SMART AND SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR BETTER HDB LIVING
Noraidah A Rahim (Senior Curriculum Planning Officer, CPDD Geography Unit)
In this issue, we speak to Mr Tan Sze Tiong, Group Director (Building & Research Institute) and Chief Sustainability Officer at the Housing & Development Board (HDB).
He shares how HDB pushes the frontiers of urban design and planning, to develop smart and sustainable towns. These efforts help to create a more liveable, efficient and safe living environment for residents.
Mr Tan also encourages teachers to expose students to these sustainability efforts in their neighbourhoods, as well as other neighbourhoods through the resources that HDB offers on their sites and contributed to MOE (found in the T&L Resources tab).
All images in this article are courtesy of the Housing & Development Board.
#1: How does HDB drive sustainability in Singapore?
As the master planner and largest housing developer in Singapore, HDB plays a key role in supporting Singapore’s commitment to sustainable development. Over the years, we have intensified our efforts in sustainable development, to address challenges such as climate change, while creating a cleaner and more comfortable living environment for our residents. For instance, all HDB developments are designed to embrace local tropical climatic conditions through various design strategies. These include strategically orienting residential blocks to reduce heat gain from solar radiation, maximising natural lighting and ventilation in flats and around the estate and harnessing renewable energy, among others.
Over the years, HDB living has been made eco-friendly through sustainable initiatives that manage water, waste and energy more efficiently.
#2: What are some examples of sustainable initiatives that can be found in HDB towns and estates?
Since 2014, HDB has rolled out a suite of eco features to all new public housing projects, such as regenerative lifts, energy-saving light fittings in common areas, rooftops integrated with solar panels and a rainwater collection system. You can also find features like centralised recycling chutes and dual bicycle racks.
Our sustainability efforts are not confined to newer towns and developments. We also have the HDB Green Towns Programme, a 10-year plan that aims to bring sustainable living to all existing HDB towns by 2030, through large-scale implementation of green features. This programme is in support of the Singapore Green Plan and focuses on reducing energy consumption, recycling rainwater, and cooling HDB towns.
For example, to cool HDB towns, HDB rolled out a large-scale cool paint pilot project at Tampines, which will see approximately 130 HDB blocks painted with cool paint. With the use of such paint, we can potentially reduce the ambient temperature of the site by up to 2°C. Also, through the installation of solar panels and smart LED lighting, we hope to reduce energy consumption in HDB towns by 15% by 2030 as compared to 2020’s levels.
Separate chutes are provided for general waste and recyclables to make it more convenient and encourage residents to recycle.
Solar energy harnessed is used to power lifts, lighting for common areas, and water pumps.
Designed by HDB, the Dual Bicycle Rack System optimises space by holding two bicycles within the same area required by a typical rack, creating neater and safer corridors.
#3: We understand that HDB also adopts smart technology to stretch sustainability targets. Could you share more?
We developed the Smart HDB Town Framework to map out how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can be harnessed across five key areas to achieve a more liveable, efficient, sustainable, and safe living environment for our residents. This includes Smart Planning, Smart Environment, Smart Estate, Smart Living and Smart Community.
In the planning of our towns for example, the Integrated Environmental Modeller (IEM) helps us simulate the interactions of environmental conditions (such as wind flow, temperature fluctuations, and solar irradiance) with one another, and their combined effects on the surrounding urban landscape. We can then choose to locate amenities at more shaded areas, or place greenery in areas that receive more heat from the sun to mitigate heat gain and lower the ambient temperature.
To create a ‘smart environment’, we are looking to link estates with a network of sensors that capture real-time information on environmental factors and trigger solutions that can create a more pleasant environment for residents. Smart lighting in common areas will be sensor-controlled and equipped with predictive data analytics tools to understand human traffic patterns. Lighting in common areas with little or no human traffic detected could be reduced to 30%, potentially saving as much as 60% on energy usage.
These smart features have been introduced in Punggol Northshore, our first smart and sustainable district, and will also be implemented in Tengah, HDB’s newest town.
Punggol Northshore is HDB’s first smart and sustainable district where smart technologies are test-bedded right from the design stage.
#4: How do you think Geography teachers can inspire our students to be more sustainable?
Geography teachers can share with students what HDB is doing to drive sustainability in our housing estates – including their own estate. This could help students better appreciate their living environment and hopefully inspire them to take action, for example, recycle regularly or choose green modes of commuting.
You could make use of this deck (requires OPAL2.0 access) that we have prepared which contains resources that could support your classroom teaching. We have also included case studies on Tengah and Punggol towns, where we have implemented many of the smart and sustainable innovations that I mentioned earlier.
Do consider bringing your students on learning journeys to HDB’s LIVINGSPACE gallery where they can explore how HDB designs and builds towns to help Singaporeans live well, live green and live connected. The gallery is also available online, if you prefer virtual learning experiences.
Finally, you could take your students on eco trails to Punggol and make use of the recommended routes and worksheet activities we have prepared.
LIVINGSPACE Gallery at HDB Hub in Toa Payoh