[ad_1]
SINGAPORE – Just over 1,400 families will be the first to live in smart device-enabled Housing Board apartments in Punggol Northshore later this year.
Spread over two Build-To-Order (BTO) projects, Northshore Residences I and II, the apartments are equipped with the “brain” of a smart home: smart plugs and high-tech distribution boards.
These built-in accessories allow homeowners to transform their floors into smart homes, if they so desire. This means that almost any appliance that is connected to a power source – lights, fans, and coffee makers – can be controlled via a mobile app.
The 1,402 units in 12 residential blocks are the first batch of smart technology enabled BTO flats that HDB will implement. Key collection for these blocks is currently in progress.
On top of that, Punggol Northshore, one of seven waterfront housing districts in Punggol, will be Singapore’s first district to incorporate smart features everywhere.
Sensors will be deployed to analyze the performance of key real estate services, such as lighting, water pumps, elevators and garbage collection, for predictive maintenance.
Inside the farm, sensor-controlled smart lighting in common areas where little or no human traffic is detected can be automatically dimmed to 30 percent, which can save up to 60 percent in energy use.
An intelligent irrigation system, which uses humidity sensors, considers factors such as rain and sunlight to optimize schedules and water use. This makes it a less labor-efficient and water-efficient approach to maintaining vegetation and landscapes within the farm.
On Friday (October 9), the HDB exposed how Punggol, one of Singapore’s newest cities, developed as a smart and sustainable city over the past decade.
The journey began with Treelodge @ Punggol, Singapore’s first public housing development with green features.
Completed in 2010, the eco-site comprises seven blocks of residential buildings, with a podium parking lot and green spaces at the site level.
The guiding principle of the design was “to harness the elements of nature whenever possible, such as wind, daylight, rain and vegetation, to promote sustainable green living,” said the HDB.
To achieve this, the roof of the parking lot was transformed into an “ecological roof” with extensive vegetation, including a community garden.
To encourage recycling and facilitate convenience, a centralized garbage chute for recyclables was incorporated into each block.
Treelodge @ Punggol was also the first public housing development to have rooftop solar photovoltaic panels. The energy generated is almost enough to power common services such as elevator operations and lighting in common areas.
Since then, 169 blocks in Punggol have been equipped with solar panels, while installation work on another 300 blocks is ongoing.
Along the way, Punggol also serves as a “living laboratory” where HDB tests new ideas and technologies.
Features that are successfully tested at Punggol will then be replicated in upcoming developments, such as the new “Forest City” in Tengah.
So far, 30 solutions have been implemented and deployed in the rest of Punggol, such as double bike racks and a rainwater harvesting system.
Of these, 22 solutions have been implemented beyond Punggol, such as centralized recycling bins and energy-saving LED lighting with motion sensors.
The smart features within the units at Northshore Residences were the biggest draw for 28-year-old graphic designer Haris Rasid. He and his wife decided to have their first family home in Punggol, even if it meant not living near their parents in the western part of Singapore. .
“The farm comes with so many smart features and living in this current era where technology is key, my wife and I thought we would give it a try and be one of the first owners of a smart HDB floor,” said father-of-one.
Their four-bedroom apartment at Northshore Residences II is undergoing renovations and they hope to move in at the end of the month.
“At first, I plan to use the smart features to track our utility usage just to get the hang of the system, as it’s new to us. Maybe sometime in the future, we’ll see the possibility of branching out into other gadgets and systems. smart, “he said.
Four key ecological characteristics in Punggol
1. Use of solar energy
Solar panels on the HDB block roofs generate power to power common services like lifting operations and lighting in common areas, along with energy-saving LED lighting.
Total energy savings: 82.6 GWh per year, which is equivalent to powering 17,200 four-bedroom homes per year.
2. Saving water
The new floors at Punggol come with water fixtures to reduce water consumption in the home. Within the housing projects, an urban water collection system collects and stores rainwater for non-potable uses, such as washing corridors and watering gardens.
Total water savings: 1,387,818 m3 per year, which is equivalent to 555 Olympic swimming pools.
3. Minimize waste
All Punggol blocks have a centralized recycling pipeline to promote domestic recycling.
Amount of recyclables collected: 1,285 tons per year, equivalent to 89 double-decker buses.
4. Greener transportation
When completed, Punggol will have more than 50 km of bike lanes. The city will have conveniently located dual bike racks to encourage green commuting.
At 5.2 km per km2, Punggol’s entire cycling network will be denser than Helsinki’s 4.7 km per km2.
[ad_2]
