SUPER LOW ENERGY BUILDINGTECHNOLOGY ROADMAP

1Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 3
1.

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 52.

DEVELOPMENT OF SLE TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP ......................................................................... 16

3.

DEFINITIONS OF POSITIVE ENERGY, ZERO ENERGY, SUPER LOW ENERGY BUILDING ................... 194.

KEY TECHNOLOGIES TO ACHIEVE SUPER LOW ENERGY ................................................................ 21

5.

FEASIBILITY STUDIES ...................................................................................................................... 25

6.

CHALLENGES .................................................................................................................................. 30

7.

FUTURE RD&D ............................................................................................................................... 32

8.

CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 34

Annex A: Emerging Technologies and Strategies.................................................................................. 35
Annex B: RD&D and Deployment Pathway ........................................................................................... 45
CONTRIBUTORS ..................................................................................................................................... 50

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Singapore has committed to reducing its emissions intensity by 36% from 2005 levels
by 2030. Buildings sector, which is responsible for more than one-third of the country’s
total electricity consumption, holds a major role in reduction of carbon footprint to
mitigate climate change.

To drive the energy efficiency of buildings, Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
has been working closely with industry and stakeholders towards the target of greening
80% of the building stock by 2030. Since 2005, BCA has rolled out a suite of initiatives
such as Green Building Masterplans, Green Mark schemes and the Green Buildings
Innovation Cluster (GBIC) programme. Besides, various government agencies haveembarked on several national sustainability programmes such as the Sustainable
Singapore Blueprint, Smart Nation initiative and SolarNova, driving a multifaceted
approach towards the development and adoption of sustainable technologies andsolutions for the built environment.

In the past decade, technological advances and intensified national efforts have beenshaping the landscape of Singapore’s built environment. Greater opportunities arise indeveloping, deploying and mainstreaming technological innovations to push theboundaries of building energy efficiency.

These developments have provided a great opportunity and powerful catalyst forrealizing BCA’s aspirational of achieving Positive Energy, Zero Energy and Super Low
Energy Buildings (known as Super Low Energy) that are 60-80% more energy efficient
over 2005 levels.

To address challenges and harness opportunities provided by Super Low Energy(SLE), BCA partnered with industry and academia, including the Energy ResearchInstitute @NTU (ERI@N) and Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS),
to jointly develop a Technology Roadmap that charts the pathways towards SLE via
development, pioneering and adoption of technologies.

3

The Roadmap examines a wide spectrum of emerging energy technologies, analyses
their interaction and integration, and explore their feasibilities in our tropical and urban
context. Through technology trending and foresighting, the Roadmap outlines thebroad strategies to help the industry design and develop cost-effective SLE buildings.

4

1.

INTRODUCTION

Background
Global commitment for a deep cut on CO2 emissions has started a worldwide trend
toward reducing energy consumption and increasing adoption of renewable energy.
Singapore has targeted to reduce emissions intensity by 36% from 2005 levels by
2030.
In Singapore, buildings consume one-third of the nation’s total electricity consumption.
Building energy efficiency is critical in the national’s sustainability agenda in tackling
the long term challenges of climate change and global warming.
In this context, BCA has set the national target of achieving 80% Green Gross Floor
Area (GFA) by 2030. Since the launch of BCA Green Mark scheme in 2005, morethan 3,300 buildings or 36% 1 of the building stocks by GFA has achieved GM
standards. BCA has progressively raised the energy performance of buildings througha mix of regulatory, incentive and building research and development (R&D)
capabilities. The energy efficiency measures have reaped results where the current
best-in-class building has achieved at least 50% energy savings over 2005 levels, andthe building stock’s overall Energy Use Intensity (EUI) has improved by 9% since year
20082.

Building Energy Consumption LandscapeSingapore consumed about 48,626 GWh of electricity in 2016. Buildings sector
which is responsible for more than one-third of the country’s total electricity
consumption, holds a major role in reducing carbon footprint to mitigate climatechange.

1

As at July 2018

2 Building Energy Benchmarking Report (BEBR) 20175

Figure 1: Singapore Electricity Consumption Landscape (source: Energy Market Authority’sSingapore Energy Statistics 2017)

Commercial Building Landscape
For the buildings sector, commercial building, which comprises office, retail, hotel andmixed development buildings, constitutes about 74% of the total energy consumption.
(See Fig. 2). Office building constitutes close to 45% of the total energy used in thecommercial building stock3.

Figure 2: Energy consumption by building type in 2017 (source: BCA BEBR 2018 Report)

3 Based on analysis of more than 1,000 Buildings (commercial buildings, healthcare facilities Building

Energy Benchmarking Report (BEBR) for 2018.
6

Typical Office Building Energy Usages
Lifts & Escalators
10%

Others5%Ventilation
10%

Lighting
15%

Cooling
60%

Figure 3: Typical Office Building Energy Usages

For a typical office building electricity consumption, mechanical systems such as air
conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV), lighting, vertical transportation, etc
are responsible for the bulk of the energy consumption in a building. Majority of theelectrical consumption in a building is attributed to cooling (60%), mechanicalventilation (10%) and lighting (15%). (Figure 3).

Another active source of energy

consumption are plug loads, which may consume up to 25% of the total building
energy consumption. This is attributed to the extensive use of computers, monitors,
servers in commercial buildings, and mini refrigerators, televisions and otherappliances in guest rooms of hotels.

The average EUI of commercial buildings has improved substantially over the period
from 2008 to 2017. This could be due to a mix of regulatory, fiscal policies and building
R&D capabilities over the last decade.

7

Figure 4: EUI trends for commercial buildings (source: BCA BEBR 2018 Report)

Educational Building Landscape
Educational building, which includes institutes of higher learning (IHLs) and Ministry of
Education’s public schools, is the next highest consumption with about 11% of thetotal energy consumption.

a)Institute of high learning (IHL) and private colleges/schools

Over the eight-year period from 2008 to 2016, the annual electricity consumption of
IHLs and private colleges/schools had increased at a lower rate of 36%, as comparedto the growth of the corresponding GFA at 57%. The average EUI for universities was
358 kWh/m2.yr and 124 kWh/m2.yr for polytechnics in 2017.

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Figure 5: EUI trends for IHL buildings (source: BCA BEBR 2018 Report)

Some of the universities and polytechnics have plan to green their campus with atarget to lower energy consumption significantly.

For instance, Nanyang

Technological University (NTU)’s EcoCampus aims to achieve 35% reduction inenergy, water and waste intensity for their campus by 2020 (using year 2011 asbaseline).

b)

Public Schools

Singapore has about 360 public schools, providing learning environment for more than
400,000 students. Each school typically comprises low-medium rise (i.e. 3 – 6 storeys)buildings with around 80% of floor areas that are naturally ventilated.

On average,energy consumption in schools is relatively low (i.e. 20 – 40 kWh/m2.yr). Public schools
which are in phases of installing solar panels under the SolarNova programme, haveshown the most potential to achieve Positive or Zero Energy School status with further
energy improvement measures.

Healthcare Facilities
Over the eight-year period from 2008 to 2016, the annual electricity consumption ofhealthcare facilities has increased at a faster rate of 55%. In general, healthcare
facilities have an overall increasing EUI trend since 2008. It was observed that the
EUI has increased by 10% over the eight-year period. With the growing demand for9sophisticated healthcare services, there will be a need for hospitals, specialist centres
and polyclinics to place greater emphasis on energy efficiency.

