Singaporeans are burning millions of dollars a year
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Air-con systems and lighting are energy wasters |
By Dominic Nathan
BUILDING owners need only turn up their thermostats by one degree Celsius — to a comfortable 25 deg C — to cut Singapore’s annual electricity bills by millions of dollars.
And if all 236,000 lamps in 25 hotels surveyed recently were energy efficient, $3.8 million could be saved without any loss of lighting quality.
Although such lamps cost more, the cost can be recovered in less than a year. Energy-efficient lamps also last up to eight times longer than standard ones.
These are some of the findings of a study into energy usage and conservation in Singapore carried out by the Public Utilities Board, the National University of Singapore and the Public Works Department.
In their paper, Energy in Buildings: Singapore’s Country Report, they looked at energy use in 26 commercial buildings, 26 shopping centres, 25 hotels and 11 hospitals.
In general, the energy consumption pattern in Singapore has been stable. The 7.8 per cent jump in demand in 1993 corresponded with the growth in the economy and the number of new buildings that year
Now that energy consumption has stabilised, the study concludes that "energy auditing can yield meaningful results".
It targeted, in particular, the air-conditioning system — which uses anything from 50 per cent of the energy used in hotels to 70 per cent in shopping complexes.
The average temperature in 52 offices and shopping complexes surveyed was 24 deg C. Raising it by just one degree, which is still within the recommended range of 23-27 deg C, would result in savings of over $770,000 a year for those 52 buildings.
The other main findings were:
- By replacing the old chillers in the air-conditioning systems of buildings and shopping complexes with energy-efficient ones, 15.6 million units of electricity (kWh/yr) or $2.1 million could be saved in a year. The costs of new chillers — which can be up to $300,000 —could be recovered in less than three years.
Lighting levels in lobbies and corridors of buildings were more than twice the recommended levels. In shopping complexes, the level was satisfactory. By using energy-efficient lamps, those building owners could save about 2.4 million units or $325,000 a year.
- Hotels: If hotels used more efficient chillers, they could save 10.5 million units of electricity, or $1.4 million a year.
- Hospitals: By replacing nine chillers in four of the hospitals, and by switching to energy-efficient lamps and other devices, a potential annual savings of 13.2 million units or $1.7 million could be made.
The research was done by Dr Lee Siew Eang, vice-dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Building, NUS; Mr Thong Kwok Woh, senior planning officer in PUB’s Energy Conservation Division; Dr Tham Kwok Wai, director of the Centre for Building Performance and Construction, NUS, and Mr Ng Aik Huat from the PWD’s Building Control Division.
Some of the findings in energy conservation and building design will be discussed at a seminar on Design for Eco Architecture on Tuesday at the Harbour View Dai-Ichi Hotel.
Source : The Sunday Times, November 6, 1994
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