GREENINGOFTHEURBANJUNGLE

SINGAPORE IS KNOWN FOR URBAN PLANNING AND URBAN RENEWAL, BUT THE CITY STATE IS HARDLY FAMOUS FOR BEING ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS. However, just because it does not take up mindshare does not mean that we don't have green initiatives. Especially in the Public Service, populated as it is, in the public mind, by grey men and women.

One need not be a tree-hugging eco-warrior to be kind to the environment, as our Public Service has shown, time and again.

Spearheading the nation's eco-friendly efforts is the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), which has risen to the global warming and climate change challenge by formulating the National Climate Change Strategy.

There are three basic ways to combat climate change: increasing the use of cleaner fuels; increasing energy efficiency; and growing forests, which act as carbon sinks.

"Increasing carbon sinks at a significant scale is not feasible because of our limited land area," notes Mr Daryl Sng, Deputy Director (Climate Change), Strategic Policy Division with the MEWR, as he explains how Singapore plans to tackle the climate change conundrum.

However, Singapore has switched the bulk of its power supply from oil to natural gas. Almost 80 per cent of our electricity generation comes from natural gas, which is "a lot less carbon intensive".

Energy efficiency

Another key part of the strategy is energy efficiency. "You don't use electricity for the sake of using it," observes Mr Sng, "but to deliver services, provide light, for cooking, etc. With technology and the way you operate it, you can get the same amount of light from a five watt compact fluorescent lamp as a traditional 25 watt incandescent lamp, so one is a much more efficient way of getting light."

Indeed, there are a lot of ways to be more energy efficient, and it doesn't mean compromising on your quality of life.

E2 Singapore is the national energy efficiency plan. Led by the National Environment Agency (NEA), it seeks to improve our energy efficiency in five areas: Power generation, industry, buildings, transport and households. NEA also introduced a $50 million Sustainable Energy Fund in 2008 to build competency in energy management and support the programmes under E2 Singapore.

Power generation plants are becoming more productive, and as mentioned, have changed their fuel source to natural gas. Through the Sustainable Energy Fund, programmes will be introduced to help design new industrial facilities in an energy-efficient manner and to encourage industries to adopt efficient technologies and equipment.

As a city, it is imperative for Singapore to create a sustainable built-up environment by improving energy efficiency, water conservation and waste minimisation in our buildings. Buildings consume about 30 per cent of the country's electricity and generate large amounts of waste.

Environment-friendly buildings

To address this pressing need, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) formulated its Green Building Masterplan, including a slew of initiatives to encourage the development of environment-friendly buildings. In January 2005, BCA rolled out the Green Mark for Buildings programme to drive home the importance of creating green buildings in Singapore.

Under the Green Mark assessment system, existing buildings as well as those under construction are rated for their environmental impact, with regard to management and maintenance.

Buildings are judged on energy and water efficiency, project development and management of new buildings (building management and operations for existing buildings), indoor environmental quality and environmental innovations.

Projects deemed environment friendly are given Green Mark Platinum, Green Mark Gold plus, Green Mark Gold, Green-Mark-Certified awards. To date, about 73 projects have been recognised, among them the National Library Building, Republic Polytechnic, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Nanyang Polytechnic.

As of 15 April 2007, all new and existing government buildings above 5,000 sq m or those undergoing major retrofitting must be Green Mark certified. Since January 2007, all new public housing developments launched by HDB must be similarly certified.

Besides the public sector, a $20 million Green Mark Incentive Scheme was launched in December 2006 to get private sector buildings to aim for Green Mark certification.

One main research focus of the fund is green-building technology. Schemes to promote energy-efficient industrial facilities are available to help companies build factories in an energy-efficient manner, and to engage consultants to retrofit existing buildings.

"Energy-efficient buildings save a significant amount," points out Mr Sng. "A Green-Mark-certified building costs only 0.3 to 1 per cent more than a regular building, and these upfront costs can be made back in two to six years. Existing buildings can also achieve energy efficiency improvements." For its part, the government, as a consumer of energy, is taking the lead in energy efficiency by making all its buildings do energy audits. In Singapore, Nanyang Polytechnic realised savings of about $2 million in five years through green features in its air conditioning, landscape lighting and watering system.

Zero Energy Building

As an example of what is possible in the greening of our buildings, the BCA set up its flagship Zero Energy Building (ZEB) research and development project, in which S$10 million will be spent to retrofit an existing building to incorporate the latest energy-efficient inventions.

Solar panels will provide for the building's electricity needs. The 3,000 sq m building in Braddell, which will be completed in 2009, will also be 60 per cent more energy efficient than current buildings.

"It's always a risk for the developer to look into the use of very new technologies which are energy efficient," said Associate Professor Lee Siew Eang of the NUS Department of Building. "We need to have a facility like this where we can test bed such technologies. Once the risks and problems are resolved and demonstrated to be working over a period of time, developers would be happy and much more likely to undertake this kind of venture."

The test-bedding and research process will take two to three years, after which the findings will be shared with the construction industry.

On the transportation front, more MRT lines are being rolled out, with Thomson and East Coast lines in the pipeline. Fuel economy labels will be introduced for all vehicles in 2009, so that drivers can see how many kilometres to the litre each car uses. "Hopefully, it will make people choose more fuel-efficient cars," says Mr Sng.

People will also be educated on good energy habits. As most of us don't really know what the heavy energy consumers are, or how to cut down on consumption, we can make a difference once we learn. While the fridge can't be turned off, for example, we can buy more energy-efficient models for about the same price as less efficient ones. The same goes for air conditioning, which could also be used less often, or set at less cold levels. Turning the thermostat up from 22 to 25 degree Celsius could result in almost 10 per cent energy savings. Another big waste of energy is standby power, where televisions, microwave ovens, and handphone chargers are left plugged in and turned on when not in use - that clock blinking through the night on so many of our microwave ovens costs money.

Perhaps the most important change would be in getting people to think long term rather than to look at initial costs.

"People look at the upfront cost of the appliance they use," notes Mr Sng, citing the reluctance of some to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs, which cost more than traditional incandescent ones, though they last longer. However, he points out that "within a year, you make back the energy costs if you use it for three hours a day".