Bukit Panjang CC recognised for green features

LOUISA TANG Today Online 27 Jul 17;

SINGAPORE — Bukit Panjang Community Club (CC) has become the first upgraded community club to be certified Green Mark Gold Plus, following the implementation of a raft of green features, such as a real-time energy monitoring platform.

The Green Mark scheme is used by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to evaluate the environmental impact of a building’s facilities and operations. While some of the newly built community clubs have been awarded the Gold Plus — the second-highest rating after the Green Mark Platinum — Bukit Panjang CC is the first existing community club to receive the certification.

Its digital monitoring platform, developed by grid operator SP Group, tracks electricity use in various locations within the community club and alerts staff to potential energy wastage, with the aid of more than 50 sensors. For example, staff members, who can access the platform through an online software, are able to check if they have forgotten to switch off any appliances after they have left their offices for the day.

The platform has already helped the community club to save 31 per cent on energy consumption. It also collects baseline data on energy use in the building for future analysis.

The platform was part of a pilot project at Bukit Panjang CC that was carried out between last October and May this year. Under the pilot, SP Group also installed 150 solar panels on the building’s roof, which has saved about 20 per cent on energy consumption.

In total, the community club has saved about 50 per cent on energy consumption, from using about 30,000 kilowatts a month to about 15,000 kilowatts.

Dr Teo Ho Pin, mayor of North West District, said that the goal is to reduce energy consumption at the CC by 10 per cent every year. The coffee shop in the community club will also go green by the end of the year.

“Our hope is that one day, we are able to help our CCs to go towards a zero-energy building. As we increase the usage of our CC premises and facilities, you’ll find that there is more demand for energy, so it is important for us to explore new technology,” he added.

Other green features at the CC include new water fittings, such as half-flush buttons for toilet cisterns and sensors for urinals and toilet bowls.

The community club has also changed all its light fixtures to LED lights, which are more energy-efficient, and replaced old air-conditioning units with energy-saving fan-coil units and cooling units.

There are plans to transform 16 other community clubs in the district to become energy-efficient as well, with six of them to be upgraded by 2020.