Britain ignored risk of whale extinction in rush for oil and gas

Geoffrey Lean, The Independent 13 Apr 08;

Documents that government fought for three years to keep secret reveal warnings of devastation to wildlife

Britain agreed to bankroll controversial drilling for oil and gas, despite a warning from its own officials of the "potentially devastating effects" on a critically endangered species of whale. The decision to flout their own experts' advice is revealed in deeply embarrassing documents the Government fought for three years to keep secret.

The documents – finally released last week under the Freedom of Information Act after a High Court ruling – warn that the drilling, off Sakhalin Island in the far east of Russia, could cause the extinction of one of the world's most vulnerable populations of the marine mammals.

Nevertheless, the Government's powerful export credits and guarantees department (ECGD), which provides support to the exports industry, agreed to help back the $20bn (£10bn) project by Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, in which Shell has a major share.

The project, now nearing completion, is to exploit a "world-class oil and gas province" off the island, which is so remote that the playwright Anton Chekhov, who visited it in 1893, called it "the end of the world".

The same waters are the only known feeding ground for western grey whales. Only about 120 of them survive and they are listed as "critically endangered". Scientists say the death of just one of the breeding females each year for three years would be enough to lead to the species' extinction.

Yet in March 2004, the ECGD wrote to the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company to say it had approved conditional support for several UK contracts for the project. This flew in the face of warnings from both the Foreign Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The contracts were revealed only after the High Court last month ordered the ECGD to release them – although Friends of the Earth formally requested the documents under the Freedom of Information Act three years ago.

The documents show that, on 14 March 2003, Defra flagged "substantial concerns about this project". It said it had "significant worries about the possible impacts" on the endangered species, and that "any losses are likely to be significant to its future", adding it was "also concerned about the longer-term impacts on this population of disturbances caused by mining and explosions, or of oil spills".

The document states that oil spills were "potentially devastating" to the local environment, and logged "significant concerns" that a pipeline from the project could "interfere" with salmon stocks. It also questioned whether there were "adequate measures" for waste disposal.

It did note that the project could have some benefit in combating global warming because it would supply gas to a region that depends on more polluting coal, but concluded: "Our preliminary view is that the potentially devastating effects of this project on the local environment, and in particular on an endangered population of whales and biodiversity in a sparsely populated region are not compensated for by the positive effect of this project on the global climate."

The Foreign Office also said that "the potential negative environmental impacts, in particular of oil spills and on the western grey whale population, may be significant".

Regardless of such concerns, the Department of Trade and Industry, predecessor to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, said at the time it had "no concerns at this stage".

Two environmental groups – WWF and The Corner House – took the ECGD's decision to judicial review and last month the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company withdrew its request for backing.

Yesterday, Phil Michaels, head of legal for Friends of the Earth, said: "It is shameful ECGD should even consider supporting such a project and even more so that it should keep official warnings of the consequences secret for so long."

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70% of Indonesia's mangrove forests damaged: minister

Antara 15 Apr 08;

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Forestry Minister MS Kaban said here on Tuesday Indonesia had 9.4 million hectares of mangroves but about 70 percent of them were in damaged condition.

"We have limited human and funding resources to rehabilitate and restore the damaged mangroves and to stop the process of their destruction," the minister said when inaugurating a mangrove information center building here on Tuesday.

He said lack of understanding among local people about the importance of the mangrove ecosystem had helped speed up mangrove forest degradation.

The minister said mangrove forests were performing an important function in preventing land abrasion by sea waves and tsunamis. "Mangroves can also serve as a source of wood for human beings and as habitats for other creatures," he said.

South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Sun Jin Lee, Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, Aceh Military Commander Maj Gen Supiadin, Aceh Police Chief Insp Gen Rismawan, Head of the Aceh Prosecutors` Office Abdul Jalil Mansur and other local government officials attended the function.(*)

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Eritrea Coral reefs: Hope for global marine future

Weather online 15 Apr 08;

SHEIKH SEID, Eritrea, April 15, 2008 (AFP) - Silver bubbles pop to the surface as a snorkeler glides over a colourful coral reef, bright fish speeding to safety in its protective fronds.