Figure 6: EUI trends for healthcare facilities (source: BCA BEBR 2018 Report)

Current Research, Development, Demonstration (RD&D) Initiatives
RD&D is a key enabler to accelerate knowledge application and capability building in
Singapore’s drive to promote energy efficiency and green buildings.
Since 2007, BCA has worked with various agencies to set up research and innovation
programmes to support the national target of greening 80% of the building stock. One
such key programme is the $52 million Green Buildings Innovation Cluster (GBIC)4
funding support from National Research Foundation (NRF), established as a one-stop
hub to experiment, exhibit, and exchange knowledge of promising building energy
efficient solutions with industry stakeholders.

A stock take of existing R&D efforts shows that approximately S$45 million of funding
has gone into supporting close to 70 green building R&D projects to push the energy
efficiency boundaries further (See Fig. 7).

4 GBIC is a one-stop hub to experiment, exhibit, and exchange knowledge of promising building energy

efficient solutions with industry stakeholders. It comprises three major activities, i.e. R&D,
Demonstration and Repository.
10

Figure 7: Green Building R&D funding distribution

Research funding has supported several disruptive technologies such as reinventing
air conditioning to cool buildings in the tropics. For instances, separate
dehumidification and cooling functions; develop highly effective desiccant membrane
to remove humidity in air-conditioning with less energy; develop high efficient
alternative cooling systems such as passive displacement ventilation.

These

innovations could achieve more than 40% of energy savings on air-conditioning.

The other key areas of R&D focus is on developing cost effective smart building
technologies to make the buildings smarter, greener and healthier, using optimisation,
machine learning, big data analytics and smart controls.

Test-bedding and Demonstration
Besides applied R&D, piloting/demonstration projects that help translate R&D
outcomes to adoption are also emphasised.

Piloting project provides an actual

building environment to demonstrate the impact and to realise energy efficiency
opportunities of various emerging technologies at the systems level. A positive andimpactful demonstration will give confidence and enable stronger buy-in from industry
in adopting new technologies and practices.

Zero Energy Building @ BCA Academy, a living lab, was built in 2009. It is SouthEast Asia’s first retrofitted ZEB, equipped with solar photovoltaic (PV) together withmore than 30 technologies. Over the past 8 years, this building has generated more
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energy than it consumed on an annual basis. As a demonstration and educational
platform, the ZEB has played an important role to testbed and introduce newtechnologies to the industry.

Figure 8: ZEB@ BCA Academy

The launch of the BCA SkyLab in 2016, the world’s first high-rise rotatable lab for thetropics, placed BCA at the helm of green building technology R&D arena. The groundbreaking laboratory provides a platform to support technology test-bedding under realworld building conditions to determine the integrated technology performance. This
will help minimise risks to building owners when a new technology is deployed to actual
buildings.

Figure 9: BCA SkyLabMoving forward, BCA is partnering with the Singapore-Berkeley Building Efficiency andSustainability in the Tropics (SinBerBEST), a research entity under the National
Research Foundation CREATE Programme, to embark on a major researchcollaboration to significantly transform BCA’s Zero Energy Building (ZEB) into a12positive energy building, ZEB Plus, which serves as a unique living laboratory forsmart building technologies, or an “Office of the Future”. The current ZEB, which has
already been recognised as one of the most energy efficient buildings in Singapore
with stellar energy efficiency50% better than a code-compliant building, will push its
boundaries further. The energy efficiency of ZEB will be enhanced to achieve a further
20% improvement over the current level. Together with the upgrading of the existing
solar PV system, the building will be able to achieve an overall energy surplus of atleast 40%.

Figure 10: Proposed ZEB Plus (source: SinBerBEST)

Upcoming Zero Energy Buildings

Zero energy buildings are gaining traction in Singapore. Besides the ZEB@BCA
Academy, there are several ZEB developments in the pipeline.
National University of Singapore (NUS)’s first Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB@SDE)
Conceptualised by the NUS School of Design and Environment, the ZEB@SDE5 isdesigned to be climate responsive with net zero energy consumption. The six storey
building will feature a range of green building designs, such as harnessing solar
energy, hybrid cooling approach, natural ventilation and lighting.
5

The project is expected to be completed by 2019.
13

One key aspect of the NZEB@SDE is its contemporary architecture design which
demonstrates a deep understanding of the tropical climate of Singapore.

NZEB@SDE is also designed to consume only as much energy as it produces. Thisis made possible by harvesting solar energy using solar PV panels installed on theroof.

Figure11: Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB@SDE) (Source: NUS)

Integral to the concept of net zero energy consumption for NZEB@SDE is the need torethink air conditioning. This resulted in the design of an innovative hybrid coolingsystem which ensures that rooms would not be overly cooled.

Rooms will be supplied with cool air at higher temperatures and humidity levels than aconventional system, and this is augmented with elevated air speeds from ceiling fans.
Coupled with NZEB@SDE’s tropical architecture design, this creates a highly
comfortable environment that is also significantly more energy efficient.

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Singapore Management University Net Zero Energy SMU-X
Another example is the SMU-X, which has obtained funding support from GBIC
programme, to design and construct a new 5-storey teaching and learning facility6.
SMU-X targets to achieve net zero energy building through the use of passive design
to reduce air-conditioning requirements, and to reduce energy demands by adopting
novel energy efficient technologies and experimenting with cutting-edge researchwork.

To achieve the Net-Zero Energy target, SMU-X adopted the following approaches:a)

Adoption of Mass Engineered Timber (MET) for its building facades androofing design to effectively reduce solar heat gain, and to improve productivity
through time and manpower savings;b)

Tap on highly efficient chiller plant coupled with hybrid cooling systemusing Passive Displacement Cooling System;c)Integrate innovative technologies on a smart building solution platform to

improve the overall building energy performance

In addition, SMU-X will also see the widespread use of highly efficient solar PV on its
roof and veranda to generate sufficient electricity to offset the energy consumption.

Figure 12: Singapore Management University Net Zero Energy SMU-X (Source: SMU)

6

The project is currently in construction phase and is expected to be completed by 2020/21.

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2.

DEVELOPMENT OF SLE TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP

Objectives of Technology Roadmap
BCA has set a long term aspiration goal for positive (PE), zero (ZE) and super-low(SLE) energy for low, mid and high-rise typical buildings in Singapore.
To support realisation of the goal, BCA embarked on a technology roadmap study of
the SLE for the Tropics, with the objectives of evaluating the technological feasibilityof SLE in the current and near future scenarios and to identify key emerging
technologies and recommend future R&D areas to advance SLE in the Tropics.

BCA partnered Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University(ERI@N) and Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) on theTechnology Roadmap study.

Feasibility Studies

Industry Consultation

SLE Tech. Roadmap•International scan
•Data analysis ( >1,200
buildings)•Modelling simulation•Site validations•4 industry engagement
sessions/workshops•> 10 interviews withstakeholders•Survey 124 stakeholders•>60 technologies identified•Future RD&D
recommended•Implementation &adoption plan
recommended

Figure 13: Development of SLE Roadmap

The study started by reviewing two existing technology roadmaps developed in 2014,
i.e. Building Energy Efficiency (BEE) R&D Roadmap and Solar PV Technology
Roadmap. The BEE roadmap set normalised Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) targets

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to achieve improvements in the EEI by 40% (moderate adoption) to 60% (aggressive
adoption) over 2013 best-in-class buildings (GM Platinum as a proxy) by year 2030.
The corresponding EEI for office building is as shown in Table 1 below.

EEI (kWh/m2/year)

Year

2005
Levels2013 GM
Platinum
Building

Moderate
Aggressive

244
244

143
143

2016

2020

131
122

114
101

2030

Improvement
over 2013
GM Platinumby 2030

Improvement
over 2005
levels by
2030

86
57

40%
60%

65%
77%

Table 1: Targets setting BEE Roadmap by 2030

SLE Technology Roadmap recommends stretched R&D targets to achieve
improvements in the EEI by 60% over 2005 industry levels by 2018 and 80% by
year 2030. The corresponding EEI for office building is as shown in Table 2 below.

