There is a new smart school campus in town which is the first of its kind in South-east Asia to have a multi-energy micro-grid network.
The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) will be having a new campus which will employ technology and innovation methods for managing the energy needs of the campus.
Construction works for this new campus follow a ground-breaking ceremony, on 10 September 2019, which was officiated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
It will rely on various energy sources to meet its energy needs.
These energy sources include gas, electricity and thermal energy.
These various energy sources will run through one energy network, micro-grid, at the future campus.
This latest campus, which will be in the Punggol Digital District, is a joint research effort between SIT and Singapore Power (SP) group.
The campus has been designed to acclimate with Singapore’s tropical climate.
Features of campus
Multi-Energy Micro-Grid (MEMG)
MEMG will be providing the power supply to the campus which will reduce the need for depending on the main utility grid.
This will allow the campus to be self-reliant and self-sustainable for its power supply in the long run.
MEMG will be a living experimental lab which will assist the research, development and test-bedding of distributed energy systems and cybersecurity solutions.
Solar Panels
There will be rooftop installations of about 10,000 sq m pf photovoltaic solar panels. These panels will contribute to providing energy and power to the campus.
These solar panels will be installed at the top of the campus’s learning hub.
Campus-wide smart sensor network
About 10,000 sensors will be installed throughout the campus to create a campus-wide smart sensor network.
These sensors will collect data such as temperature, intensity of light and human presence.
The collected data will be shared with the Integrated Building Management System (IBMS) which link up the different building functions such as lighting, lifts, air-conditioning and security via the Internet of Things (IoT).
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Analytics processes will be constantly analysing data and manage the various building functions via IBMS.
District Cooling System
The campus will come with a District Cooling System (DCS) which will supply the cooling necessities of the campus while controlling and restricting its carbon footprint.
The DCS will mainly provide the areas in the school such as the classrooms, laboratories, maker spaces, library, multipurpose hall, administration offices, auditorium and food court.
“Living Lab”
This new campus is visualised to be a ‘living lab’ which incorporates applied research and innovation for SIT and its partners.
It will be an ideal environment for students to have witness first-hand and gain knowledge about how the usage of these cutting edge-technologies through working on various projects which will employ various smart technologies and apply them in real-life environments.
It will house 12,000 students and occupy a land area of about 91,000 sq m.
Professor Tan Thiam Soon, President, SIT, commented: “SIT’s role is to provide an applied learning pathway for young Singaporeans, in particular, polytechnic graduates, to harness their aspirations. At steady state, SIT will have an annual intake of over 3,000 undergraduates and will play a key role in meeting the government’s target of 40 per cent cohort participation rate by 2020.”
The campus will be located near JTC’s business park which will allow for students and professionals to partner and work on projects.