Experts say this small Horn of Africa nation has some of the most pristine coral reefs left anywhere worldwide, a "global hotspot" for marine diversity supporting thousands of species.

Known also as Green Island for its thick cover of mangroves, Sheikh Seid is only one of 354 largely uninhabited islands scattered along Eritrea's southern Red Sea desert coast, many part of Eritrea's Dahlak archipelago.

The remote reefs are exciting scientists, who see in Eritrea's waters a chance of hope amidst increasingly bleak predictions for the future of coral reefs -- if sea temperatures rise as forecast due to global climate change.

Unlike the deeper, cooler waters elsewhere in the Red Sea, Eritrea's large expanses of shallow -- and therefore hotter -- waters have created corals uniquely capable of coping with extremes of heat, scientists say.

"Eritrea has the most temperature tolerant corals in the world," said marine expert Dr John 'Charlie' Veron, dubbed the "king of coral" for his discovery of more than a fifth of all coral species. "That bodes well, for climate change is set to decimate coral reefs."

Leading scientists warn that most reefs -- vital for the massive levels of marine life that depend upon them and a crucial component of coastal economies -- will be largely extinct by the end of the century unless greenhouse gas emissions are curbed.

They say many will be killed by mass "bleaching" and irreversible acidification of seawater caused by the absorption of carbon dioxide into surface waters, with at least 20 per cent of coral reefs worldwide already feared lost.

But with Eritrea's surface water in summer an average bathwater temperature of 32.5 C (90.5 F) -- reportedly peaking at a sweltering 37C (98.6 F) -- corals here have evolved to survive in an environment that would kill others elsewhere in the world.

Eritrea's isolation due to long years of bloody war with neighbour Ethiopia, combined with minimal tourist numbers and government efforts to protect the coastline, have left much of the country's extensive coral reefs untouched.

"Around most of the world, especially Asian and African coastlines of the Indian Ocean, coral reefs have been plundered in one way or another, the most damaging activity being explosive fishing," added Veron, former chief scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

"The reefs of Eritrea look as if they have been in a time warp -- they have not been touched." On a recent three-week diving expedition along Eritrea's 3,300 kilometres (2,046 miles) of mainland and island coastline, Veron found five species new to science -- something the scientist described as "most unusual".

"Eritrea probably has the richest suite of corals of the Red Sea, and its 'coral gardens' are in exceptionally good condition," he added.

Such findings have encouraged ambitious plans offering hope for the future of reefs worldwide, with some believing that Eritrea's corals offer a potential nursery for future "re-planting".

Alain Jeudy de Grissac, a French marine scientist who has spent the past three years diving along Eritrea's coast, believes small coral buds -- comparable to taking cuttings from plants -- could be placed in areas where coral has died by sea temperature increases.

"The coral here is already well accustomed to high temperatures for long periods of time," Jeudy said, a former technical advisor to Eritrea's marine conservation body.

"If you seed the coral it would spread out... it would of course take some time, but they could occupy the area left by others."

The principle of re-seeding coral, or "ecological restoration", has already proved successful, Jeudy added. "It has already been done in the case of accidents, such as if a ship grounds and the coral is crushed," he said. "Testing would be needed, as this would be a totally new concept for coral reef researchers, but it could be one future of coral survival for many countries."

It also offers a potentially lucrative opportunity for tourists. Veron pointed out that just north of Eritrea, visitors to Egypt's Red Sea reefs generate more cash than visitors to its famous archaeological sites.

"The Eritrean reefs are a tourist industry gold mine waiting to be opened," Veron said.

Eritrean tourism still has far to go, hampered both by concerns of renewed conflict with Ethiopia, and reports by human rights groups that the military regime is guilty of widespread abuses.

However, the government says it is deeply committed to conservation, with Dr Woldai Futur, Eritrea's minister for national development, calling climate change the "most challenging global issue", which, if not addressed, would have "catastrophic consequences".