EEI (kWh/m2/year)
Year
SLE
Roadmap
Target2005
Levels

2018

2020

2025

2030

Improvement over2005
by 2030

244

100

85

60

50

80%

Table 2: R&D Targets setting for SLE Technology Roadmap by 2030

International Case Studies
A scan of global international zero energy building initiatives and case studies werecarried out to review emerging technologies suitable for the topic. The findings of thisreview aimed at broadening the understanding of existing high performance buildings
and serve to corroborate the possibility of technology integration and energy-efficiency
that can be achieved in Singapore’s context.

Industry Consultation
Since the beginning of the roadmap development, strong emphasis was placed on thestakeholder engagement through a consultative process. Four thematic workshops
were conducted with focus group discussions for different types of buildings, i.e.

17schools, medium rise and high rise office buildings. More than 10 interviews andengagement sessions with agencies and companies.

Survey was conducted with over 120 respondents from the industry, academia andstakeholders. Over 80% of the participants gave positive responses to the SLE
aspiration and support developing a SLE initiative in Singapore.

Energy Modelling of Integrated Solutions
Energy-modelling studies were carried out on different typologies of buildings, withfocus on office and school buildings, to assess the energy-savings potential of an
integrated energy-efficient design. Design iterations were carried out on the energy
models, introducing advanced technologies in lighting, envelope, plug load
management, ACMV systems, controls and renewable energy using market-available
solutions. This progressive approach led to final energy models, representative of thecurrent and future (2030) technical potential of each building typology.

Building Data Analysis and Site Measurement
The study analyzed more than 1,200 building data from BCA Building Energy
Benchmarking Report (BEBR) 2016 and Ministry of Education (MOE)’s school data to
explore the feasibility of these building stocks to achieve Positive, Zero and Super-Low
energy using moderate and aggressive assumption scenarios.
In this study, 12 schools were selected for site investigation on their energy
consumption pattern, indoor environmental quality, and potential areas for
improvements with existing or emerging technologies.

Expert Peer Reviews
Peer reviews by international experts and local industry and academia experts werecarried out to seek comments on the efforts required to strengthen Singapore's
position as a global leader in green buildings in the tropics, and comments on theemerging technologies and future RD&D to achieve SLE.

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3.

DEFINITIONS OF POSITIVE ENERGY, ZERO ENERGY,SUPER LOW ENERGY BUILDING
The important first step is to create a common definition of a Super Low Energy
suitable for Singapore’s context. Over the globe, there are many different definitionsof ZEB, mainly to suit the local context and address the practicality of achieving ZEB
in these countries.

In Singapore’s context, the Zero Energy Building is defined as“The best-in-class energy performing Green Mark building with all of its energy
consumption, including plug load, supplied from renewable sources (both onsite and off-site)”.
Under the challenges and constraints of Singapore’s dense and urbanised landscape,a balanced approach in spurring renewables adoption, in particular solar technology
to achieve zero energy, is recommended. Nonetheless, building development should
maximise the on-site renewable sources first before exploring off-site renewablesources.

The approach of attaining a ZEB is by first achieving low energy consumption throughpassive and active energy efficiency measures, followed by the use of renewableenergy to supplement the remaining load. In this respect, the pre-requisite for ZEB
should achieve at least 60% energy savings from 2005 levels.

Figure 14: Graphical representation of PEB, ZEB & SLEB definitions

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A structured and expanded definition for ZEB, i.e. Positive Energy, Zero Energy, Super
Low Energy Building that is applicable to specific building types was defined as shown
below.
Category

Energy Efficiency7(Beyond GM Platinum)

Positive Energy

Zero Energy

Super Low
Energy60% Energy Savings
over 2005 level

Renewable Energy (RE)vs Energy Consumption(EC)

ExamplesRE >= 110% EC

Public schools;
Camps;
Landed Houses, etc.

RE >= 100% EC

Mid-size officebuildings and IHL
buildings, etc-

High-rise commercial
buildings, etc

Figure 15: PEB, ZEB and SLEB definitions

7

Current best in class GM Platinum building is able to achieve 50% energy savings over 2005 level204. KEY TECHNOLOGIES TO ACHIEVE SUPER LOW
ENERGY
In order to prioritize technologies and strategies to cut energy-consumption inbuildings, a number of key-action areas have been identified within the four broad
areas: Passive Strategies, Active Strategies, Smart Energy Management andRenewable Energy.
Besides, user behaviour is critical in reducing a building’s plug loads consume about
25% of the total building energy consumption.

Figure 16: Energy reduction strategies towards SLE

Passive Strategies
Passive strategies are a fundamental prerequisite in the design of energy-efficientbuildings, as these integrate energy efficiency and project-specific parameters (asmicroclimate, material proprieties and functionality) into the skin and bones of thebuilding. Most of the passive solutions belong to standard good building and design
practices, and must be attentively tailored to each specific context. In the context ofretrofitting an existing building, the possibility of implementing passive solutions might
be limited and complicated, requiring in some cases consistent structural and21architectural changes to correct the physical features of a building, and must therefore
be assessed case by case.

Active Technologies
Active systems, typically mechanical systems such as air conditioning, mechanicalventilation, lighting, vertical transportation, etc, are responsible for the bulk of theenergy consumption in a building.
In the commercial office building, the majority of the building electrical consumption is
attributed to cooling (60%), mechanical ventilation (10%) and lighting (15%). Anotheractive source of energy consumption is plug loads. These loads may consume about
25% of the total building energy consumption due to an extensive use of computers,monitors, servers in commercial buildings and mini refrigerators, televisions and otherappliances in guest rooms of hotels.

Smart Energy Management System
Building management system (BMS) is a control system that can be used to monitor
and manage the mechanical, electrical and electromechanical services in a given
facility. Such services can control, among other appliances, power, ventilation, airconditioning, physical access control, pumps, elevators and lights. These systems
improve energy-efficiency by allowing a usage of the appliances tailored to the realneeds, saving on operation and maintenance costs, and improve occupancy comfort.
One of the most fast-growing and dynamic technologies towards net zero is the smart
building technologies. Through tapping on Internet of Things (IoT), advanced sensors,
big data analytics, smart technologies have shown a potential of saving an estimated
8-18% of total building energy consumption and providing a host of non- energy
benefits8. Through R&D, substantial progress has been made in areas such as datadriven optimisation, model predictive control of multiple systems, etc.
Renewable Energy Technologies
Solar energy is currently the most feasible source of renewable energy for buildings tooffset their energy consumption in Singapore. Singapore receives an annual average
8 Smart Buildings: A Deeper Dive into Market Segments, American Council for an Energy-Efficient

Economy (ACEEE), 201722

irradiance of 1,636 kWh/m2 per year, which can be utilised through photovoltaic (PV),by converting sunlight into electricity, and solar thermal, producing hot water. This
report will focus mainly on solar PV.
To achieve PE- ZE- status, the energy budget is strongly determined by the solar PV
output of the building. Hence it is in the building owner’s best interest to maximise thePV output. Fig 17 illustrates the efficiencies of commercially available PV modules. Fig
18 shows the current achievable and future projected energy factor for PV.
Technology

Efficiency(%)

Manufacturers (examples)

Highefficiency Si

19 – 22

Panasonic, SunPower

Mono-Si

17 – 19

Multi-Si

16 – 18

Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, Kyocera, Hanwha-SolarOne,
Canadian Solar, Hanwha-Q-Cells, LG
REC Solar, Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, Soltech,
Mitsubishi, Sunrise Solartec, Motech, Mission Solar,
MegaCell, JA Solar, Yingli, Gintech, Suniva, Hyundai,
Suntech, LG

Thin film

14 – 16

Solar Frontier (CIGS), First Solar (CdTe)

Figure 17: Efficiencies of commercially available PV modules, tested at standard test conditions (1000
W/m2 and a cell temperature of 25°C)9Year

Energy factor (BAS) (MWh/m2)

Energy factor (ACC) (MWh/m2)

201710

0.18

0.18

2025

0.28

0.32

2030

0.29

0.36

Figure 18: Energy factor for 2017, 2025, and 2030.

