co-located Renewable Energy World Asia 2012 

conferences and exhibitions. 

Organised by PennWell Corporation, POWER-GEN Asia 

2012 and Renewable Energy World Asia 2012 are expected 

to attract around 7,000 industry professionals. 

More information on POWER-GEN Asia 2012 and Renewable 

Energy World Asia 2012 can be obtained from www. 

powergenasia.com. 

An exhibit at POWER-GEN Asia 2011 which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 


NEWS 

Honeywell introduces Attune Advisory Services 

Honeywell has introduced its new Attune Advisory Services, a 

suite of professional services that combines cloud-based tools 

and analytics with a global network of operations centres, and 

energy and facility experts, to provide enhancements that can 

reduce utility bills and operating expenses by up to 20%. 

Attune Advisory Services help building owners, wherever 

they are on the energy- and operational-efficiency spectrum, 

providing technology and support to gain baseline awareness 

of building performance, make improvements to reduce 

energy and operations costs, and define an ongoing strategy 

to manage and optimise a facility. 

“The performance of building systems and equipment can 

degrade by as much as 5% every year, which translates to 

energy and operating costs that continually escalate”, said Mr 

Paul Orzeske, President of Honeywell Building Solutions. 

performance and create a baseline to help identify savings 

opportunities. 

Honeywell also provides lobby signage that allows organisations 

to showcase the results of their efficiency efforts in clear-cut, 

graphics-driven terms, helping to educate occupants, and 

spurring them to alter their behaviour and energy use. 

Attune Energy Improvement 

Energy Improvement turns building data into actionable 

recommendations with the advice of Honeywell’s experienced 

analysts. Facility managers receive periodic reports that 

provide information on efficiency opportunities with related 

recommendations on upgrades and replacements. Building 

retrofits made as a result of these services can deliver energy 

savings of up to 10%, potentially paying for themselves 

within months. 

“Companies are starting to realise the significant impact this 

can have, as well as the opportunity it presents for bottomline 

savings. With Attune, we are providing the ease and 

convenience of cloud-based technology with expert advice 

and actionable guidance so companies can capture and 

maintain those savings”, he added. 

Facility managers are under increased pressure to go beyond 

simply monitoring building systems and providing base-level 

comfort. They are being asked to translate facility information 

into actions that deliver energy, operational and environmental 

outcomes. However, many do not have the resources to 

assess building performance, identify opportunities to upgrade 

infrastructure and operations, or prioritise retrofits. 

Attune Advisory Services turn building performance data into 

an action plan that pinpoints potential upgrades and their 

expected return on investment. The service suite enables facility 

managers to optimise their budgets, personnel and systems, 

by combining powerful cloud-based tools and analytics with 

insight and advice from a global team of Honeywell consultants, 

and customised support provided by skilled onsite technicians. 

The services exceed typical facility management software 

which often only provides a steady stream of data, but no insight 

or recommendations. Attune offers three levels of assistance 

(awareness, improvement and optimisation) with programmes 

focusing on either energy or operational efficiency. 

Attune Energy Awareness 

Energy Awareness enables facility managers to access and 

monitor electricity and natural gas consumption using a 

web-based, software-as-a-service dashboard that collects 

information from utility meters, to provide insight on building 

Attune Energy Optimisation 

Energy Optimisation delivers a powerful combination of 

improved building knowledge and actionable recommendations, 

backed by detailed monitoring, measurement and verification, 

to help ensure facilities operate at their peak. Optimisation 

can deliver energy savings of 10% to 20% on average, with the 

potential for even greater savings in older facilities. 

Honeywell plugs into a building to gather systems data and 

assess performance using cloud-based fault detection and 

diagnostics. Local service technicians collaborate with a global 

team of optimisation experts to review the findings and present 

a plan to help facility managers reduce utility consumption. 

Ongoing assessment and monitoring allow building owners to 

see that upgrades continue to deliver results to the bottom 

line. 

Attune Operations Services 

The goal of Operations Services is more efficiently run buildings. 