On Sheikh Seid, planned to be Eritrea's first marine protected area, those snorkeling over the reefs are excited by the sights beneath the waves. "The colours are fantastic," one swimmer said, emerging out of the sparkling blue water. "The fish are all around me."

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Coral flourishing at Bikini Atoll atomic test site

Rob Taylor, Reuters 15 Apr 08;

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Coral is again flourishing in the crater left by the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United States, 54 years after the blast on Bikini Atoll, marine scientists said on Tuesday.

A team of research divers visited Bravo crater, ground zero for the test of a thermonuclear weapon in the remote Marshall Islands on March 1, 1954, and found large numbers of fish and coral growing, although some species appeared locally extinct.

"I didn't know what to expect, some kind of moonscape perhaps. But it was incredible," Zoe Richards, from Australia's James Cook University, told Reuters about the team's trip to the atoll in the south Pacific.


"We saw communities not too far from any coral reef, with plenty of fish, corals and action going on, some really striking individual colonies," she said.

The 15 megatonne hydrogen bomb was 1,000 times more powerful than the blast which destroyed Hiroshima, vaporizing islands with temperatures hitting 99,000 Fahrenheit, and shaking islands even up to 124 miles away.

The resulting 4 mile-wide fireball left a crater 1 mile across and 80 yards deep, while the mushroom cloud rose 62 miles over the South Pacific and radioactive fallout reached Australia and Japan.

Richards, from the Australian government-backed Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said the research team from Germany, Italy, Hawaii, Australia and the Marshall Islands found corals up to 9 yards high and some with 12 inch-thick trunks.

"It was fascinating. I've never seen corals growing like trees outside of the Marshall Islands," Richards said.

While above-water areas remained contaminated and unfit for human habitation, healthy sub-sea species probably traveled on strong winds and currents from nearby Rongelap Atoll, which was not bombed in a series of 23 tests between 1946-58.

"It is absolutely pristine for another tragic reason. It received fallout and was evacuated of people, so now underwater it's really healthy and prevailing winds have probably been seeding Bikini Atoll's recovery," Richards said.

Compared with a study made before the atomic tests, the team established that 42 species were missing compared to the early 1950s, with at least 28 of those locally extinct.

The team was asked by Marshall Islands authorities to investigate Bikini for the first time since the tests, in part to see if a small diving industry could safely be expanded.

The waters around Bikini are littered with wrecks of old , decommissioned ships sunk during the atomic tests, including the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and the former Japanese flagship HIJMS Nagato, from which Admiral Yamoto gave the order to attack Pearl Harbour.

Richards said the ability of Bikini's corals to bounce back from "a single huge destructive event" was proof of their resilience, although that did not mean the threat to corals from climate change had been overestimated.

"Climate change is an ongoing struggle to survive with coral, with no reprieve in sight," she said. "After the atomic blasts they had 50 years undisturbed to recover."


Marine life flourishes at Bikini Atoll test site

By Nick Squires in Sydney
Last Updated: 6:01pm BST 15/04/2008

It was blasted by the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United States but half a century on, Bikini Atoll supports a stunning array of tropical coral, scientists have found.

In 1954 the South Pacific atoll was rocked by a 15 megatonne hydrogen bomb 1,000 times more powerful than the explosives dropped on Hiroshima.

The explosion shook islands more than 100 miles away, generated a wave of heat measuring 99,000ºF and spread mist-like radioactive fallout as far as Japan and Australia.

But, much to the surprise of a team of research divers who explored the area, the mile-wide crater left by the detonation has made a remarkable recovery and is now home to a thriving underwater ecosystem.

Bravo crater was ground zero for the test of the thermonuclear warhead on Bikini Atoll, in the remote Marshall Islands.

"I didn't know what to expect, some kind of moonscape perhaps. But it was incredible," Zoe Richards, from James Cook University in Australia, said. "We saw … plenty of fish, corals and action going on, some really striking individual colonies."

The scientists - from Australia, the US, Germany, Italy and the Marshall Islands - found corals up to 24 ft high with 10 inch thick trunks.