Strategies to Impact User Behaviour
Plug loads are generally referred as an electrical energy consumption due to the useof equipment plugged into an outlet, categorized as electronics, plug loads within
traditional end uses, and miscellaneous loads. Equipment commonly contributing toplug-load energy comprises Audio/Video equipment, Computers and Monitors, Gym

9

SERIS Research and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Photovoltaics Report, 12 July
2017.
10

2017 values based on actual values10 rather than predicted values.
23and Training Equipment, Laundry Equipment, Office Occupant Comfort (desk lamps,
AC units, fans), Printers and Scanners, Kitchen and Breakroom equipment, Lab
Equipment, etc. (NBI 2012).

Plug load is a substantial energy end-use in office buildings in its own right, but alsosignificantly contributes to internal heat gains.
BCA Building Energy Benchmarking Report (BEBR) shows that the tenants’electricity consumption, including plug loads, is half of the total buildings'
electricity consumption for office and retail buildings. There is scope for building
owners and tenants to work together more closely to reduce their energy footprint.
Technologies to influence user behaviour need to be explored as well, to reduce
plug load energy consumption.

Details of the current technologies to achieve SLE are shown in Annex A.

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5.

FEASIBILITY STUDIESThe roadmap studied potential impacts, technical feasibilities, and implementing
pathways towards SLE using today and future technologies. Based on stocktaking
and technology foresighting, it identified more than 60 solutions from existing
technologies and emerging R&D innovations under four broad strategies (i.e. Passive
Design, Active Systems, Smart Energy Management and Renewable Energy), to besupported over the next 5 - 10 years in order to develop and deploy the SLE solutions.

Feasibility Study of SLE with Current Technologies
Positive Energy for Low-rise Building
One of the key focus areas in this study is Singapore’s public schools buildings.
Singapore has about 360 public schools, providing learning environment for more than
400,000 students. Each school typically comprises mainly low-medium rise (i.e.3 – 6
storeys) buildings with around 80% of the floor areas that are naturally ventilated. On
average, energy consumption intensity in schools is relatively low (i.e. 20 – 40
kWh/m2.yr).

The feasibility study shows that achieving a positive or zero energy school is possible
with the incorporation of currently available technologies. These include LED lighting,cool paint, energy efficient ceiling fan, lighting dimming system etc. as well as
renewable energy from the solar PV system.

The study concludes that over 60% of the 360 existing schools in Singapore has thepotential of achieving Positive energy or Zero energy status, by deploying solar PV
and adopting a series of energy efficiency improvement measures, as shown in Fig
19. It also shows there are tremendous benefits to carry out the ZEB upgrading
together with the improvement of indoor environmental quality for a more conducive
learning environment, as well as using the ZEB as an opportunity for a national
environmental sustainability education for the future generation.

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Figure 20: Total Energy Consumption breakdown for low-rise school building (in MWh)

Zero Energy for Medium-rise Building
The main challenges for medium to high rise buildings to achieve ZEB status areconstraints of rooftop space, and high air-conditioning area which accounts for 70% to
90% of the total gross floor area for a typical office building.

Study has shown that to achieve ZEB in medium-rise (6 to 7 storeys) office buildings,
a paradigm shift of building design would be required. For example, greater adoption
natural ventilation or hybrid system of ventilation in office spaces would have to beconsidered.

Different strategies were simulated for office buildings as shown in Figure 21. In thissimulation, the approach is to reduce energy consumption by having good passive
designs, follows by adopting high efficient AC, smart lighting system and plug load
reduction strategies. The balance of energy is then fully covered by the PV installationon the roof top, covered walkways/ link ways/ carparks and extension of roof as acantilevered structure, to achieve ZEB status.

The list of possible strategies toachieve ZEB is as shown below:•

Natural ventilation (NV) in all ancillary spaces like corridor, toilet, staircase•

Improved Glass/Wall construction & shading•

Ambient-Task Lighting•

Reduced Plug loads

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•

Hybrid AC System•

High Temperature CHWS•

High efficiency VVVF-Regen lifts•

Reduce% AC space (57% AC)•

Increase PV generation beyond the building footprint (i.e. roof extension,
covered linkways, carparks, etc)

Baseline model EEI – 170 kWh/m2/yr

Final proposed EEI – 45 kWh/m2/yr

Figure 21: Total Energy Consumption breakdown for 7-storey office building (in MWh)

Super-Low Energy for High-rise Building
Different strategies using current cutting edge solutions were simulated as shown in
Figure 22 to bring down the corresponding reduction in energy use below
100kWh/m2/yr, to make it possible to be super-low energy with 60% energy savings
over 2005 levels.11 The list of possible strategies to achieve SLEB is as shown below:

NV in all ancillary spaces like corridor, toilet, staircase



Improved Glass/Wall construction & shadingAmbient-Task Lighting

Reduced Plug loads

11 EEI for office building using the standards and codes from 2005 was seen to be 244 kWh/m 2/yr.

Current BCA Green Mark Platinum office buildings can achieve about 120-140 kWh/m2/yr.
27



Hybrid AC System

High Temperature CHWS

High efficiency VVVF-Regen lifts

Baseline model EEI – 176 kWh/m2/yr

Final proposed EEI – 72 kWh/m2/yr

Figure 22: Total Energy Consumption breakdown for 20-storey office building (in MWh)

Feasibility Study of SLE with Future Technologies
In order to assess the potential of achieving SLE in the medium (2025) to long term
(2030), further studies and simulation were carried out based on the projected
technology improvement.

The study shows that with further technological developments and R&D, it would be
viable for a typical medium rise office building to achieve ZE by 2025 and PE by 2030.
High-rise office building could attain EEI of 50 kWh/m2/yr or below, making it possible
for super-low energy with 80% energy improvement over 2005 levels.

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33 kWh/m2/yr

30 kWh/m2/yr

Figure 23: Breakdown for Medium-Rise Building

45 kWh/m2/yr

40 kWh/m2/yr

Figure 24: Breakdown for High-Rise Building

.

29

6.

CHALLENGES

Workshops were held to provide a platform from which a multi-disciplinary working
group of experts and key stakeholders could create a repository of information for best
building design processes, practices and technologies to increase the energy
efficiency of low-rise school buildings, medium rise and high rise office buildings in
Singapore.

More than 450 experts from the industry, developers, government agencies andacademia participated in four workshops.

Several challenges for achieving goals and targets for SLE were identified during theroadmapping process. The key challenges and possible follow up actions are listed inTable 3.
Challenges and Barriers
Lack of knowledge about the conceptof ZEB, its benefits, fear of failure, andreluctance to change to newtechnology

Possible Follow-up Actions
Proper education and capability building
for users

Difficult to set up the baseline ofhuman comfort

Influencing users’ behaviors

Difficult to change the occupants’ habit
Challenge for all stakeholders to alignwith the objective of achieving a ZEB
for it to come to fruition

Integrative design approach

Limited space for PV on roof top

Consider beyond building concepts

Spaces tend to be over designed interms of plug loads

Designers, building owners and tenants
to be on board before actual design toensure optimization

Complication in implementing certain
green measures due to having multiple
tenants at the same office building

Sustainability awareness programmes in
offices

Low perceived value of ZEB /High perceived cost of ZEB

In-depth cost benefit study for ZEB and
SLEB in Singapore context.

