NUSS bids farewell to Suntec City Guild House for the

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If only we can tap on the full potential
of renewable energy, we can save
both money and the environment.
Wind energy would not work for
us because wind speed in Singapore
is too weak to generate power
efficiently. Nuclear energy is also not
feasible because our land area is too
small and too populated. Our only
hope is the sun.
The Housing and Development
Board (HDB) first experimented with
solar energy in 2008 before using it to
power common facilities such as lifts
and corridors at Punggol, Singapore’s
first eco-town. More extensive use is
being tested under the solar leasing
project, says Mr Alan Tan, Director
of Environmental Sustainability
Research, Building Research Institute,
HDB. “The aim of this model is to
fuel existing research on solar power
generation for the tropics, and to
develop the solar industry further.”
Though sunlight is free, the
installation of solar photovoltaic
panels is costly. In addition, there
is the cost of investing in backup
power in case of a solar power dip.
However, with improvements in
photovoltaics technology, industry
observers are optimistic that solar
energy may become cheaper as costs
of manufacturing solar cells drop.
save energy and the
environment
With the challenges we face in energy
resources, it is important to use energy
efficiently across all sectors. In
power generation, up to 75 percent
saving is achieved through cogeneration
and trigeneration by recycling
waste energy to provide heat, electricity
and cooling. Energy saving is
also preached to the heartland since
households consume 90 percent of
Singapore’s total energy consumption.
“Only 10 percent is used to power
the common areas such as lifts and
lights,” says Mr Tan.
HDB has rolled out several initiatives
to educate residents on green
habits that contribute to a lower
electricity bill and CO2 emission levels
due to lesser fuel combustion. Under
the Mandatory Energy Labelling
Scheme (MELS), consumers can also
make more informed choices when
purchasing appliances as they are
10 THE GRADUATE Oct-Dec 2012
“Think of the case of a landlord installing an
energy-efficient but expensive air-conditioner, and
the tenant enjoying lower electricity cost every
month. While one may argue that the landlord can
charge a higher monthly rental because
of the energy-efficient air-conditioner,
in practice this seldom works.
Associate Professor Chai Kah Hin
Department of Industrial and Systems
engineering, NUS
labelled with their energy performance.
Indirectly, the scheme pressures
manufacturers to design products that
outperform their competitors in term
of energy efficiency.
To encourage conscious use of
energy, Singapore also chooses not to
subsidy energy costs. “This is in contrast
with several countries in ASEAN
which typically subsidise fuels and
electricity, and hence have poor
records in promoting energy efficiency,”
says Dr Tilak K Doshi, Principal
Fellow & Head, Energy Economics
Division, Energy Studies Institute.
Dr Tilak mentioned that more can
be done to raise energy efficiency,
such as promoting “higher technical
standards” for buildings, better
labelling for appliances and taxing
automobiles based on their carbon
emission level. However, there is
a caveat, he adds, “It should be
noted that in all these initiatives, it
is important that their costs do not
exceed the benefits to be derived from
improving energy efficiency.”
The biggest stumbling block
with investing in energy efficiency
is its high upfront cost and long
payback period. These are not all
as Associate Professor Chai Kah
Hin, Department of Industrial and
Systems Engineering, NUS, noted,
“In some countries, it is possible for a
manufacturer to borrow money from
a bank or a special financial agency to
finance the investment of expensive
and energy-intensive equipment,
with the future energy savings shared
between the two entities. However,
implementing such a scheme is not
easy because of the difficulty in
determining the baseline from which
future savings will be calculated and
shared.” In making his point clearer,
A/Prof Chai draws up a scenario.
“Think of the case of a landlord installing
an energy-efficient but expen-
sive air-conditioner, and the tenant
enjoying lower electricity cost every
month. While one may argue that the
landlord can charge a higher monthly
rental because of the energy-efficient
air-conditioner, in practice this seldom
works.” So regulation, A/Prof Chai
says, would overcome such problems.
“In the case of air-conditioners, government
may need to ensure that only
those products which meet certain
minimum energy-efficiency standards
can be sold in the market.” The Minimum
Energy Performance Standards
(MEPS) serves this purpose but right
now, it only covers refrigerators and
air-conditioners.
Greening our skyline
If not for the green walls or the roof
gardens, green buildings are hard to
distinguish from other buildings. Maybe
the low-E windows (windowpanes
that have a special metal coating
or low-E ‘emissivity’ coating which
reduces the transfer of heat or cold
through glass) and sun shading are
tell-tale signs but their water-saving
feature, energy efficient air-conditioner,
natural ventilation and natural
lighting are less obvious. These
features are the must-haves for all
new buildings since 2010 - a mandate
under the Green Mark Certification
established by the Building and Construction
Authority (BCA). Buildings
use 16 percent of our total electricity
consumption. And because studies
have demonstrated saving up to 30
percent for energy efficient buildings,
the emphasis of the rating is hence on
energy efficiency.
BCA targets to green 80 percent
of the buildings in Singapore by
2030. To encourage developers to
go green, BCA has enhanced its
Green Mark Incentive Scheme for
Existing Buildings (GMIS-EB) with
co-funding of up to 50 percent for