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Republic Polytechnic’s new Woodlands
Campus was awarded the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Green
Mark Platinum Award on 27 April 2006, at the BCA Awards Ceremony.
This award recognises excellence in
environmentally friendly building design such as a building’s capacity to save
energy and water, provide a healthy indoor environment and the use of vegetation
in the project.
“Republic Polytechnic is proud to be
awarded this prestigious award that recognises buildings that are environment
friendly,” said Professor Low Teck Seng, Principal and CEO of Republic
Polytechnic.
”When we first started planning our
new 20-hectare Woodlands Campus we knew we wanted a place where students and
local residents could relax, connect and have fun. We had the opportunity to
influence the total design and concept, so we tasked all our consultants to
include special state of the art technology and features to make the Campus
eco-friendly."
The eco-friendly features of the RP Woodlands Campus include,
amongst others:
Thermal Energy
Storage System
RP is the first building project in Singapore to make use of
a purpose built Thermal Energy Storage (TES) System designed to reduce its
energy bill substantially.
TES technology allows building owners to store energy into
specially designed storage tanks during the night when the electricity tariffs
are lower. Simply by using cheaper energy alone, RP will enjoy a savings of
$380,000 per annum compared to the cost of a conventional air-conditioning
system.
Integration with Nature
The design of the Campus deliberately incorporates lots
of greenery and landscaping to replace the displaced nature. This includes the
Agora Lawn – 4 hectares of grassed area where trees are planted to provide shade
and to minimize heat transfer to facilities below air-conditioned spaces of the
lawn. Water features with surrounding landscaping are also used to lower the
surrounding ambient temperature.
The rooftop garden at the Promenade helps to reduce solar heat transfer hence
reducing the need for air conditioning. In addition, it also incorporates a
special low-maintenance planting media which allows rainwater to drain through
without flooding, and stores water and fertilizer which are released during dry
weather.
The multi-storey car park features a “green wall” and “green roof” where
creepers grow from vine trays acting as “bio-lungs”. The objective of having
the greenery is to reduce the effects of a “heat island” in and around the car
park. The creepers absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, helping to cool
its surroundings.
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