Channel NewsAsia 4 Mar 16;
SINGAPORE: To help power sustainable light festival i Light Marina Bay, a record 73 buildings and organisations around Marina Bay pledged their support for a campaign to switch off non-essential lighting and turn up air-conditioning temperatures throughout the festival period, organiser Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced on Friday (Mar 4).
The energy savings from the campaign "Switch Off, Turn Up", will be used to offset the power consumption of the light art installations at the festival, which features 25 local and international light art installations and runs from Friday to Mar 27.
Many of the installations were also designed with sustainability in mind. For example, Lampshade by Snøhetta, Norway comprises solar-powered light bulbs that will be donated to off-grid communities after the festival and a simple bamboo structure that will be dismantled and recycled as construction scaffolding.
URA festival director and director for Place Management Jason Chen said the campaign shows how sustainability can resonate at the organisational and individual level.
"The festival is not only a platform to showcase works from the local and international art scene; it also aims to get people thinking about a sustainable future," he said.
"We hope i Light Marina Bay and this initiative, in particular, can influence us to change some of our behaviour and encourage more to join us in the push for sustainability.”
The festival also coincides with the annual Earth Hour on Mar 19, 8.30pm to 9.30pm, when buildings across the nation will switch off their lights for one hour to raise awareness for climate change. The light art installations at the festival will also be switched off during this hour, organisers said.
Beyond the display of artworks, the organisers said the festival seeks to elevate the discourse of sustainability with i Light Symposium 2016, a dialogue which gathers thought leaders from various fields and industries to provide insights and discussions on the topic of light, in relation to the city and its people.
Other sustainability-themed activities include an LED light bulb exchange, where visitors can bring used incandescent bulbs and exchange them for new energy-saving LED light bulbs, and a hands-on workshop for children where they will be able to make lanterns and installations out of recyclable materials, URA added.
- CNA/mz
