South Beach Tower Office First to Receive Green Buildings Innovation Cluster (GBIC) 2.0 Demonstration Programme Support to Achieve 75% Energy Efficiency¹

Friday, 6 September 2024

South Beach, an iconic BCA Green Mark Platinum integrated mixed-use development located in downtown Singapore, comprises a Grade A office tower, JW Mariott Singapore South Beach, a variety of dining options and upscale residential apartments. One of the key sustainability features is its distinctive 280-meter-long microclimatic canopy which spans across the whole development and serves to induce natural ventilation, harvest rainwater for irrigation and harness solar energy. South Beach Tower Office has unveiled a new innovative proposal which will provide better thermal comfort and air quality for its occupants.

2            South Beach Tower Office is the first recipient under BCA’s GBIC 2.0 Demonstration Programme² and will receive up to $1.6m of funding support to push for higher energy savings by leveraging novel solutions with a significant impact on energy savings without compromising thermal comfort and indoor air quality. The proposal will holistically integrate three solutions to enhance the overall energy efficiency of its air conditioning system, enabling it to achieve 75% energy efficiency improvement (from 2005 levels). The solutions are developed in collaboration with four other partners – led by sustainability consultancy GreenA Consultants and three solution providers, Akila, Resync, and ebm-papst (see Annex A for details). This underscores South Beach’s strong focus on sustainability to create a sustainable, comfortable and healthy environment for its tenants, creating a win-win arrangement for both parties.

3            The proposed initiatives are part of South Beach’s sustainability goals to achieve Green Mark: 2021 In Operation (SLE) certification for South Beach Tower office block and are aligned with Singapore’s Green Building Masterplan. The total cost of these initiatives will amount to $3.9 million. The targeted energy savings is approximately $411,000 per annum and the payback period is approximately 5.6 years. In addition, the facilities management team will also be upskilled to handle these new AI-based technology. 

4            Ms Samantha Tan, General Manager, South Beach Consortium Pte Ltd, said, “By pioneering these latest green building innovations, South Beach seeks to set new standards in building sustainability and inspire other building owners to embrace similar technologies to create a healthier, more energy-efficient environment for its occupants.”

5            Mr Tan Chee Kiat, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Industry Development), BCA said, “Building on the success of GBIC demonstration projects, we believe that energy efficiency boundaries can be pushed further by leveraging artificial intelligence and Internet of Things. The GBIC-Demonstration project on South Beach Tower Office aims to demonstrate how this could help to address the challenges of energy consumption patterns and achieve energy optimisation while delivering thermal comfort. Together with the earlier two projects awarded by BCA under the GBIC 2.0 Research and Innovation Programme, this would take us a step closer to achieving the 80% energy efficiency improvement (from 2005 levels) target for best-in-class green buildings by 2030, under the Singapore Green Building Masterplan.”

Download the PDF version of the Media Release here

¹ From 2005 levels

² https://www1.bca.gov.sg/sustainability/green-buildings-innovation-cluster-gbic-programme