Singapore Management University has won the ASEAN Best Practices Awards for Energy Efficient Buildings (Retrofitted Building Category) at the ASEAN Energy Awards 2016 Ceremony which was held during the 34th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) Gala Dinner on 21 September 2016 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

This is the first time SMU has won a regional award for energy management.

The annual awards aim to promote regional cooperation on energy efficiency and profile the efforts of the private sector in energy management.

Mr Goh Thiang Hock, Director of SMU Office of Facilities Management (OFM), received the award from H.E. Mr. Viraphonh Viravong, Vice Minister, Ministry of Energy and Mines, Lao PDR.

Mr Goh said, “We are proud to be conferred the ASEAN award. Credit for the award should be given to the dedication, resourcefulness and painstaking efforts of the OFM team, who designed and seamlessly carried out the retrofitting exercise for the entire centralised Campus Chilled Water Plant. The Centralised Plant provides air-conditioning for the whole campus, including the critical Data Centres which operate on a 24/7 basis.

“We would like to thank Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority for the advice and incentive grants accorded to SMU for this project, to make possible the careful implementation of the challenging Retrofitting Project in the midst of an on-going campus environment without disruption to the University’s daily operations.

“The Chilled Water Retrofitting exercise has improved the system efficiency of the plant by 34%, from the average efficiency of 0.8 kW/RT to 0.5 kW/RT. For reference, the benchmarked average plant efficiency level for a Green Mark Platinum Building is 0.65kW/RT.

“The Chilled Water Plant Retrofitting exercise is part of the OFM efforts to review, select and improve operational efficiencies of systems and processes in SMU. The goal is to provide a clean, comfortable and secure functional environment in SMU, to support the University's teaching, research and student activities in a most cost effective and sustainable manner.”

In early September 2016, SMU won the inaugural “Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance Award – Institutional sub-category, which was jointly conferred by the Singapore Green Building Council and the Building and Construction Authority.

[Featured photo: Mr Goh Thiang Hock (front, right), Director of SMU Office of Facilities Management, received the award at the ASEAN Energy Awards 2016 Ceremony.] (Photo: Ministry of Electricity & Energy, Myanmar)