On 5 September 2018, SMU was among more than 10 organisations to have pledged to achieve at least one super low energy project in the next five years.

Announced by Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, at the opening of the Singapore Green Building Week 2018, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has launched the Super Low Energy (SLE) Programme to push the envelope of environmental sustainability in Singapore. As part of the SLE Programme, a voluntary certification framework for SLE buildings, based on the BCA Green Mark scheme, has been rolled out.

“Since the very beginning, SMU’s continuous pursuit in the area of sustainability has led to this significant feat today where all its buildings, including student residences, have attained the highest operation certification of Green Mark Platinum. With every new development on its campus, SMU has raised the bar in sustainability. BCA’s challenge to build at least one new Super Low Energy building in the next 5 years gives SMU a great opportunity to push this sustainability bar even higher,” said Mr Sundar.

Caption: (L-R) Ms Bharathy G Shanmugam, Deputy Director of OCIS; SMU President Prof Arnoud De Meyer; Mr Sundaravadivelan Selvam, Vice President of OCIS; and Mr James Jian, Senior Associate Director of OCIS, with BCA’s appreciation certificate to SMU for participating in the BCA Super Low Energy Challenge.

The BCA Green Mark for SLE targets new and existing non-residential buildings such as offices, institutions and schools. The new scheme aims to encourage industry to push boundaries on energy efficiency to achieve best-in-class building energy performance in a cost effective manner.

SMU’s sustainability journey

On the following day of the conference, 6 September 2018, SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer presented SMU’s sustainability journey at the conference Spotlight Plenary, themed - A Low Carbon Beautiful Environment. The presentation was well received by the participants comprising of thought leaders, policymakers, practitioners in the built environment sector, international green building experts, academics, tenants and end-users, including members of the public and students.

In the same event, the project architect Mr John McLaughlin of MKPL Architects Pte Ltd also shared the design thought process behind SMU’s Tahir Foundation Connexion (TFC) building and elaborated on its key design features and initiatives which upon completion in 2019 will be the first Green Mark Platinum and on-site net zero energy building in the city centre. It will be built using mass engineered timber (MET), employ solar panels to produce green energy and various smart control systems and sensors for building to efficiently operate at optimum energy levels. It will meet the WELL standard and be a super low energy building (SLE). With an estimated energy use intensity (EUI) of 58.6kWh/sqm/year, it will be 45% more efficient than the Green Mark Platinum standard.

Caption: Moderator: Ar. Ms Leong-Kok Su Ming (extreme left), Deputy Managing Director of BCA Academy engaged the panellists on spotlight plenary’s topic – A low carbon beautiful built environment. (L-R) Ar. Tail Lee Siang, Immediate Past Chair, World Green Building Council; SMU President Prof Arnoud De Meyer; and Ar. Mr John McLaughlin, Director of MKPL Architects Pte Ltd.

In the event’s panel discussion, Ar. Tai Lee Siang - one of the most influential green building advocates, shared the global long term targets to combat climate change. He mentioned, “For our industry to stay competitive, collectively we also need to aim for higher standards beyond Green Mark Platinum. SMU-X/ TFC is an exemplary project that does just that within the city centre requiring strong leadership from the client and architect in order for this to be realised”.

Since SMU’s establishment in 2000 and the opening of the City Campus in 2005, it has committed to the sustainable development of a clean, green and healthy environment for SMU students, faculty and staff as well as neighbouring communities, businesses, residents and visitors.

Since moving to the City Campus, SMU’s green journey involved improving energy and water efficiency as well as other initiatives which led to various Green Mark Certifications, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Singapore Standards (SS), including:

• ISO 50001 Energy Management System Certification
• SS577 Water Efficiency Management System Certificate
• SS564 Green Data Centre Environmental and Energy Management System Certificate
• Green Mark Platinum Certification for its campus schools and buildings

The University made considerable progress in reducing energy and water consumption even with the addition of new Campus Green and School of Law, which greatly enlarged the campus, and despite the student population almost doubling between 2006 and 2017. In terms of energy savings, SMU saved 49,910,249kWh (equates to energy cost savings of approx. $10.8M) over the decade, this is equivalent to the energy consumption by 850 five-room HDB flats for 10 years. For water, 142,000 cubic metres (equates to water cost savings of approx. $305K) was saved between 2011-2017, equivalent to 57 Olympic-size swimming pools. Adoption of various initiatives and measures led to the reduction in overall energy and water consumption by 30.6% (from the baseline year 2006) and 18% (from the baseline year 2011), respectively.

Moving forward, the following are SMU’s sustainability targets between 2017-2020, including:

• Total smoke free campus from 1 January 2018
• Largest solar plant in city centre (1.35 MWp) by 2019
• Reduction in energy intensity by 40%, by 2020
• Reduction in water index by 30%, by 2020
• Adopt WELL standards and enhance internal greenery by 50%, by 2020
• Enhance recycling of items by 10%, by 2020
• Use of Mass Engineered Timber (MET) & similar sustainable construction materials
• Enhanced Passive Displacement Cooling (EPDC) & Smart Controls
• Life cycle based green procurement

Summary of awards garnered by SMU’s sustainability efforts:

• 2005: LIAS Award of Excellence – Gold Award

- by Landscape Industry Association of Singapore (Campus)

• 2010: Green Mark Platinum

- by Building & Construction Authority (Admin Building)

• 2011: Green Mark Gold

- by Building & Construction Authority (Campus)

• 2014: Water Efficient Building – Gold Award

- by PUB (Campus)

• 2015: Green Mark Platinum

- by Building & Construction Authority (Campus)

• 2016: Community in Bloom Awards - Gold

– by National Parks Board

• 2016: Excellence in Energy Management

- by National Environment Agency (Campus)

• 2016: Leadership in Sustainable Design & Performance Award

- by Singapore Green Building Council and Building & Construction Authority (Campus)

• 2016: ASEAN Best Practices Award-Energy Efficient Regional Buildings

- by ASEAN Centre for Energy (Campus)

• 2017: Cities of Love Awards 2017

- by Inception (Environment Category)

• 2018: Community in Bloom Awards - Gold

– by National Parks Board

• 2018: Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards – Merit Winner

- by Singapore Environment Council

• 2018: ASEAN Best Practices Award-Energy Efficient Regional Buildings (Shortlisted) - - by ASEAN Centre for Energy (SMU Law School)

Featured photo: Minister Lawrence Wong (fourth from right) with SMU President Prof Arnoud De Meyer (second from right) and representatives of other organisations who have pledged to achieve at least one super low energy project in the next five years. [Photo: BCA]