30

Lack of demonstration and testbedding opportunities / Lack of
incentive schemes
Regulation barriers

Enhance existing funding and incentive
schemesEngage and have regular dialogues with
relevant authorities to resolve potential
barriers

Table 3: Challenges and Possible Follow up Actions

31

7.

FUTURE RD&D

An SLE building with 60% energy efficiency improvement is technically feasible with
best-in-class technologies today, but more research, development and demonstration(RD&D) is needed to push the boundaries to 80% energy efficiency improvement,
and to do so in a cost effective way.

To address SLE challenges, disruptive technologies should be developed. Cost
reduction research should be emphazised to significantly reduce the cost of theemerging technologies to be cost-effective for mass adoption in the market.

Due to the hot tropical climate of Singapore, there is a high demand for cooling anddehumidification in order to maintain occupant comfort. As air-conditioning is thelargest contributor of energy consumption in buildings, it is logically the most impactfularea for technology development of energy efficiency improvements.

One area worth focusing for further research is to reinvent the ways to cool buildings.
For examples, to further explore non-compressor air-conditioning - using water as arefrigerant in combination of membrane and evaporative cooling techniques; to develop

advanced and cost effective desiccant membrane air conditioning system to address
dehumidification in our tropical environment using lesser energy.

The other example

is to investigate the opportunities brought by hybrid cooling with higher indoor
temperatures to deliver cooling to occupants with lesser energy and good thermal
comfort.

Another fast-growing and dynamic technologies towards net zero is the smart
building technologies.

Through tapping on Internet of Things (IoT), advanced

sensors, data analytics, smart technologies have shown a potential of saving an
estimated 8-18% of total building energy consumption and providing a host of nonenergy benefits12.

12

Smart Buildings: A Deeper Dive into Market Segments, American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy (ACEEE), 201732

To continue driving R&D towards innovative solutions with tangible outcomes, it isessential to focus on development of smart technologies that are connected to building
systems and are able to achieve significant energy savings.

Some of the possible smart technology areas in smart sensor and control technologies,
advanced data analytics, and artificial intelligence for building systems are:•Integrated information and communication technology (ICT)/Internet ofthings (IoT) solutions to improve building energy management;•

Accurate, low cost, multi-functional smart sensor network systems forindoor environment monitoring and control;•

Advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence techniques for

optimising building operations;•

Open and universal data management platforms/applications that allow

communication and integration of multiple building systems;•

Smart solutions that can capture individual users’ preference, deliver

solutions, and influence occupant’s behaviours;•

Adaptive and smart controls for innovative cooling, lighting and processload control systems.

The list of the RD&D and deployment pathway is shown in Annex B.

33

8.

CONCLUSION

The primary focus of the roadmap was to identify technologies for RD&D that would
push the best-in-class buildings’ energy efficiency to the next level. The key focus
areas for technology development have been identified along with technology
pathways that would lead to a 60 - 80% improvement on energy efficiency over2005 levels by 2030.

These EE improvements would contribute to an overall

reduction of electricity consumption and emissions due to Singapore’s building stock.

The key findings from the Technology Roadmap are summarized as below:

1) More than 60 potential solutions from enhanced existing technologies and emerging
R&D innovations have been identified and grouped under four broad categories,
namely Passive Strategies, Active Strategies, Smart Energy Management andRenewable Energy.

2) Achieving SLE with 60% energy efficiency improvement (over 2005 codes) is
technically feasible with best-in-class technologies today.

3) Further technological advancements and R&D will be needed to reach 80% energy
efficiency improvement, to make SLE both technically feasible and economically viable
for mainstream adoption by 2030.

4) Lower rise institutional buildings and schools have the potential to achieve zero or
positive energy target first.

The Roadmap makes recommendations for future research and technology
development directions to maximise the benefits of innovations, including greater
focus on technology translation and co-innovation. It also provides insights into costeffective solutioning for implementation, and recommends driving wide adoption of
SLE through the BCA Green Mark scheme.

34Annex A: Emerging Technologies and Strategies
Passive Strategies
Strategies

Technologies

Temperature
control throughInsulation

Thermalinsulation

Description

Potential
EnergyPerformance13
Reduction of the conductive heat
L-M
transfer components of externalloads, contributing to lower use of airconditioning.

Insulated glazing

Reduction of conductive heat transfer
through glazing, contributing to lower
use of air-conditioning.

L-M

Double skinfaçadeReduction of the cooling load,
contributing to lower use of airconditioning.

M

Façade greenery

Shades the surfaces and cools the
air through evapotranspiration.

M

Cool paints

Reflect solar IR, reducing heatabsorption reducing the cooling load.

M

Temperature
control throughVentilation

Wind-driven
naturalventilation

Linked to the architectural features of
new building, though can be difficult
to incorporate successfully forrefurbishment for existing buildings.

M-H

Daylight
redirecting
technologies

Light shelves

Increases the depth of penetration of
useful daylight into the building, andreduces the use of artificial lighting.
In hotels, most of the lighting load isconsumed by the clients during nighttime.
Application is design-specific. Can
bring daylight to unlit spaces likecorridors, bathrooms. Complicatedand expensive implementation inrefurbishment, in new projects good
design should achieve similar or
better lighting conditions.
A light weight (200 ~ 300 kg/m3)
construction material that improves
building’s thermal properties (U-

L-M

Temperature
control throughShadingTubular Daylight

Building
Envelope

Insulationmaterials

L-M

M

13

Impact on Building EEI: Low (L) : < 5 kWh/m2/year; Medium (M) : 5 - 10 kWh/m2/year; High (H) : >10
kWh/m2/year
Black refers to enhanced existing technologies;
Blue refers to emerging technologies (ie. newer concepts from local R&D or overseas technologies thatare not widely adopted in Singapore)
35

Heat Reflective
Coating

Cool Paint
Incorporating
Phase Change
Material (PCM)

Photochromic
glassElectrochromic
glass

Energyharvesting clear
glass
Solar heatshielding film

value 0,149 ~ 0,183 W/m2K) andwater insulations.
Optimizecurrent
epoxy-based
coating formulation to be applied onbare as well as powder coatedaluminium window frames in order toobtain a glossy surface finish without
any dripping effect and develop
polyurethane and acrylic-based
coatings which are more resistant toweathering.
An innovative cool paint through theincorporation of multi-functional
Phase Change Material (PCM)
capsules with high solar reflectance(>0.8), self-cleaning capability and
PCM thermal buffering.
Enhance home-based photocatalytic
coating
product
fordifferent
substrates with supply price less thanhalf of its imported one.
Enable to change the visible andthermal transmittance characteristics
to be able to obtain a desired level oflighting or heating from solar energy.
Reduce the solar heat whilst
producing renewable energy. Clear
glass with high daylight transmittancelevel
Effective in both UV and IR blocking
without
affectingvisiblelight
transmittance too much, thus to lower
indoorcoolingdemandandassociated cooling energy use. May
reduce light transmittance whichmakes the indoor environment
darker.

M

M-H

M

M

M

M

Active Technologies
Strategies

Technologies

Description

Air
Conditioning
andMechanical
Ventilation

Demandcontrolled
ventilation
Dedicated
outdoor air
systemRadiant Cooling
PanelsAutomatic adjustment of ventilationequipment according to occupantchoice.
Specifically used to treat outdoor air
which is delivered into a building forventilation purposes.
Cools the space by a combination ofnatural convection and radiation.

Potential
EnergyPerformance
H

H

H

36

Active Chilled
Beam (ACB)

Similar to radiant cooling panels
except that the ACB has an integral
air supply.
A room air distribution system whereconditioned outdoor air is supplied at
higher temperatures and low velocity.