Facility managers can select different combinations of 24/7 

equipment monitoring, remote and onsite response to alarm 

conditions, and Honeywell consultation, for uncovering other 

potential improvements and lowering equipment life-cycle 

costs. By providing secure, cloud-enabled support, Honeywell 

is able to help address the issues building operators routinely 

face - assistance the company is already providing to more 

than 3,000 sites that are connected to its global operations 

centres. 

Attune Operations Services provide guided solutions aimed 

at saving money and reducing downtime, and the improved 

insight allows Honeywell to dispatch technicians only when 

needed. It is a cost-effective way to improve overall efficiency 

and another step toward optimisation. 


41

NEWS 

Schneider Electric releases new range of circuit 

breakers and control unit 

Schneider Electric recently announced the release of the 

EasyPact CVS range of Class II moulded case circuit breakers 

(MCCB) for low-voltage applications from 100 Amps to 630 

Amps. Designed to meet the requirements of the majority of 

common protection applications in medium-sized commercial 

and industrial buildings, the new circuit breakers deliver a level 

of performance and cost-saving functionality that is unusual in 

their price range. Adjustable thresholds and a service breaking 

capacity rated at 100% of the ultimate breaking capacity 

enhance the reliability and life cycle of the products while 

reducing servicing costs. Their compact, modular design and 

field-installable accessories shared with other offered ranges 

help to simplify ordering, stocking, and installation. 

“Around the globe, construction and upgrade budgets have 

become much tighter. The new EasyPact CVS range of circuit 

breakers will help panel builders adapt to customers’ budgets 

while delivering required capabilities and the brand quality of 

a global leader in energy management and protection”, said 

Mr Kresna Widodo, Country Marketing Director for Schneider 

Electric Singapore. 

“The range leverages our expertise in precision design and 

manufacturing, delivering exceptional value to our customers”, 

he added. 

Schneider Electric has designed the EasyPact CVS range to be 

simple and safe during installation, operation, and maintenance. 

The robust circuit breakers are suitable for isolation, guaranteed 

to the IEC 60947-2 standard, and provide a highly visible 

and lockable contact position indicator to ensure operator 

confidence. Extended current limiting and thermal protection 

can greatly reduce the stresses on equipment, due to short 

circuits and their associated effects. Earth leakage protection 

can be added by installing a Vigi CVS option module. In the 

event of a circuit fault, simple visual indicators help maintenance 

personnel quickly locate the tripped breaker and take steps to 

correct the problem. 

To ensure a low total cost of ownership, the EasyPact CVS range 

features a modular design that adapts to changing needs. Basic 

accessories and a logical part numbering scheme are shared 

with the rest of the Schneider Electric MCCB family, helping 

to optimise stocking while reducing effort and the potential 

for ordering errors. Products in the EasyPact CVS range also 

feature a compact footprint similar to other Schneider Electric 

MCCB ranges, which can help reduce switchboard dimensions 

and installation times. 

Manufactured from premium materials in ISO 9001 and ISO 

14000 certified production plants, the EasyPact CVS range 

of circuit breakers are fully tested and certified by national, 

international, and third-party organisations to all relevant safety 

standards. Reflecting the company’s comprehensive approach 

to environmental responsibility, the products comply with all 

environmental standards for manufacturing, including RoHS and 

REACH, and are engineered for easy disassembly and recycling. 

The EasyPact CVS range of circuit breakers is available now 

from Schneider Electric. 

Meanwhile, the company has also released the Micrologic E control 

unit as an option for the company’s Masterpact and Compact NS 

ranges of circuit breakers. While featuring the same protection 

functions and ‘ammeter’ current measurement capabilities as 

the best-selling Micrologic A control unit, the new Micrologic 

E adds energy measurement at a low incremental cost. This 

capability enables energy metering at key points throughout an 

electrical distribution system, supporting efforts to reduce energy 

consumption, energy-related costs, and green house gas emissions. 

