Technical Report Background Information + Problem Statement + Purpose Statement Draft 1

Introduction

This report has been developed in response to the request for proposals on developing solutions for engineering problems in the field of construction.

1.1    Background

Situated 1.5° north of the equator, accompanied by a tropical rainforest climate on a ‘tiny red dot’, Singapore is exceptionally susceptible to climate change while having finite ways to deal with it. According to the National Climate Change Secretariat (2021), an average increase of 1.1°C from 26.6°C to 27.7°C was recorded from 1972 to 2014 and sea level had risen 14cm compared to pre-1970 levels. Effects caused by these phenomena can be catastrophic especially due to the fact that the country generally lies 15m above mean sea level with 30% being less than five metres and can directly impact the nation’s resources such as water and biodiversity [1]. Singapore’s National Environment Agency reported in 2020 that Singapore has pledged to reduce emissions under the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change and signed the Paris Agreement in 2016. The pledge was further updated in 2020 when the supplement Nationally Determined Contribution was conformed in tandem to the Paris Agreement. Singapore targets peak emissions at 65 Metric Ton Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (MtCO2e) around 2030 and aspires to halve the amount to 33MtCO2e by 2050. [2] To combat climate change holistically, various ministries had rolled out numerous policies. For example, “Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Scheme is an initiative to create a more sustainable built environment in Singapore by promoting sustainable design, construction, and operating practices in buildings” (Ministry of National Development, 2018). [3] One of the Green Mark Scheme’s aspects is to mandatorily achieve minimum environmental sustainability standards when installing or designing building cooling systems to “reduce a building's cooling demand and adopting more efficient cooling systems” (Tan, 2019) [4].

“In 2017, Singapore generated 52.5 million tonnes of emissions. Of the 19 percent contributed by building and household, a sizable portion would have been for air-conditioning" (Tan, 2019) and Singapore has the highest per capita installed rate of air-conditioning among Asean countries (Hill, 2018). [5], [6]. The refrigerant used can cause environmental effects as well depending on the compound utilized - effects of ozone depletion potential and high global warming potential. Hence, the government’s response was to implement carbon tax in 2019 and the mandate to employ efficient cooling systems when retrofitting or installing in existing or new buildings.

Besides improving the efficacy of cooling systems, another approach is to reduce demand by incorporating innovative designs. “The Cooling Singapore project, led by the Singapore-ETH Centre and comprising academics from NUS, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology and Tumcreate was launched last year. There is also a Cooling Singapore Taskforce comprising 14 other government agencies and research institutes, including the URA” (Tan, 2018). The implementations can already be witnessed in some places of Singapore like the School Of The Arts, Singapore Management University with its building facade covered with vegetation. [7] In February 2021, the government revealed Green Plan 2030 which includes a video brought together by 5 ministers which has invigorated many to explore, invent solutions and contribute to the Green Plan. Together with the exposure in the institute, the team was inspired as well to look into feasible methods in this domain to propose to relevant authorities such as URA, BCA and MSE. Sustainability efforts will inevitably affect all Singaporeans and the global community if no actions are carried out, in the long term.

‘Using reflective materials to reduce the effect of sunlight heating up urban areas’ is one of the measures identified but it does not just limit to that. There are still a plethora of alternatives to explore and Hydroceramic is one of them. Hydroceramic is an intelligent prototype composite material that is capable of lowering the temperature of the indoor environment by up to 5 to 6 degrees. Theoretically, the hydrogel in hydroceramic can absorb up to 500 times its own weight so when water is evaporated around the surrounding, the composite absorbs the water and cools the surrounding. The material is still not fully understood yet and is currently being studied but conceptually, according to a research group by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (n.d), ‘it can save up to 28% of overall electricity consumption caused by the traditional air-conditioning and can be used as a low-cost alternative building technology as both clay and hydrogel are inexpensive’ [8]. More research and trials are essential for hydroceramic to be proven useful as there is insufficient information and results available. Currently, there are only little conceptual theories and small-scale prototypes carried out by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia. [9]

1.2    Problem statement

To introduce innovative material with green effects to be incorporated with the current green walls and increase its efficiency so that it can 'self' lower its temperature at a faster pace, and reduce the energy output from air-conditioning. As Singapore is situated in the tropical region with usage of air-conditioning being common, hence implementing such innovative materials into building will help in reducing energy output from air conditioning.

1.3    Purpose statement

The purpose of this report is to propose to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) the use of innovative building materials in new and existing buildings, that allows the building to be cooler which reduces the energy output from air-conditioning by a significant amount.