H

Hybrid system:
elevated temp. +increased air
movement

By
allowing
higherindoortemperatures in buildings coupledwith fans to increase the air
movement,one
canachieve
substantial energy savings while
keeping the occupant comfort at an
acceptable level.

H

Automatic air
balancing system

Automatic air balancing system is atechnology that can provide accurate
air distribution for every zone. The
flow rate of each terminal isindependent of the neighbouringterminals, allowing smooth control ofroom temperature, humidity andventilation.
Researchwork
iscurrently ongoing.
Non-compressor air-conditioning using water as a refrigerant in
combination of membrane andevaporative cooling techniques toachieve more than 30% energy
savings, compared to conventional
vapour-compression refrigeration
A novel desiccant/membrane air
dehumidification
comprising
composite desiccant and membrane
to remove humidity with less energy.

M-H

Liquid Desiccant
AC System

Membrane based liquid desiccantdehumidifier using desiccant salt tostore solar thermal energy and low
grade waste heat energy.

H

Advanced Direct
Expansion Type
AC System

New technologies i.e. Refrigerant
Management System (RMS) andCompressor Refrigerant Treatment(CRT) as additional features for the
Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) airconditioning system to determine realtime COP and enthalpy on site.
Eliminates the use of static pressure
as control and combines the use ofterminal box damper positions,precision airflow measurement and acustom controller with uniquealgorithm to reduce the fan speed ofH

Displacement
Ventilation

Non-compressor
air-conditioning
systemHybrid two-stage
Dehumidification
SystemVAV Fan Speed's
Optimisation
System

H

H

H

M

37

an operating VAV system, and thus
the duct static pressure.
Energy efficient,
oil less chiller,
e.g. magnetic
bearing
centrifugal chiller,
gas bearing
chiller
Evaporative
coolerEnergy valve

Solar airconditioner

Lighting
Technologies

High volume low
speed (HVLS) fan
Direct DC LED
Lighting withsmart control
Ambient + Task
lighting

DALI Smart
Lighting Control
System

IoT based
occupancy-driven
lighting control
systemEliminates the use of static pressure
as control and combines the use ofterminal box damper positions,precision airflow measurement and acustom controller with uniquealgorithm to reduce the fan speed ofan operating VAV system, and thus
the duct static pressure.
The cooler has a “cold water core”
that produces chilled water for a twostage cooling process: First, warm air
is drawn into the unit and cooled by
the chilled water; next, the air ispassed through an evaporative panel
to produce “super-cooled” air.

H

M-H

A pressure independent valve thatmeasures and manages coil energy
by
using
an
embedded
electromagnetic flow meter, alongwith supply and return watertemperature sensors. It measuresenergy, controls power and manages
Delta T.
The hybrid air con can accept both
DC power generated by photovoltaic
and AC power from normal grid.
The fan can move huge columns of
air efficiently at low speed.
Complete integration of LED lighting
fixtures.

M

The ambient lighting levels are kept at
a lower illuminance level, while higher
lighting levels are provided where
locally needed. For offices and focuswork spaces.
Hypothetic savings between 50 –80% on lighting energy. For offices
and spaces with high change inusage patterns, with access todaylight and potential for individualuser-addressable controls.
Occupancy-driven lighting control
system (involving individual/ zonal
lighting
control,
occupancypositioned system) has potential of
20% improvement in energy saving
compared to normal LED lighting

L-M

M

M
H

H

M-H

38

Smart Energy Management System
Strategies

Technologies

Description

Smart Energy
Management
System

ACMV
Optimization

Holistically optimize the sequencecontrol and set points control of eachequipment of ACMV system tominimizethesystemenergyconsumption.
An ongoing process to resolve
operating problems, improve comfort,
and optimize energy use.
A systematic process to improve an
existing building's performance. Usinga whole-building systems approach,retro-commissioning seeks to identify
operational improvements that will
increase occupant comfort and saveenergy.
An
integrated
building
energymanagement system that helps
measure, monitor and manage thebuilding performance and empowerstakeholders to drive energy smart
behaviour.

Continuous
commissioning
Retrocommissioning

Building Energy
Management
System (BEMS)

Fault detection
and diagnosis
system (FDD)

Demandventilation
controls

Weather sensing
and adaptive
controls

A measurement science that enables
automatic detection and diagnosis ofequipment faults, sensor failures, andcontrol errors in the ACMV systems ofbuildings. The resulting fault detection
and diagnosis (FDD) software ("FDD
tools") will utilize existing sensors andcontroller hardware, and will employ
artificial
intelligence,
deductivemodeling, and statistical methods toautomatically detect and diagnose
deviations between actual and optimal
ACMV system performance.
An integral part of a building’s
ventilation design. It adjusts outside
ventilation air based on the number ofoccupants from the occupancy
sensors, and the ventilation demands
that those occupants create.
An integral part of an ACMV
Optimization. It enables the system totake predictive or proactive action
necessary to properly adapt to thevariable volatility in weather to reset
the operation set points to save energy
consumption.

Potential
EnergyPerformance
H

M

M

H

H

M

L-M

39

Model-Predictive
Control

IoT integration
with BMS

Personalitybased EMS

BIM Integration
with Energy
MM&V

Data-Driven
Modelling andReal-Time
Optimisation for
Chiller Plant

MachineLearning Model

An intelligent control system that cananalyse a building’s energy efficiency
so that developers can optimise thebuilding’s energy performance and its
occupants can enjoy a better indoor air
quality.
A system that collects real-time
information on a building’s energy andwater consumption, and analyses itwith patterns of human activities sothat energy consumption from its
fixtures and appliances can be
optimised.
An energy management system for abuilding that takes into consideration
its occupants/users’ behaviours andpersonalities. The results of theanalysis will determine the pattern ofenergy use and optimise energy
savings.
This system will “merge” or “integrate”
a virtual three-dimensional model of abuilding with a model of its energy
consumption using a series ofmeasuring tools. By putting bothmodelstogether,building
professionals
cananalysethemeasurements as well as patterns ofenergy consumption and create
simulations that attempt to reduce theenergy consumption to a minimum
A model that optimises the energy
performance / consumption of an aircon chiller plant by tracking andanalysing real-time data, and thenidentifying the patterns of humanusage for optimal energy performanceM

A system that tracks building
occupants’ thermal comfort withwearable devices (e.g., wristband andsmart watches) to sense their vital
signs (e.g., heart rate and skintemperature). With the collected data,
the system can then adjust thebuilding’s air-condition system androom temperature for better energy
efficiency without compromising its
occupants’ comfort.

M

H

M

H

H

Renewable Energy Technologies

40Strategy

Technology

Solar PVHigh efficiency
PV
Perovskite PV
technologies

Integrate PV into
architectural

Co-location ofsolar PV andgreeneryInnovative
lightweight
structures
Anti-degradation
systemDescription

Potential
EnergyPerformance
Higher performance PV for better yieldH
per m2.
Perovskite solar cells are flexible andM-Heasy to produce. They can be painted
or sprayed on a surface from an ink
solution or churned out of a printer likea newspaper. That flexibility means
they can be attached to virtually
anywhere.
Raise awareness about the availabilityHof more aesthetically pleasing PV
modules. With the buy-in fromarchitects and developers, the pushtowards SLE would experience more
support, thus allowing building owners
to consider BIPV as a potential sourceof renewable energy
Use of both greenery and solar PV on
H
the same roof space. (PV output
increase of 3% due to the extra coolingfrom the green roof).
Innovative structures that possibly canM
be folded or at least be deployed easily
on rooftops. Lightweight flexible PV
modules could be developed.
Degradation mechanism to slow downHdegradation of PV panel over time andmake it more durable and efficient.

