For their efforts to be environmentally sustainable, eight organisations received the ASEAN Energy Awards, making it the largest number bagged by Singapore since the Awards started in 2000.
The Galen, an eight-year-old building in Singapore Science Park II, won in the Retrofitted Category, while the 30-year-old Ministry of Manpower (MOM) building emerged first runner-up.
Business space solutions provider, Ascendas, which owns The Galen, spent S$3.5 million replacing its air-cooled chillers with four 600 refrigeration ton water-cooled centrifugal chiller plants with an efficiency of 0.56 kilowatts per refrigeration ton.
As a result, the building now only generates 1,300 tons of carbon emission annually, from 4,000 tons before retrofitting.
In addition, the building enjoys energy savings of 5,500 megawatt hours per year, which translates to an annual net utilities cost savings of S$1 million per year and a life cycle cost savings of more than S$16 million over 20 years.
“Given the current usage and tariff, we are estimating a payback period of less than four years,” said an Ascendas spokesperson.
Retrofitting the six-storey building, however, posed challenges.
“We had to ensure that tenants’ operations were not affected by the relocation of their exhaust fan, electrical and telecommunication cables to the rooftop,” said Ascendas.
For the Renewable Energy On-Grid Category, Phoenix Solar was the first runner-up.
It installed 250 kilowatts peak of solar panels at Changi Airport’s Budget Terminal, becoming South-east Asia’s first commercial airport with a photovoltaic power plant.
The solar panels generate clean energy for its own consumption and contribute to a reduction in air-conditioning load by shading the roof from direct sunlight.
The other winners include City Square Mall and Bosch South-east Asia headquarters in the New and Existing Building Category, Natflow and Enhanced Air Quality in the Special Submission Category for energy efficiency and GlaxoSmithKline in the Industry (Large) Category for energy management.
Second Minister for Trade and Industry and Home Affairs S Iswaran, who was at the 29th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting in Brunei last night, said: “The increasing number of Singapore companies receiving the awards is a testament to Singapore’s role as a ‘living laboratory’ for clean energy.
“We look forward to encouraging more of such companies to create and demonstrate their energy solutions in Singapore, before scaling up their commercial operations for the regional and global markets.”
