The Business Times, Monday, November 3, 2008

THIS WEEKS TOPIC:

What does Singapore need to do to become a model city of the future in terms of its use of energy? How can businesses contribute to this goal?

Going green
Kwek Leng Joo Managing Director City Developments Limited BEING a small dot on the world map, it is indeed a tall order for Singapore to be a model city in terms of energy consumption in the short term. However, businesses and individuals should do their bit to contribute to this goal. CDL, as a developer providing spaces to live, work and play, is firmly committed to conserving the environment and to influencing our stakeholders to do the same. While energy usage is inevitable, the key is to ensure responsible and efficient use of it. The government can play a key role by providing guidelines to encourage efficient use of energy in industries, offices and perhaps even in homes. Corporations, however, must lead the way by incorporating innovative green technology into the hardware and find solutions within their operations to reduce energy consumption. The solar panel industry can also be encouraged to engage in more R&D, given our tropical climate, to make solar panels more affordable. As a green developer, we have taken a proactive approach in investing in green features and technology to mitigate the impact of our development on the environment for a few years now. We have been developing low-energy consumption buildings and our vision is to build zero-energy buildings in the near future. For instance, our upcoming development at 9 Tampines Grande will embrace the largest use of photovoltaic panels and hot-water solar panels in Singapore to-date. It will be used to generate renewable energy for basement carpark lighting and lobby air-conditioning. We estimate that we can benefit from energy-savings amounting to 2.7 million kWh per year. Singapore succeeded in closing the water consumption loop and we are confident of closing the energy consumption loop with the strong leadership of government leaders and private sector participation. Beyond the hardware, users play a vital role in reducing energy consumption be it at home or at work. Numerous outreach programmes such as Project Eco-Office and Green Office Label have been introduced to inculcate good green habits among our office tenants. Last year, as a major landlord, we initiated the innovative pilot programme, 1C Up, in 11 commercial buildings. We received astounding support from our tenants who make up thousands of office workers. These businesses and their staff have become accustomed to this higher temperature and we hope that they will also make similar changes at home. Greg Russell Senior Vice-President, Asia Telstra International EVERYONE agrees that environmental conservation is critical to our future and that more can be done to protect our planet. Not only does energy efficiency translate into reduced greenhouse gas emissions, it can also generate significant cost savings, especially in todays economic climate. As with all developed countries, commercial buildings are big power-guzzlers and account for a large chunk of power-production related emissions. For example, many customers approach us to look at the entire data centre from an environmental perspective as the high-density servers they host can create significant hotspots, which then leads to increased demands to power and cool the racks. Such increases in power and cooling demands only result in greater electricity consumption. From a mid- to long-term perspective, businesses need to carve out a clear, phased strategy for the adoption of energy-saving systems for example, using ISO approved Life Cycle Assessment Models to improve their carbon footprint and also improve productivity. We have helped various companies make the change, and while it is not necessarily easy, the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term investment of mapping out a clear strategy to go green. Khoo Chin Hean Chief Executive Energy Market Authority SECURITY of supply and competitive energy price will be the twin concerns facing all cities. Balancing these concerns becomes even more challenging as the cost of environmental sustainability is priced into energy. This may have the effect of either driving up costs or limiting the use of traditional fossil fuels or both. On the other hand, it will also open up opportunities for new technologies. Using energy efficiently is imperative. This can start at the personal level. Each and every consumer can play a part by putting a stop to unnecessary consumption. While helping the environment, the individual consumer will at the same time incur a lower expenditure on energy. In addition, consumers can make a deliberate effort when buying appliances to choose those that are energy efficient. The same

The Business Times, Monday, November 3, 2008

applies to businesses. At the system level, the government has taken measures on a broad front to engineer our city for efficiency. These measures include providing guidelines and recognition through awards to promote energy efficient buildings, recycling and energy efficiency labelling. Even in transportation, the measures taken by the government to prevent congestion will lead to higher efficiencies in energy consumption. These are fundamentally about attitudes and mindsets of our people and businesses. Singapore will also have to continually review and ensure its policies and infrastructure are ready to embrace new sustainable technologies when these become cost competitive and commercially viable. Better still, if our businesses are adept in developing such technologies, we will reap commercial and environmental benefits. Neil McGregor Managing Director PowerSeraya WITH rising concerns over energy security and cost, as well as environmental protection, it is important to adopt an integrated energy strategy that incorporates more sustainable development solutions, especially in resource-constrained Singapore where energy options are, by and large, limited to fossil-based fuels. Businesses, especially those from the energy-related sectors, can contribute towards this goal by adopting renewable processes to optimise resource use, intensifying efforts in expanding the energy efficiency and environmental benefits of their operations and taking ownership in educating the public on energy conservation. For example, PowerSeraya has harnessed the use of technology to build the worlds first large-diameter Seawater Reverse Osmosis desalination plant to maximise its operational efficiency and become self-sufficient in water. By next year-end, our new clean burning co-generation plant will also significantly lower our carbon footprint by up to 40 per cent. Energy efficiency training courses for our customers have also been organised through our retail arm, Seraya Energy, so that they are aware of the benefits of energy audits. Francois Lancon President Asia-Pacific Nortel SINGAPORE should require businesses to commit to reducing their corporate carbon footprint and to using more energy efficient products. This has the twin benefit of contributing to environmental sustainability while significantly reducing power consumption which directly benefits a companys bottom line. At Nortel, our engineers globally have been following our Design for Environment principles for over a decade to develop energy efficient products. Today, companies can save up to 40 per cent of their energy consumption for data networking equipment by making informed choices. Technology adoption can help businesses large

and small play their part. Solutions such as Unified Communications and Telepresence can help companies work more efficiently and reduce travel needs and office space with all the costs and environmental impact they entail. Derek Goh Executive Chairman/Group CEO Serial System Ltd SINGAPORE as a tropical city state should be a model solar energy city. The tripartite partnership of government, business and community in harnessing solar energy should be forged. HDB should install solar panels on roof-tops of HDB blocks to tap the solar energy in the day and convert it for use in the night. JTC could install solar panels for JTC estates/properties to convert solar energy for commercial use within each district park. Just as we have overcome the water supply issue with Newater, NEA should embark with A*Star on a national solar energy R&D project to commercially generate solar energy to reduce our high dependency on fuel energy. At the same time, we should also embark on an energy recycle programme to harness energy from waste and other sources.