How can a secondary school reduce its electricity and water consumption and hence its monthly utilities bill, so as to achieve the “Greenmark” certification for environment friendly buildings?  That was the challenge thrown to participants in the biennial Green Sparks competition, held on 7 Sep 2018.

Applying the skills and knowledge acquired from their diploma training, two teams of students from the Diploma in Integrated Facility Management (IFM) submitted proposals which won them a Silver and a Merit award.

The first IFM team, calling themselves “The Green Consultants”, proposed the use of “Smart DB”, a mobile app specially developed by Temasek Polytechnic, that works in conjunction with a building’s electricity meter to monitor specific zones in the school which consume the most electricity, thereby allowing the school to zoom-in on its inefficient power usage.  The team also suggested the use of pavegen tiles that can generate electricity when users step on them, as well as the use of biomass to generate power.  Their innovative ideas won them the Silver award.

The second IFM team, called Team Luminance, proposed the use of lighting sensors, separate switches to control air-con and lighting in each zone of the staff room, solar panels, sensor- activated and card-activated LED lighting, double-glazed windows to reduce heat transmission, bicycle pedaling to generate electricity, the use of high-volume-low-speed (HVLS) fans for better efficiency, and various water conservation initiatives such as the installation of automatic water faucets and the recycling of water discharged from air-conditioners for watering the plants.  Their proposals won them the Merit award.

Organised by the Building & Construction Authority (BCA) and open to tertiary students, the competition aims to raise awareness of the best green building practices and solutions among today’s youths, as part of Singapore’s national effort to green the built environment.

For more information about the Diploma in Integrated Facility Management, click here.