Plug Load Reduction Technologies & Strategies
For Office Building
Strategies
Technologies

Technologies
impactinguser
behaviour
Reduceenergy waste

Individual
technologicalcontrol
Centralized
control systems
Smart
power
stripsTimersComputing and
Printing
Equipment

Description

Examples of such include: Individual
control of appliances, Task lighting andRemote control
Examples of such include: BMS
systems Power sockets
Address energy use due to phantom
loads from many devices through acentralized control of the switch.
Saving on standby modes and idle
loads.
More efficient low power modes,
managing computers being left turned
on to enable remote work

Potential
EnergyPerformance
M

M
L-M

L-M
M

41

Plug Load
Reduction Change user
behaviour

Eliminate
redundant
equipment
Smart WiFi Timer
Plug with Remotecontrol

Personal
electricity
consumption
monitoring andbenchmarkingLesspersonal
equipment(refrigerators, personal printers, andfax machines)
Off the standby power of theequipment and appliance, web-basedor mobile app based dashboard showsthe electricity consumption and theoperation status of the plug load, allow
user remotely off the appliance power
through internet. The standby powerof the appliance, additional 7% savingsof plug load due to the energy
consumption visualization and remotecontrol.
Monitor and benchmark individual’s
electricity consumptions, this will givepeer pressure to the individual who has
not excise good energy saving
behaviour.

Technology

Description

M

M

L-M

For Data Centre
Strategy

IT
Opportunities

Potential
EnergyPerformance
ServerServer virtualization offers a way to
L-M
Virtualization
consolidate servers by allowing data
centre operator to run multiple different
workloads on one physical host server.
Decommissioning Decommissioning allows data centre
Hof Unused
operator to retire aged servers with noServers
use still running, and/or deferpurchases of new servers, thus
decreasing electricity consumption andcooling load.
Consolidation ofServer consolidation reduces total
M
Lightly Utilized
number of servers by putting more
Servers
applications on fewer machines.
BetterUse less storage to use less energy
HManagement of can result from the better data storage
Data Storage
best practices available today throughstorage resource management tools.
In addition, there are certain storage
hardware devices that use much lessenergy.
Purchasing More New servers use more energy-efficientH
Energy-Efficienttechnology.
Servers, UPSs, New efficient UPSs generally range
and PDUs
from 92% to 95% efficient. The Eaton
Energy Saver System claims to reach
99% efficiency across a wide range ofloads.
New PDUs use high-efficiency
transformers that are 2% to 3% more42

Airflow
Management
Strategies

ACMV
Adjustments

Innovative
coolingtechnologies

efficient overall compared to a genericlower-efficiency transformer.
Hot
Aisle/Cold The rows of server racks should be
Aisle Layout
oriented so that the fronts of theservers face each other. In addition,
the backs of the server racks should
also face each other. This orientation
creates alternating "hot aisle/cold
aisle" rows. Such a layout, if properlyorganized, greatly reduces energy
losses and also prolongs the life of theservers.
Containment/Encl Containment refers to the various
osuresphysical barriers used in addition to a
hot aisle/cold aisle arrangement thatfurther eliminate the mixing of cold("supply") air and hot exhaust air.
Variable Speed
CRAC(computerroom
air
Fan Drives
conditioning) unit fans vary their fan
speeds with the data centre server
load, which tends to fluctuate.
Properly
All airflow management strategies
Deployed Airflow
strive to either maximize cooling by
Management
supplying cooling (“supply”) air directly
Devicesto equipment, or by eliminating themixing and recirculation of hot
equipment exhaust air.
Server Inlet
Add a centralized control system toTemperature and reduce or stop dueling CRAC units.
Humidity
Change the humidity set points to a
Adjustments
range of 30% to 70% relative humidity.
Install a series of temperature,humidity, power and pressure sensors
throughout the data centre. Use themformonitoringwhile
adjustingtemperature and humidity.
Utilizecommunication
gateway
devices to pull data points into abuilding management system softwareinterface.
Air-Side
An air-side economizer is integrated
Economizer
into a central air handling system withducting for both intake and exhaust. It
brings outside air into a building anddistributes it to the servers. Instead ofbeing re-circulated and cooled, theexhaust air from the servers is simply
directed outside.

Immersioncoolingtechnology

Immersion cooling in single-phase andtwo-phase operation, helps improve
thermal design by directly immersing IT
hardware in a non-conductive liquid.

L-M

L-M

M

H

H

M

H

43

Heat generated by the electronic
components is directly and efficiently
transferred to the fluid, thereby
reducing otherwise needed active
cooling components, such as interface
materials, heat sinks and fans.

For Supermarket
Strategy

Technology

Energyefficientrefrigeration
system andcontrols

Energy efficient
refrigeration
systemReduceenergy waste

Energy efficient
refrigeration
controls

Electronicallycommutated (EC)fans
Refrigerated
displaycases
fitted with glass
door
Energy-saving
airfoil for the frontedge of open-air
fridges

Description

Potential
EnergyPerformance
The energy saving refrigeration system
Hthat is composed of an energy efficient
outdoor condensing unit and therefrigerated display cases
Adaptive
controls(continuouslyHmonitor and adjust system parameterssuch
as superheat or evaporator pressure)
Speed controllers for evaporator andcondenser fans
Timers and dimmers for display-caselighting
On-demand defrost
Night-time set backPulsing of anti-sweat heaters
Refrigerant leak detection
Wireless
communicationforcentralized monitoring and control
Fan with a high efficiency, brushless
L-M
DC motor for commercial fridges &freezers
Glass doors on the Refrigerated
H
display cases keep the cold air inside
the fridges, preventing it from mixing
with the warm air of the supermarket.
Airfoils act as barriers that push cold air
Hback into open fridges, preventing itfrom mixing with the warm air of thesupermarket.

44

Annex B: RD&D and Deployment Pathway
1) Reduce energy consumption
Energy consumption in buildings must be aggressively reduced by all means available before any
alternative energy-sources are considered and researched.
TargetKey
Actions

Cut
Cooling
consumption

Areas for Future
R&D

Near Term(2020)

MediumTerm(2025)Long Term(2030)

Technologies forsolar insulation(films)Technologies forshading (films, cool
paints)Building
envelope andfaçadeEnhancing naturalventilation such as
using simulationbased decisionmaking tools andthermal comfort
studies
Tools for on-site
façade performance
Multi-functional
façade for energy
storage/power/foodgenerating devices
Optimized facades
based on outdoordependent dynamic
controls
Integration of airconditioning
systems in facades(dehumidificationand cooling)
Natural Refrigerant

ACMV

ACMV system witharchitectural
implications
High temperaturechilled water system
combined withdecoupled sensible
cooling anddehumidification.