Ideally suited to applications in office buildings, hospitals, data 

centres, or any commercial or industrial facilities, the Micrologic E 

can be installed in new or existing circuit breakers. Energy data can 

be viewed by facility managers or maintenance personnel through 

the integrated LCD display, an optional front-panel display module, 

or over a communications network using Schneider Electric or 

third-party software. 

“Energy metering is a key first step towards energy efficiency, and 

we believe intelligent, energy measurement-capable breakers 

will soon become the industry standard”, said Mr Widodo. 

“We were the first company to introduce affordable energy 

measurement in a circuit breaker with the Compact NSX range. 

The Micrologic E control unit extends this same capability across 

the Compact NS and Masterpact ranges, giving customers a 

smart, cost-effective alternative to installing a separate power 

meter. This puts energy metering in more places where it is 

needed, helping customers isolate where and when the most 

energy is being consumed or wasted”, he added. 

The Micrologic E is the newest addition to the established 

Micrologic series of circuit breaker control units, bridging the 

gap in functionality between two lower and two higher models, 

and offering measurements of energy (at 2% accuracy), current, 

voltage, and active power, at an attractive price point. All 

Micrologic models feature an internal architecture that safely 

and reliably separates protection and measurement functions. 

The Micrologic E also introduces a LCD ‘auto-scroll’ function 

that enables personnel to safely view all the most important 

measurements without having to touch the circuit breaker. A 

new trip history supports fast troubleshooting by storing, in onboard 

memory, the trip type, date, and timestamp for the last 

10 trip events, while two programmable relay outputs can be 

controlled by trip events. 

Also being introduced is a BCM ULP communications module 

option for Compact and Masterpact circuit breakers that enables 

connection of an FDM121 display for convenient local viewing 

of energy or other measurements on the door of an electrical 


NEWS 

Designed to meet the requirements of the 

majority of common protection applications 

in medium-sized commercial and industrial 

buildings, the EasyPact CVS range of Class II 

moulded case circuit breakers delivers a high 

level of performance and cost-saving functionality. 

While featuring the same 

protection functions and ‘ammeter’ 

current measurement capabilities 

as the best-selling Micrologic A 

control unit, the new Micrologic E 

adds energy measurement at 

a low incremental cost. 

cabinet. The BCM ULP module also provides a Modbus port 

for plug-and-play network connectivity with centralised energy 

management or automation software. This enables data from 

every Micrologic E control unit across a facility to be easily 

gathered, analysed, and reported on to reveal opportunities, 

drive energy-efficient behaviour, and to validate savings from 

equipment upgrades or process changes. Used in support of a 

complete Active Energy Management programme, buildings can 

often realise up to 30% in energy savings. 

The Micrologic E circuit breaker control unit is available now 

from Schneider Electric and is compatible with all Compact 

NS630b to NS3200, Masterpact NT, and Masterpact NW 

ranges of breakers. 

Schneider Electric introduces the Acti 9 

modular systems 

Schneider Electric, a pioneer in low voltage modular systems, 

recently announced the release of the Acti 9, which is claimed 

to be the safest, simplest and most efficient modular system for 

final distribution for tertiary and industrial building applications. 

The company is taking advantage of its five generations of industry 

experience to introduce industry-first innovations and enhance its 

technological leadership in this field. 

Designing, maintaining or upgrading an industrial low voltage 

installation can be a demanding task, and electricians are on the 

front lines. Their job is to ensure every installation operates 

smoothly - for the entire life cycle of the installation. ‘Schneider 

Electric understands this’, says Mr Kresna Widodo, Country 

Marketing Director for Schneider Electric Singapore. 

“That is why we designed the Acti 9, the most complete modular 

system with our customers in mind. It is engineered to guarantee 

safety, deliver savings in terms of time and money and ensure that 

installation starts with the right products. The Acti 9 provides the 

right solution for every application”, he added. 

