Mapletree has installed a cutting edge cooling system, which will save the development millions of dollars in energy costs every year. And it is receiving recognition for doing so.

The cooling system is just part of the green infrastructure that cuts energy usage at Mapletree Business City, resulting in estimated energy cost savings of S$2.5 million annually.

The design is focused on efficiency – from the shape of the pipes to the pumping strategy.

Mapletree is expected to recoup the additional cost of buying the energy efficient system within two years. The system cost S$3 million more than average cooling systems.

The new Business City covers four city blocks, totalling 1.7 million square feet of lettable space.

The green infrastructure systems at Mapletree Business City are expected to save about 12 million kilowatt-hours of energy. That is the equivalent of powering almost 4,000, three-room HDB flats a year.

The project also saves about 6,300 metric tonnes of carbon annually, which is the equivalent of taking 1,250 cars off the road every year.

Lee Pheck Yan, head of Development Management at Mapletree, said: “Besides being friendly to the environment, all these could contribute to significant cost savings for us as well as for the tenants. The total energy saving is about 34 per cent, (with) 27 per cent from the chillers only.”

The project has received the “Energy Efficiency Leader Award” by air-conditioning provider Trane.

Trane said it continues to see a pick up in demand for energy efficient solutions.

Francis Yuen, who is the Asia Pacific president at Ingersoll Rand Climate Solutions (Trane), said: “You look at a scale of one to 10, five years ago, probably the level of interest is in the (range of) one or two, but now it has gone up a few notches, maybe five or six.

“I do not think there is any other facility in the world that has achieved this standard, and we are proud of that, because we are setting the stage for a more efficient system.”

Going forward, Trane said that the project has the potential to be involved in carbon trading.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 5 Oct 2010

The post Mapletree Business City receives energy efficiency award appeared first on LushHomeMedia.

Mapletree said it’s talking to more potential clients who may take up another 15 per cent of space before the project is completed mid next year.

Topping out the Mapletree Business City, the company already has another reason to celebrate.

Fourth-tenths of some 1.7 million square feet of office space in the property along Alexandra Road has been taken up about six months ahead of the opening.

Mapletree won’t give details of its rental rates, citing confidentiality agreements, but said the costs are lower than properties in the central business district.

Already, big names like American Express, Unilever, SAP and HSBC have signed up.

HSBC is planning to move some 1,500 employees and all its back room functions there in two years’ time.

Guy Harvey-Samuel, CEO, HSBC, said: “I think the major factor in moving down here was because of the quality of the finish that we are going to be able to enjoy and the ability to decide what we wanted to do with the huge floor plates.”

Huge floor plates tend to help tenants manage their work space more efficiently.

Those at MBC can go up to 68,000 square feet, or more than three quarters the size of a soccer field.

The floor plate size will be Singapore’s largest, beating the current largest of 50,000 square feet. This is expected to comfortably fit about 650 staff.

Mapletree said it’s also catering to requests from tenants for longer leases of between six and 10 years.

Tan Boon Leong, chief operating officer, Mapletree, said: “A longer lease actually gives them certainty. I think for big corporates or big institutions, they need this certainty in their corporate planning. I think most of them have found shorter leases in the last two years. Their costs really became unmanageable so I think there are some lessons learned in the past 18 months. So actually longer leases are the preferred lease structure now.”

The MBC costs S$766 million to build and is expected to be ready in the second quarter of 2010.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 23 Sep 2009

The post 40% of Mapletree Business City pre-leased ahead of mid-2010 completion appeared first on LushHomeMedia.