Keppel Land in collaboration with the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA), will be incorporating five new and emerging energy efficient technologies in Keppel Bay Tower, where the headquarters of Keppel Corporation is based.
The five technologies that will be piloted at Keppel Bay Tower include a high efficiency air distribution system, a revolutionary cooling tower water management system, integrated sensor technology to optimise fresh air intake, smart lighting solutions as well as an intelligent building control system. This will be the first time that any of these technologies, selected from the BCA-Keppel Land Joint Challenge Call launched last year, are implemented in a development in Singapore. In addition, Keppel Land will also explore opportunities to collaborate with Envision, a global leading smart energy management company, to further improve the energy efficiency of Keppel Bay Tower.
Mr Ng Ooi Hooi, President (Singapore) at Keppel Land, said, “As a leading green developer, Keppel Land is committed to creating properties that harmonise with the environment. To improve the environmental performance of our buildings, we leverage technology and seek to push boundaries in the bid to shape a more sustainable future.
“We are excited to be piloting these new and emerging technologies at Keppel Bay Tower, with a view to replicate the implementation of these technologies to rejuvenate other commercial buildings.”
Keppel Land has been awarded a grant of up to $1.28 million from the BCA for this pilot programme. With the completion of the pilot, estimated to be by July 2020, the Company expects to decrease the annual energy consumption of Keppel Bay Tower from about 145 kilowatt hour (kWh)/m2 per year to 115 kWh/m2 per year1. This is a 20% improvement from its current annual energy consumption. Keppel Land is working with the BCA to certify Keppel Bay Tower under the new Green Mark for Super Low Energy and make the development Singapore’s first Super Low-Energy High-Rise Existing Commercial Building.
Keppel Land will implement the technologies in certain parts of the 18-storey building, which will allow Keppel Bay Tower to yield estimated overall annual energy savings of approximately 1.5 million kWh. This is equivalent to the amount of energy required to power more than 250 five-room HDB flats in Singapore for one year. Keppel Land also estimates it can achieve annual water savings of about 7,000m3, which is equivalent to the amount of water in three Olympic-size swimming pools. These savings in energy and water translate to cost savings of approximately $250,000 annually.
If the technologies are applied to the entire building, the annual energy consumption of Keppel Bay Tower is estimated to be further reduced to 92 kWh/m2 per year.
Mr Tan Tian Chong, BCA’s Deputy Managing Director, Built Environment Research and Innovation Institute, said, “We are heartened that developers like Keppel Land are exemplifying their leadership in environmental sustainability through embracing technological innovations to achieve super low energy buildings, a term we have coined for greater energy efficiency and lower energy consumption in buildings. We hope that such projects, in this case retrofitting an existing building to make it super low energy, will spread greater awareness and demonstrate to the industry several innovative and viable solutions to achieve super low energy. BCA is glad to be part of this exciting journey and providing funding support under the Green Buildings Innovation Cluster programme. We look forward to the successful implementation of such technologies in Keppel Bay Tower and in other buildings.”