What distinguishes the Acti 9 system are its innovative features that 

provide many benefits to the industry. For example, it offers a high 

level of safety. Its VisiSafe feature provides reinforced insulation on 

the iC60 miniature circuit breaker and iID residual current circuit 

breaker ranges. It guarantees the downstream circuit is always safe, 

regardless of overvoltage conditions, wear or operator experience, 

even in the most demanding industrial environments. Combined 

with its Class 2 front face, where clearances between Acti 9 surfaces 

and internal parts are more than twice the industry standard, it 

exceeds even the most demanding safety requirements. 

The Acti 9 also provides high efficiency for day-to-day operations. 

VisiTrip is a feature that lets customers identify a fault in a single 

glance, allowing quick diagnosis, resolution and reclosure of circuits 

for easier building management and reduced downtime. In addition, 

the super immunisation of its RCDs guarantees the highest continuity 

of service and electrical immunity, especially in critical power 

applications, or where switchgear encounters electromagnetic or 

chemical interference. The Acti 9 also introduces a new automatic 

recloser auxiliary (ARA iC60) that limits intervention costs on 

distant infrastructure sites. Such efficiency allows for easier building 

management, eliminates downtime and makes businesses even 

more competitive. 

The Acti 9 is an efficient modular system for final distribution for tertiary and industrial building applications. 


43

NEWS 

First Public-Private Collaboration initiative for 

green building research 

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR); 

Building and Construction Authority (BCA); and the Ministry 

of National Development (MND) have jointly awarded 

funding for nine projects in a pilot green building grant call to 

encourage research and greater adoption of green building 

technologies. Launched in April 2011, the grant call is the first 

of its kind structured to foster Public-Private Collaboration 

(PPC) in green building research. 

The green building joint grant call fosters collaboration 

between public research institutions and companies through 

joint R&D projects. Under the PPC arrangement, public 

research institutions partner at least one related industry 

organisation as co-investigator. This creates synergies as 

public research institutions are able to tap on the industry’s 

experience and network, while companies leverage on the 

research expertise and cutting edge infrastructure within 

public research institutes, to develop deployable green 

building technologies. 

The nine awarded projects will support the development of 

technologies in two key areas - energy efficiency and building 

facade materials. These include energy-efficient technologies 

that reduce the amount of heat penetration into buildings 

and innovative air-conditioning technologies that require less 

energy for cooling and help optimise energy management 

in buildings. Consequently, the projects may bring about 

substantial savings for building operators and dwellers 

through greater energy efficiency. 

Mr Tay Kim Poh, Deputy Secretary (Development) of MND, 

and Chairman of the MND R&D Steering Committee, said, 

“The strong response of over 50 submissions is encouraging. 

Just as A*STAR, BCA and MND joined hands to launch this 

grant call, it is heartening to see that many public research 

institutions and companies have come together in the same 

spirit of collaboration. This is the first such initiative involving 

both the government and the private sector for green 

building research. We hope to see more of such collaborative 

efforts when the second grant call is launched later this year, 

so that more ideas can be translated into innovations to 

meet urbanisation challenges”. 

Welcoming the awards given for this grant call, Dr Raj 

Thampuran, Executive Director, Science and Engineering 

Research Council of A*STAR, said, “Through such PPC 

initiatives, public research institutions and companies can 

leverage on each other’s strengths and expertise to develop 

technologies that could potentially generate impactful 

environmental, economic and social benefits. The benefits in 

the area of green building technologies are manifold, and can 

be illustrated through outcomes such as potential reduction 

in energy use for building operators and dwellers”. 

Dr John Keung, CEO of BCA added, “While BCA has made 

good progress in greening the built environment in Singapore 

through various initiatives under our Green Building 

Masterplan, we need to continuously push the frontiers of 

green buildings through R&D. On this front, BCA led the 

inter-agency Green Building R&D Workgroup to develop 

the Green Building R&D Framework in identifying key focus 

areas for R&D, with an emphasis on developing high-impact, 

cost-effective solutions for green buildings in the tropics. We 

believe that the success of this pilot grant call with A*STAR 

and MND will pave the way for future R&D grant calls and 

build Singapore’s capability in green building research”. 

