‘3for2’ concept in Singapore signals new phase in green building
A new building concept is being developed and implemented in Singapore which could see offices consume 40 per cent less energy than the national average and lead to significantly improved energy efficiency in the region
A new building concept is being developed and implemented in Singapore which could see offices consume 40 per cent less energy than the national average and lead to significantly improved energy efficiency in the region.
Singapore-ETH Centre Future Cities Laboratory (SEC FCL) and the United World College South East Asia (UWCSEA) have formed a new partnership and are looking to develop the first commercial project to use the new concept ‘3for2’.
The concept enables developers to construct three floors in the space normally occupied by two, through the use of new technologies and will be used in a new UWCSEA high school building.
As well as saving space it will lead to reduced energy use, incorporating more efficient and space-saving air conditioning systems and LED lighting panels.
The UWCSEA school building is scheduled for completion by mid 2015.
Approximately 60 per cent of electricity consumption in Singapore is due to air-cooling in offices, and the new design could significantly improve the city state’s energy efficiency.
Prof Arno Schlüter, leader of the 3for2 project said: “If a new set of solutions for air-conditioning and lighting could halve both space and energy requirements, we could achieve significant savings to building material costs and energy bills. This combined cost savings potential has been largely untapped by the green buildings sector thus far.”
The concept will also be implemented at UWCSEA’s Dover Campus in western Singapore.
The Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) is a transdisciplinary research programme focused on sustainable urbanisation and is the first research programme of the Singapore-ETH Centre for Global Environmental Sustainability (SEC). It is home to a community of over 100 PhD, postdoctoral and Professorial researchers working on diverse themes related to future cities and environmental sustainability. SEC was established as a collaboration between the National Research Foundation of Singapore and ETH Zurich in 2010.