While surrounding islands remain contaminated and unfit for human habitation, healthy marine species were probably propelled by strong winds and currents from nearby Rongelap Atoll, which was not bombed in the atomic tests of 1946-58.

"The team thinks that Rongelap Atoll is potentially seeding Bikini's recovery because it is the second-largest atoll in the world with a huge amount of coral reef diversity and biomass and lies upstream from Bikini," said Ms Richards, from the government-backed Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

While much marine life had been re-established, the researchers found that at least 28 species of coral previously found in the area had become locally extinct.

The team was commissioned by the Marshall Islands government to investigate Bikini for the first time since the tests, partly to see if a small diving industry could safely be expanded.

The waters around Bikini are littered with wrecks of World War Two decommissioned ships sunk during the tests, including the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and the former Japanese flagship HIJMS Nagato, from which Admiral Yamoto gave the order to attack Pearl Harbour.

Ms Richards said the ability of Bikini's corals to bounce back from "a single huge destructive event" was proof of their resilience.

That did not mean, however, that the threat to coral reefs around the world from climate change had been overstated.

"Climate change is an ongoing struggle to survive with coral, with no reprieve in sight," she said. "After the atomic blasts they had 50 years undisturbed to recover."

The US Navy evacuated the inhabitants of Bikini in March 1946. At the time a US Navy Commodore told the islanders that the US was trying to learn how to use nuclear weapons for the good of mankind and asked them to "sacrifice their islands for the welfare of all men".

The Bikini islanders were moved by the US Navy three times. After nearly starving to death on the first island they were sent to, the population ended up on Kili Island in 1948, where they have lived since.

Numerous surveys of Bikini have concluded that the atoll is still not safe for human habitation.

(Editing by Michael Perry and Sanjeev Miglani)

Related links

More photos on the National Geographic News site

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Poisonous algae bloom threatens giant Chinese lake

Yahoo News 15 Apr 08;

A pollution-linked algae bloom has reappeared in China's third-largest lake, prompting renewed fears for the drinking water supplies of millions of residents, state press said Tuesday.

Taihu Lake in eastern China has seen a re-emergence of algae growth that last year forced authorities to cut water supplies to 2.3 million residents of the nearby city of Wuxi last May, the People's Daily said.

The lake in Jiangsu province, long celebrated through Chinese history as one of the country's most scenic bodies of water, has been massively polluted by the dumping of sewage and industrial and agricultural waste.

The water crisis last year made it a symbol of China's nationwide problem of deteriorating water quality, with even Premier Wen Jiabao publicly calling for the lake to be cleaned up.

Drinking supplies were cut off for days last year after residents complained of foul water coming out of their taps, causing a crisis that sparked panic hoarding of water.

Authorities now fear that could happen again in coming months, the People's Daily, the Communist Party's main mouthpiece, said in a story posted on its website.

Conditions were ripe for a recurrence of the problem, caused by a combination of pollution and warm weather, the paper quoted Lin Zexin, vice head of the Taihu Administrative Bureau, as saying.

"Cleaning up Taihu Lake's pollution will not be a short-term effort, but will be a protracted battle," he said.

Taihu is China's third-largest freshwater lake, covering a surface area of some 2,340 square kilometers (about 900 square miles).

Algae blooms are common on many Chinese freshwater lakes and are chiefly caused by untreated sewage containing high concentrations of nitrogen, a main ingredient in detergents and fertilisers.

Like much of China's environment, water quality has suffered severely amid the nation's breakneck economic growth over the past two decades.

More than 70 percent of China's waterways and 90 percent of its underground water have been contaminated by pollution, according to government figures.