Following the success of the pilot green building joint grant 

call, the second green building joint grant call is projected to 

open in the third quarter of 2012. 

Singapore Green Building Council signs MOU 

with Indonesian counterpart 

The Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) recently 

signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with 

Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI) to collaborate 

on certification and training to enhance the green 

building landscape in both countries. 

This is SGBC’s second MOU with regional counterparts 

since the start of this year. The first was with China 

Green Building Council (CGBC), which was signed in 

March. 

Under the MOU with GBCI, both SGBC and GBCI 

will work towards recognition of the Singapore Green 

Building Product Certification (SGBP) scheme under the 

Green Building assessment scheme of Indonesia. SGBC 

intends to certify up to 50 products from Indonesia 

under its SGBP certification scheme by 2013. 

The two parties will also cooperate in the area of 

training. This will cover relevant Green Buildingrelated 

professional training and study trips during 

which Indonesian participants will gain knowledge of 

Singapore’s successful practices via proven case studies 

and visits to relevant projects. 

Both SGBC and GBCI will also explore various other 

activities and avenues to collaborate in the area of 

green building development and services in Indonesia 

and Singapore. 


NEWS 

CGNPC to build biomass-solar power generation 

plant in Singapore 

Performing the groundbreaking ceremony for the CGNPC facility at Shipyard Crescent, are, from left, Mr Lee Thiam Seng, Chairman & CEO of ecoWise Holdings Ltd ; Mr Han 

Qing Hao, Chairman & General Manager, CGN Solar Energy Development Company; Mr Zheng Chao, Minister Counsellor of the China Embassy; Mr Tan Choon Shian, Acting 

Managing Director of Economic Development Board; Mr Tan Jiansheng, Senior Vice President of CGNPC; and Mr Goh Chee Kiong, Director of Economic Development Board. 

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corporation 

(CGNPC) crossed a major milestone on behalf of the cleantech 

industry in Singapore, by establishing an integrated biomasssolar 

power generation plant and its regional headquarters 

here, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, CGNPC Solar-Biofuel 

Power (Singapore) Pte Ltd. 

The S$ 42 million investment project (Phase I) features a biomass 

power plant, fuelled by wood and horticultural waste, as well as 

a 70 kWp solar installation on the rooftop. The 10-megawatt 

facility will play a significant role as Singapore moves towards 

being a greener and cleaner city. This is the first overseas project 

developed and implemented by CGNPC. The plant affirms 

Singapore’s strategic position as the gateway to the clean energy 

market in Asia Pacific. 

A groundbreaking ceremony for this facility, which is located at 

Shipyard Crescent, was officiated by the Guest-of-Honour, Mr. Tan 

Choon Shian, Acting Managing Director of Singapore Economic 

Development Board; Mr Zheng Chao, Minister Counsellor of 

the China Embassy; Mr. Tan Jiansheng, Senior Vice President of 

CGNPC; and Mr Han Qinghao, Chairman & General Manager, 

CGN Solar Energy Development Company. 

This plant is expected to be completed by November 2013. 

WWEA releases Small Wind World 

Report 2012 

On the occasion of the 3 rd World Summit for Small Wind 

during the New Energy fair in Husum Germany, in March this 

year, the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) released its 

first Small Wind World Report. For the first time, data about 

the status of small wind turbines all over the world has been 

collected and published. 

The total number of small wind turbines installed world-wide 

reached 656,000 units as at the end of 2010, after 521,000 

in 2009 and 460,000 in 2008. These small wind turbines 

represent a total capacity of around 440 MW (at the end of 

2010), compared with a total capacity of 240 GW of large 

wind turbines. 

The largest share of small wind turbines are in China and the US, 

followed by installations in the medium-sized markets of the UK, 

Canada, Germany, Spain, Poland, Japan and Italy. 

WWEA expects that, in 2020, the total installed small wind 

capacity will reach 3,800 MW, representing an almost ten-fold 

increase compared with 2010. The market for new small wind 

turbines will have a volume of around 750 MW in the year 2020. 

