A team of SITizens bagged the first runner-up spot in the BCA BiG Club Green Mark Challenge 2019. Held on 23 February, the challenge was organised by the Build it Green (BiG) Club, initiated by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to promote awareness and knowledge of the green culture in the built environment among youths in Singapore.

For the Challenge, teams had to propose additional innovative green features for Sim Lim Square’s future building in Jurong, for it to achieve Green Mark GoldPlus status and above. Participants could choose to redesign the building and green features to achieve the goals while keeping in mind feasibility of ideas and site features.

The SIT Team (seated from left to right: Harvest, Aaron, Justin and Garrett) presenting their ideas to the judge Ms Wendy Li from BCA (seated, centre).

“The challenge was a good opportunity for us to learn more about the BCA Green Mark Scheme and propose creative yet implementable ideas to promote sustainability in the built environment,” said team leader Justin Seah, Year 1 student reading BEng (Hon) in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services). “The competition was tough as we were the only Year One students amidst 15 teams of seniors from other autonomous universities. Thanks to guidance from our mentor Assistant Professor Steven Kardinal Jusuf, we were able to apply what we have learnt in the classroom to this competition.”

Justin and his team mates, Garrett Ong, Harvest Yosua Purwono and Aaron Wong, came up with initiatives that were deemed not only eco-friendly but also sustainable from a business point of view. This means more savings in terms of energy and costs. One of the solutions proposed was the implementation of an energy management system that emphasizes the use of renewable energy. This included the use of regenerative lifts, carbon monoxide sensors and motion sensors, as well as installation of solar panels. The team also looked into improving the water efficiency, environmental protection, and indoor air quality of the building. They suggested ideas such as using NEWater for cooling tower consumption, implementing recycling efforts and ensuring the cleanliness of the building ventilation system.

The SITizens with one of the judges, Mr Tan Szue Hann (second from right), Managing Director, MINIWIZ Singapore.

“One of the judges, Mr Tan Szue Hann from MINIWIZ Singapore, was not only impressed with our students' presentation, but also by their innovative ideas and Building Information Modelling (BIM) model that they did up for the competition in a short period of time,” commented Assistant Professor Steven Kardinal Jusuf.

Our heartiest congratulations to the SITizens!

The SITizens won second prize and $200 shopping vouchers in the Challenge.