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Best of our wild blogs: 15 Apr 08

Singapore's shores at low tide: Apr 08 highlights
on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Ubin First Stop Restaurant now on mainland Changi
and contemplating true Ubin food on the Pulau Ubin Stories blog

Flight out of Changi Airport--a new friend
and on Dr Stan's Singapore blog and his reflections about his trip to Singapore

Recycling at Condominiums and Private Apartments
on the SG Recycle blog

Queen in waiting
on the budak blog

On the non-teleological lives of sea-hares
the slug probably got it better than we do on the budak blog

Lesser Shortwing at Frasers Hill, Peninsular Malaysia
on the bird ecology blog

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Dolphins at the Sentosa Integrated Resort

Dolphin export
Solomon Star 14 Apr 08;

DEAR EDITOR – Your article published March 7, 2008 (“Dolphin Threat Continues to Singapore”), alleging that NBC Universal, Inc. intends to import live dolphins from the Solomon Islands for the Universal Studios theme park in Singapore, has come to our attention.

Contrary to the statements in such article, the Universal Studios Singapore theme park, currently under construction on Sentosa Island, is not expected to have any Solomon Islands bottlenose dolphins or any other type of dolphin or other marine animal.

None of the Universal Studios theme parks anywhere in the world contain dolphins or other marine animals, and Universal Studios Singapore will not be any different in this respect.

Universal Studios Singapore will be part of a master-planned integrated resort to be known as Resorts World at Sentosa, commonly known as Resorts World.

The owner and operator of Resorts World, including the Universal Studios Singapore theme park, is and will be Resorts World at Sentosa Pte. Ltd., a Singapore company.

Neither NBC Universal, Inc. nor its parent entities, General Electric Company and Vivendi S.A., nor any of their respective other subsidiaries, will own any equity in Resorts World.

NBC Universal, Inc., through a subsidiary, is solely a licensor to Resorts World at Sentosa Pte., Ltd., solely for purposes of the Universal Studios Singapore theme park.

We understand that other portions of Resorts World will feature dolphins, but we do not know if they will be Solomon Islands bottlenose dolphins nor do we know any details as to how Resorts World’s dolphins will be treated and cared for. As stated above, NBC Universal, Inc., its parent entities, and their respective subsidiaries, have no involvement in any portions of Resorts World other than the Universal Studios Singapore theme park.

We have provided this information to the Animal Welfare Institute and to the other organizations listed in the above-referenced article.

Had your reporter contacted Universal Studios before the article was published, your reporter would have been provided with this information as well.
We request and trust that you will print an appropriate retraction. Thank you for your cooperation.

Michael Silver
Senior Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs
Universal Parks & Resorts

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Pacific Magazine 18 Feb 08;

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Dolphins at your doorstep?
Cara van Miriah, Electric New Paper 22 Dec 07;

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789 trees to be planted in Singapore for Earth Day

Channel NewsAsia 14 Apr 08;

SINGAPORE : In celebration of Earth Day - which falls on April 22 - 789 trees will be planted in various parks, nature reserves and park connectors during the next two weeks.

The trees will be planted by over 10 companies, schools and organisations.

Among the participating schools is Shuqun Primary, which will be planting 83 trees to mark its 83rd anniversary on Tuesday.

The Plant-A-Tree programme was organised by the Singapore Environment Council and the Garden City Fund to provide an avenue for Singaporeans to do their part for the environment.

To date, 690 trees have been planted by 13 organisations and individuals since the programme started in November 2007.

About 1,200 more trees are expected to be planted in the upcoming months. - CNA/ms

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What do Ubin and Newater have to do with the Youth Olympics?

They are all part of efforts to give young athletes the full Singapore experience
Leonard Lim, Straits Times 15 Apr 08;

ATHLETES coming here for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in two years' time will take away with them not only memories from the sporting arenas, but also rich cultural and educational experiences.

Excursions to Pulau Ubin, the Pulau Semakau landfill and the Newater processing plant will be part of the athletes' experiences when the multi-sport event is held in Singapore in August 2010.

These cultural and educational programmes will be 'just as important' as the sporting aspect, said Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) chief Ng Ser Miang yesterday.

Through these, the organisers hope to impart Olympic values such as friendship and respect to the 3,500 athletes; foster understanding and interaction; and showcase Singapore to the world.

The athletes - aged between 14 and 18 - will be at a very good age to combine sports and education, said former world pole vault champion Sergey Bubka yesterday.