45

Personalized
ventilation andcooling
Displacement
ventilation systems
Innovative sensible
cooling
Hybrid-cooling withhigher indoor
temperatures
Chilled beam andradiant cooling
New materials fordehumidificationand thermal cooling
Maximizing cooling
and/ordehumidificationfrom thermally
activated sources
Modular compact
chillers
Self-adapting
distributed airconditioning system
for users
Polygeneration:
optimisation oftemperature andcascades for district
systems
Cut
Daylight
Lighting
consumption

Artificial light

Technologies fordaylight (such as
Dynamic Shading
Strategies: Designof active blinds,roller shades andcontrol systems tomeet visual comfort
goals while
maintaining
daylighting levels.)
Smart Lighting
Systems
LED Lighting
Systems:Component level:
Driver and power
supply efficiency

46





Cut
ReducePlug loads energy waste
consumption

System level:source efficacy,
controls, Lumen
maintenanceHumanphysiologicalimpacts

Standards for max
plug loads inbuildings
Drive theinvolvement ofusers
Study the effects ofuser behaviour
Technologies toreduce plug loads
User-specific smart
dashboards
Seamlessinteroperability
interface

Smart
Interface andBuilding
optimisedmanagement performanceof buildings
systems

Electric
consumption
database
Data classification,fusion andvisualization
Operational BIM &BESS reporting
Distributed data
dissemination
Multi-functional lowcost sensors
Automated FDDI

Adaptive comfort
controls
Building modelling &predictive control
System data models

47Self-healing, selfcalibrating intelligent
sensors
Sensor network
optimization
Big data analysis
tools
Wearable sensors

R&D

Test-bedding,
Demo

Deployment,
MarketDiffusion482) Maximize renewable energy production
Buildings must maximize their on-site clean energy production.
TargetKeyactions

Areas for Future R&D

Maximize Type of PV
PV
technology
generation
capacity

Near
Term(2020)

MediumTerm(2025)Long Term(2030)

Diffuse more efficient PV
technologies
Improve the design ofexisting technologies
Durable and long-lasting
bonding technologies forfast & easy fixing of PV
Study degradation in PV
modules in the tropics

Conversion
efficiency

Regulations for DC/DC
networks in buildings
Improve the efficiency ofthe conversion

Maxradiation

Minimize shaded areas
on roof spaces
Anti-shading PV system

Maximizing
roof area

Prioritize building design
with maximized roof
areas for PV collection
Design lightweight
structure for roof
installations
PV integration withgreeneryMaximize
usage
areas

Address limitations forfire safety to achieve
larger PV roof areas
Customize the size of PV
panels to maximize thecovering of the available
roof areas
Promote PV integration inbuilding aesthetics

R&D

Test-bedding,
Demo

Deployment,
MarketDiffusion

49

CONTRIBUTORSThis project is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s
Office, Singapore under its Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) Funding’s
Green Buildings Innovation Cluster (GBIC) programme.
We would like to thank all for the valuable feedback and constructive suggestions. Our
sincere regrets if we have inadvertently missed out any person or organization who
has contributed.
Technology Roadmap Project TeamName
Dr Gao Chun Ping
Mr Wong Ngian Chung
Mr Selvam Valliappan
Mr Majid Sapar
Dr Yu Liming
Dr Jin Guang Yu
Mr Yann Grynberg
Prof Wong Yew Wah
Dr Sandra Persiani
Ms Rachel Aw
Mr Nakul Naphade
Mr Pramod Kamath
Mr Shashwat
Dr Stephen Tay

Organization
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N)
Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N)
Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N)
Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N)
Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N)
Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N)
Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N)
Solar Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS)

Expert Peer Reviewers, Workshop Speakers and Roundtable Discussion
Facilitators
Name
Dr Poh Hee Joo
Mr Tan Phay Ping
Mr Christophe Inglin
Mr Rohan Rawte
Dr Chai Kok Soon
Mr Stephen Selkowitz
Mr Moo Yubin
Mr Steven KangEr Tay Cher Seng
Dr Kevin Moe
Prof Ernest ChuaProf Wong Nyuk Hien
Prof Nirmal
Prof Cai Wenjian
Prof Wan Man Pun
Dr Hu Guo Qiang
Prof Wen Yonggang

Organization
A*STAR-Institute of High Performance Computing
Building System & Diagnostics Pte Ltd
Energetix Pte Ltd
IESVE Pte Ltd
Kaer Pte Ltd
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Ministry of Education
Measurement & Verification Pte Ltd
Natflow Pte Ltd
National Research Foundation (NRF)
National University of Singapore (NUS)
National University of Singapore (NUS)
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)50

Dr Veronika Shabunko
Dr Xu Le
Prof Chien Szu Cheng
Mr Albert Lim
Prof J. Alstan Jakubiec
Dr Wolfgang Kessling
Mr Martin Engelhardt
Mr Noel Chin
Ms Alice Goh
Mr Alvin Seoh
Ms Nur Shuhadah
Ms Goh Xin Ying
Dr Edward Ang
Mr Benjamin Towell
Mr Derak Ang
Mr Edwin Koh
Mr Elgin Low
Mr Daniel Wang
Dr Li Ruixin
Ms Laura Paramon

Solar Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS)
Solar Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS)
Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT)
SolarGy Pte Ltd
Singapore University of Technology and Design(SUTD)
Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH
Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)

Workshop ParticipantsName of Organization
3M Company
AC Consortium Pte Ltd
Alfatech Vetasia Pte Ltd
Architect 61 Pte Ltd
Arup Singapore Pte Ltd
Ascendas-Singbridge Pte Ltd
Atelier Ten
Aurecon (Singapore) Pte Ltd
BECA Carter Hollings & Ferner (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd
Belmacs Pte Ltd
CapitaLand Limited
Changi Airport GroupCHIJ St Nicholas Secondary School
CIAP Architects Pte Ltd
Corporation Primary School
CPG Consultant Pte Ltd
Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA)
Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd (DSPL)
Energy Market Authority (EMA)
Engineers Alliance Pte Ltd
Enlighted Sales and Service Pte Ltd
FMC Technologies Singapore Pte Ltd
GreenA Consultants Pte Ltd
I3 Solutions Group (i3)Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)
JTC Corporation (JTC)

Type of Organization
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
SchoolPrivate Sector
SchoolPrivate Sector
Public Agency
Private Sector
Public Agency
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Public Agency
Public Agency

51

Jurong Secondary School
Kajima Corporation
Keppel Data Centres Pte Ltd
Keppel Land Limited
Kimly Construction Pte Ltd
KLA-Tencor (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School
Lendlease Group
Mandai Park Development Pte Ltd
Marsiling Secondary School
Ministry of Culture, Community & Youth (MCCY)
Meinhardt (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Morrow Architects & Planners Pte Ltd
Mott Macdonald Singapore Pte Ltd
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS)
National Parks Board (NParks)
National Research Foundation (NRF)
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP)
Palm View Primary School
Parsons Brinckerhoff Pte Ltd
RDC Architects Pte Ltd
RightViz Solutions Pte Ltd
SAA Architects Pte Ltd
Samwoh Pte Ltd
Siemens Pte Ltd
Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT)Singapore Technologies Electronics Pte Ltd
Squire Mech Pte Ltd
St Andrew’s Community Hospital (SACH)
Surbana Jurong
Teale Pte Ltd
The Ascott Limited
Tiong Seng Contractors Pte Ltd
Trane Distribution Pte Ltd
United World College-South East Asia (UWCSEA)
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)
Webearth Pte Ltd
William Ng Consultants Pte Ltd
Yishun Junior College
ZEB-Technology Pte Ltd

SchoolPrivate Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
SchoolPrivate Sector
Private Sector
SchoolPublic Agency
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Institute of Higher Learning (IHL)
Public Agency
Public Agency
Public Agency
Institute of Higher Learning (IHL)
Institute of Higher Learning (IHL)
SchoolPrivate Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Institute of Higher Learning (IHL)
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Private Sector
Institute of Higher Learning (IHL)
Public Agency
Private Sector
Private Sector
SchoolPrivate Sector

52

Disclaimer, Limitation of Liability

This report represents the personal opinions of the contributors. The contributors
exclude any legal liability for any statement made in the report. In no event shall thecontributors of any tier be liable in contract, tort, strict liability, warranty or otherwise,
for any special, incidental or consequential damages, such as, but not limited to, delay,
disruption, loss of product, loss of anticipated profits or revenue, loss of use of
equipment or system, non-operation or increased expense of operation of otherequipment or systems, cost of capital, or cost of purchase or replacement equipment
systems or power.

53