Today, more than 330 manufacturers of small wind turbines have 

been identified in 40 countries on all continents, and another 

estimated 300 companies are manufacturing equipment for 

the small wind industry. Most of the manufacturers are still 

small- and medium- sized companies. More than half of these 

manufacturers can be found in only five countries, namely China, 

USA, Germany, Canada, and the UK. 

In spite of a vibrant small wind sector in many countries, only 

few governments are offering specific support policies for small 

wind. Less than 10 countries are offering sufficient feed-in tariffs 

for small wind, and there is almost a complete lack of support 

schemes in the developing countries, where the demand for 

small wind turbines would be huge, especially in non-electrified 

areas. Only in China, small wind turbines contribute today on 

a large scale to rural electrification, which is also due to the 

relatively modest price level of small wind turbines in the country. 


45

NEWS 

Individuals and organisations honoured at the 

3 rd Land Transport Excellence Awards 

Infrastructure Projects Awards Winners, at the Land Transport Excellence Awards 2012, with the Guest-of-Honour, Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Minister for Transport & 2nd Minister 

for Foreign Affairs (fifth from right), and officials from LTA. Image by LTA. 

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) honoured the best in 

Singapore’s land transport industry at the third biennial Land 

Transport Excellence Awards (LTEA), held on 3 April 2012 at 

Swissotel The Stamford. 

Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Minister for Transport & 2nd Minister for 

Foreign Affairs, was the Guest-of-Honour at the event. 

Twenty-three individuals and organisations were honoured 

at the awards ceremony, across 19 categories. In all, this year 

the LTEA attracted 115 entries from both corporations 

and individuals across various sectors of the land transport 

industry. 

Of the 19 categories, six are new to this year’s edition of the 

LTEA - the Best Managed E&M Systems Project Partner, the 

Safety Excellence for Land Transport Development (Major 

Projects), the Most Service-Oriented Individual (Public 

Transport), Best Collaboration Partner, Best System Delivery 

Partner, and the Transport Thought Leader. 

This year, the Friend of Land Transport award was presented 

to a group instead of an individual. SGTrains Trainspotters is 

an informal group of students who are passionate about land 

transport, in particular about the train network. They have 

been active participants of the ‘Friends of LTA’ programme, 

often providing keen observations on the train network to 

LTA and the transport operators. They have also participated 

in various LTA activities, from focus group discussions, dialogue 

with the minister and visits to rail construction and new station 

sites where they pro-actively offer their opinions, observations 

and ideas. 

Proceeds from the evening’s gala awards ceremony also went 

to the LTA Cares Fund, which reaches out to the financially 

and physically disadvantaged to help them with their daily 

transport needs. In total, S$ 200,000 was raised this year. 

Since 2007, LTA, together with partners and staff, have 

contributed S$ 750,000 to the LTA Cares Fund. 

Land Transport Excellence Awards 

The biennial Land Transport Excellence Awards (LTEA) was 

inaugurated in 2008 by the Land Transport Authority to 

recognise industry partners and individuals who have made 

significant contributions to Singapore’s land transport. 

Award recipients represent the best in their respective fields 

of expertise and help set new benchmarks for the industry. 

In the long-term, LTEA will help create a strong Singapore 

brand for industry players. It is also a platform to showcase 

the best practices in the land transport industry. 


NEWS 

Land Transport Excellence Awards 2012 

Award Category 

Most Service-Oriented Individual (Public Transport) 

Recognise individual who consistently exemplified and delivered 

outstanding customer service. 

Young Innovator (Individual/Enterprise) 

Recognise individual, start-up company or academic institution that has delivered innovative 

services resulting in land transport service transformation. 

Friend of Land Transport 

Recognise the individual who has made constructive engagement and contributions which 

lead to the implementation and improvement of land transport policies, schemes and / 

or services and / or participated actively in public consultations and focus group discussions. 