He heads an 11-member delegation here for a five-day seminar at SYOGOC's Kay Siang Road headquarters.

The International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission chief added: 'Because this is also about the development of their future successful lives, we should help and guide them.'

Athletes will clock a compulsory eight to 12 hours of culture and education sessions built around their sports programme. Adventure trips to Outward Bound Singapore, nature walks on Pulau Ubin and Newater plant visits will be just some of the choices available to them.

Prominent world champions and Olympians will fly in to speak about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and social responsibility. Some sessions will be open to athletes' parents and sports officials.

'What's also key is putting Singapore's culture forward in a festive atmosphere and ensuring everyone goes home with something unique,' said the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) YOG head, Mr Essar Gabriel.

Thus, regular dance and other artistic items will be held during the YOG in the Games Village at the upcoming University Town in Clementi and at *scape, a youth community space at Somerset.

The IOC seminar, which began yesterday and ends on Friday, will cover such issues as the experiences of the IOC staff in organising the commercial and operational aspects of previous Olympic Games.

About 200 people from SYOGOC, national sports associations, ministries and the private sector are expected to attend.

Mr Ng said: 'These sessions are important as organising the Games will be a complex process.

'We may have done National Day Parades...and the World Bank meetings, but the YOG is much more than all this.'

He stressed that emphasis is on the sporting, environmental and social legacy of the YOG.

To that end, the IOC will maximise participation by guaranteeing at least four athlete places for each of the 205 member countries.

Also, no Olympic records will be registered, to keep the focus on participation.

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Recycling in construction sites in Singapore

Business Times 15 Apr 08;

MATTHEW PHAN looks at what the building industry is doing to conserve water, energy and other resources

THE property market may have slowed, but the construction industry is still going at breakneck pace, with several national projects and plenty of private sector developments in the pipeline.

This is good for the economy, but perhaps less so for the environment - construction uses a lot of resources, such as concrete, steel, energy and water. How can builders mitigate this?

Water

Let's start with water. Builders typically buy Newater from PUB, and the cost can run to several hundred thousand dollars per project, according to Pek Lian Guan, director at Tiong Seng Contractors.

This is 'not high as a proportion of the total building cost' but is 'still a fair amount in absolute numbers', says Mr Pek.

Tiong Seng experimented with on-site water treatment and recycling in 2005 while working on City Developments' Parc Emily condominium.

It ended up saving 21 swimming pools of water, says Mr Pek. This is about half of what it would have used otherwise, according to the PUB, which handed Tiong Seng one of its inaugural Watermark awards last year.

At sites, Tiong Seng sets up a temporary drainage system to collect used water and rainwater, channelling the flows to a holding area, where the water is treated using a portable membrane-based plant.

Clean or treated water is used for plastering, or recycled for washing. Rainwater is also treated before being discharged.

Tiong Seng spent $120,000 on the Cleansea plant, supplied by waste-water treatment specialist Hydroxyl, and another $80,000 for on-site piping and collection systems.

Hydroxyl's plants are used in industrial facilities, but 'I met them and asked whether they could be used for construction sites', says Mr Pek. 'They custom-made a prototype for us to do an on-site trial run.'

Housed in a 3m by 3m container, the plant is easily transported by crane from site to site, Mr Pek says. But the on-site piping may not be re-usable as it gets damaged during the two-year construction process.

Tiong Seng also implements 'earth control measures', such as covering exposed soil with protective sheets to protect it from erosion, which is a common problem at construction sites, says Mr Pek.

Typically, erosion can lead to muddy, silty run-off with Total Suspended Solids (TSS) levels in excess of 200, compared with less than 50 for clear drinking water, he explains.

In comparison, water from the Cleansea plant achieves TSS levels of under 10. Ironically, Tiong Seng has to train its workers not to drink the plant's output, as the water is clear but may still contain biological contaminants.

Water conservation is another major area.

The level of use depends on the type and stage of construction, but there are typically two aspects of water use on a site, according to Simon Lee, executive director of The Singapore Contractors Association.

First, water is used in the wet works, or the concreting, plastering, testing for waterproofing and piping system, and while laying foundations. Second, water is used for site housekeeping, cleaning and washing, and at ancillary facilities like offices, living quarters or cookhouses.

On the whole, contractors manage resources by controlling their use, minimising waste and recycling where possible, says Mr Lee.

For example, it is normal practice to re-cycle water for the washing bay. Recycling makes 'economic sense' and 'has always been practised by the prudent contractors', though their input is 'mainly in the construction processes and temporary works', he says.

Prefabrication

In fact, sustainable construction starts at the design stage when the architects are thinking about what materials to use and how to put them together.

By using pre-fabricated components, or drywalls made partially of recycled material, builders can save water, energy and other resources.

Pre-casting, or offsite fabrication, means that not just beams and walls, but entire rooms, can be built in a factory, then transported to the construction site, where cranes fit them into buildings like Lego blocks.

'Pre-fab takes place under controlled conditions, which minimises waste and ensures quality,' says Vivien Heng, director at RSP Architects Planners & Engineers. 'There is no need to worry about assembly on site. It saves time and manpower, and the site is safer, neater and less noisy because there are fewer things happening', she says.

On the Tribeca project for City Developments, RSP is working with the contractor to use only pre-fabricated bathroom units (PBUs). 'A PBU comes to the site like a box - everything is sealed. You just need to connect the pipes', says Ms Heng.

Such units can also be designed using drywalls.

Made of gypsum, drywalls are used to finish the interior construction of walls or ceilings. They require no wet plaster, and can take just one or two days to install, compared to a week for masonry.

Although they weigh more than 85 per cent less than brick walls, drywalls can be insulated to achieve the same level of noise protection, according to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).

Steel

As for structural frames, BCA has been encouraging builders to replace concrete with steel.

The latter requires no sand and has a very high strength-to-weight ratio, which allows for more flexible designs.

When connected by fasterners, steel frames are stronger than traditional systems, which allows savings on foundations and the crane capacity needed on site, according to BCA.

Steel frames are also easier and quicker to set up - which saves time on the construction site - and are fully recyclable.

Environmentalists may counter, of course, that steel manufacture is extremely carbon intensive. According to the Green Building Handbook: A Guide to Building Products and their Impact on the Environment, published in 2000, about three tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted per tonne of steel if made from iron ore, and 1.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide if the steel is recycled.

Still, as most buildings in Singapore are high-rise, concrete or steel are pretty much the only two viable options, says RSP's Ms Heng.

Recycled concrete

Sustainable construction also involves recycling materials - and a lot of what is demolished is reusable.

Virtually all the metal content, for example, from the structural steel to the metal doors of electrical rooms, is recyclable, according to Tang Kok Thye of ADDP Architects.

The other parts - crushed concrete, bricks, metal, ceramic tiles, wood and plastics - are termed Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste.

This is typically used for building temporary roads at construction sites or to lay the sub-base course - the deepest of four layers - of a road.

But local studies show that C&D waste can be processed into recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and substituted for natural granite, according to an article by Ho Nyok Yong and Kelvin Lee of Samwoh Corp.

Writing in the first issue of BCA's Sustainable Architecture newsletter, out this year, they also describe how to recycle asphalt pavements and incinerator ash.

By using RCA in place of natural granite when building roads, or in non-structural pre-cast concrete components like road kerbs and drains, contractors can save about 30 per cent, they say.

Overall, though, sustainability begins and ends with environmental consciousness and a sense of responsibility to use limited resources wisely, says RSP's Ms Heng.

She describes how the contractor on the Tribeca project - which is located near the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel - picked up some discarded carpets and used them as noise insulation for his power generators. 'It's an innovative, zero- cost solution stemming from awareness and a recycling mindset,' she says.

Related articles

Singapore on track to hit 60% recycling rate by 2012
Channel NewsAsia 13 Apr 08;

Read more!

Not recycling? Smart bins will tell on you

Straits Times 15 Apr 08;

SYDNEY - TENS of thousands of Australian households will have their garbage and recycling monitored by tracking devices placed in their trash bins, a move dubbed 'Bin Brother' by local media.