Land Transport Star Ambassador 

Recognise grassroots or community leader who has played a pivotal role in promoting a 

better understanding of LTA policies / initiatives. 

Best Service Agent 

Recognise contributions and accomplishments of the service agent in the land transport industry. 

Best Service Partner 

Recognise contributions and accomplishments of the service partner in the land transport industry. 

Most Creative Promotion / Campaign (Land Transport) 

Recognise creative excellence in land transport promotion in the public relations, 

media or publishing industry. 

Most Customer-Centric Public Transport Provider 

Recognise the outstanding public transport organisation for their commitment and 

achievements in the exemplary provision of customer-centric public transport services. 

Most Eco-Friendly Transport Partner 

Recognise the visionary organisation that has implemented “green” products and vehicles 

for land transport. 

Best System Delivery Partner 

Recognise the partner that has consistently delivered quality IT solutions that create 

new value for LTA. 

Best Collaboration Partner 

Recognise the partner that demonstrates highest level of commitment towards land 

transport transformation with LTA. 

Best Innovation Partner 

Recognise the partner that has excelled in the use of technology in land transport 

infrastructure or system for innovative service delivery. 

Best Design Land Transport Integration 

Recognise and honour the partner that has exemplified design excellence in land transport 

integration with adjacent development. 

Best Design Rail / Road Infrastructure-Project Partner 

Recognise and honour the partner that has exemplified design excellence in land transport 

infrastructure or related systems and solutions. 

Safety Excellence – Land Transport Development (Major Projects) 

Recognise the outstanding organisation that has consistently achieved a track record 

for good corporate-wide safety practices on land transport development. 

Safety Excellence – Land Transport Development (Mega Projects) 

Recognise the outstanding organisation that has consistently achieved a track record 

for good corporate-wide safety practices on land transport development. 

Best Managed E&M Systems - Project Partner 

Recognise and honour the partner that has excelled in the provision of E&M systems 

for land transport infrastructure. 

Best Managed Rail / Road Infrastructure-Project Partner 

Recognise and honour the partner that has excelled in the development and provision 

of land transport infrastructure or related systems and solutions. 

Transport Thought Leader 

Recognise passionate individual who has demonstrated leadership in enhancing land 

transport knowledge. 

Winner 

Mr See Chip Yew, Senior Bus Captain, SBS Transit Ltd 

Ms Faridah Bte Salim, Customer Service Leader, SMRT Trains Ltd 

Mr Eric Yeong Cho Ser, Taxi Driver, SMRT Taxis Pte Ltd 

Mr Muh Hon Cheng (Individual) 

WeesWares Pte Ltd (Enterprise) 

SGTrains Trainspotters 

Mr Kenneth Yap Yew Choh 

Chairman, Bukit Timah CCC 

VICOM Ltd 

Singapore Vehicle Traders Association 

NCS Pte Ltd 

SBS Transit Ltd 

Samwoh Corporation Pte Ltd 

NCS Pte Ltd 

IBM Singapore Pte Ltd 

AECOM Singapore Pte Ltd 

Surbana International Consultants Pte Ltd (Merit Winner) 

Aedas Pte Ltd (Winner) 

AECOM Singapore Pte Ltd and Aedas Pte Ltd 

Shinryo Corporation 

Samsung C&T Corporation 

ST Electronics Ltd 

Sato Kogyo (S) Pte Ltd 

Professor Cham Tao Soon 


47

NEWS 

ABB announces new regional hub in Singapore 

for data centre technology 

ABB, a leading power and automation technology group, 

announced recently that the company will create a regional hub 

for data centre solution development and support in Singapore. 

This will be ABB’s first regional hub for data centre technology 

in the Asia Pacific market. 

The new hub will focus on the company’s recently introduced 

Decathlon suite of software, hardware, and services for data 

centre management. Decathlon analyses a variety of data such 

as IT load patterns, weather forecasts, contract and utility rate 

data, to predict and adjust energy consumption to ensure data 

centres are more reliable and energy-efficient. This new green 

technology can provide potential energy savings of 10% to 

50%, and is expandable across multiple sites, which can result in 

savings worth millions of dollars for some enterprises, each year. 