Officials yesterday confirmed that 78,000 new council-issued garbage bins in the eastern suburbs of Sydney have been fitted with small radio frequency tags which allow for data collection.

Each bin will transmit a unique identification code to the garbage truck which weighs and empties it each week, allowing officials to identify how much rubbish is produced at each address.

The technology, which is similar to that used to track cattle, will tell the council whether residents are using the bins correctly or mixing recyclable material with trash destined to become landfill.

Randwick Mayor Bruce Notley-Smith said that the bins were not aimed at introducing a levy for the collection of heavy rubbish, but at stepping up recycling.

'We have aimed to increase or target problem areas in the city where there is a lower level of recycling,' he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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Four finalists chosen in search for Singapore's Happiest Person

Channel NewsAsia 14 Apr 08;

SINGAPORE : The search for Singapore's Happiest Person has been narrowed down to just four people.

The final four were chosen from 207 people nominated for the title of "Singapore's Happiest Person".

Sharon Pereira said, "I nominated my mom because she's a truly awesome gift to me, my brothers and my dad. I love her so much. She's just an amazing person. She makes me happy."

On being one of the finalists, Zaibun Nissa Siraj, Training Consultant, HR Office, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said, "Very good, very happy I guess, but (am) very touched that my colleagues actually recommended me."

Stella Fernandez, Porter, Patient Transport Service, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, said, "I'm very, very surprised. Really"

The other two nominees are Ng Chai Lee, a record searcher at a polyclinic, and Andy Goh, an engineer.

Dr Leong Chan Hoong, Judge, Head of Psychology Programme, SIM University, said, "They are different from the rest in a sense that they are not just happy for themselves, but they are also being able to make that kind of happiness something...that would inspire people around them."

The four have been shortlisted by local consulting firm, Global Leadership Academy.

It launched the search for Singapore's Happiest Person last month, as part of its well-being conference, which will be held in late-April.

The name of "chosen one" will be announced on Thursday, and he or she will win a two-night hotel stay in Phuket, Thailand. - CNA/ms


Their secret to happiness
All finalists were very comfortable with themselves: Judge
Jinny Koh, Today Online 15 Apr 08;

Ask Ms Zaibun Siraj, 61 — named one of Singapore's happiest people — what makes her most happy and she tells you readily: Making others happy.

In fact, Ms Zaibun is spreading her recipe for joy with her book: Zany, Zeal, Zest and Zing: The Z way to happiness, which was launched early this month.

Shortlisted in the Global Leadership Academy's search for the happiest Singaporean, Ms Zaibun, a training consultant in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, is among the 207 contestants who were nominated by their family, friends and even strangers.

"It's the little things in life, such as taking a walk, giving a gift and being with friends, that brings happiness," says Ms Zaibun, who is a great believer in writing cards to thank and compliment people and doing volunteer work.

Ms Zaibun, who was the president for the Association of Women for Action and Research from 1996 to 1998, is a member in the National Youth Achievement Award Council.

One of the judges, Mr John Bittleston, author and business mentor, said that a common denominator he found in all the shortlisted finalists was that they were all comfortable with themselves.

The other finalists are Mr Ng Chai Lee, 61, a record keeper at the Marine Parade polyclinic; Ms Stella Fernandez, 43, a patient transport assistant in KK Women's and Children's Hospital; and Mr Andy Goh, 35, a manager.

Mr Ng, who is also the treasurer in the McPherson Residential Committee where he has served for over 30 years, was nominated by his colleague, Ms Lilian Quek, a staff nurse at his polyclinic.

"He is the happiest man I have come across in my 38 years of work in various multinational companies, hospitals and health clinics," said Ms Quek, 56.

"Even when he is on annual leave, his name gets mentioned by colleagues almost every day."

Singapore's Happiest Person will be announced on Thursday at The New Science of Happiness and Well-being Conference which starts tomorrow at the Singapore Expo and Convention Centre.

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