“Singapore’s thriving internet economy, robust infrastructure, 

availability of talent, and the country’s business-friendly 

environment are some of the reasons ABB chose to invest in 

Singapore”, commented Mr Tobias Becker, Head of the Control 

Technologies business in the ABB Group. 

“Singapore is already a global data management hub and holds 

about 50% of Southeast Asia’s data centre capacity. We are 

confident that basing our regional hub in Singapore will best 

serve our customers in Asia Pacific”, he added. 

Digital information is now synonymous with electrical power. 

With the rise in internet use and cloud computing, data centres 

are rapidly expanding in size, creating a significant environmental 

and energy usage footprint. Data centres consume vast amounts 

of energy every year. Size for size they consume around 30 

times the power, or more, required to run the average office 

building. In total, global consumption amounts to a staggering 

80 million megawatt hours of electricity a year. Singapore’s own 

data centre capacity is projected to increase by 50% over the 

next few years, from 2.4 million ft 2 (223,000 m 2 ) in 2010 to 3.6 

million ft 2 (335,000 m 2 ) in 2015. 

In addition to Decathlon, ABB provides a wide range of products, 

integrated solutions and expertise to ensure that data centres 

operate with optimum reliability and efficiency. For AC and DC 

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 

BLUESCOPE LYSAGHT ––––––– INSIDE FRONT COVER 

CSC –––––––––––––––––––––––– OUTSIDE BACK COVER 

PHILIPS ELECTRONICS ––––––––––––––––––––– PAGE 3 

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC SINGAPORE ––––––– –– PAGE 5 

electric distribution systems, enterprise management and grid 

connections, ABB provides savings in installation, energy, space 

and maintenance. Customers include data centre developers, 

owners and operators, IT equipment manufacturers, and utilities. 

The new regional Data Center Hub, complements ABB’s other 

business growth activities in Singapore, which include marine, 

e-mobility, solar and energy efficiency initiatives. 

New release of Aspen InfoPlus.21 

software 

Aspen Technology Inc, a leading provider of software and services 

to the process industries, announced it has brought enterprise scale 

search and high performance trending to Manufacturing Execution 

Systems (MES), with the new release of Aspen InfoPlus.21. Process 

industries can improve their business performance by quickly 

finding and analysing their operational data, for fast and easy 

troubleshooting. By instantly representing what is happening in 

the plant, engineers and operations personnel are better able to 

improve manufacturing performance. 

The search capabilities and high performance trends within 

Aspen InfoPlus.21 optimise data discovery and analysis by 

rapidly contextualising large volumes of information to help 

engineers identify relevant information and drawing meaningful 

conclusions. In addition, these new features simplify finding and 

evaluating specific production events to improve operations. 

Other key enhancements in the new release of Aspen 

InfoPlus.21, include online training, integrated aggregation and 

compliance tools, a new batch data Microsoft Excel add-in, and 

added support for SharePoint 2010 and Excel services. 

Aspen Online Training provides ‘on demand access’ to focused 

training modules directly within the product, to fulfill important 

performance management requirements, while reducing 

implementation and maintenance costs. 

The new integrated aggregation and compliance tools 

increase user productivity by providing commonly used 

functionality such as out-of-the-box statistical computations, 

excursion and event alerts. 

The new batch data Excel add-in simplifies data extraction 

and expands self-service analytics. The more efficient workflow 

between Aspen Production Record Manager software and 

Excel helps users spend less time collecting information and 

more time analysing, to achieve greater business value. 

Added support for SharePoint 2010 and Excel Services 

expands information accessibility and encourages collaboration 

to increase operational insight. Enhanced visualisation 

and improved navigation provides better ‘in context’ data. 

Distribution of parameterised reports with automatic updates 

upon recall makes information available instantly for real-time 

analysis to support faster decision-making.

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