Singapore to invest $100m in green data centres and green buildings

Singapore is investing S$100 million in two major initiatives for the research and development (RD) of green data centres and to improve energy efficiency of buildings.

The Energy Research Development and Demonstration executive committee announced the new initiatives on Wednesday at the first Energy TechRoadMap symposium.

The ‘Building Energy Efficiency RD Hub’ initiative will be implemented and managed by the Building and Construction Authority, while the ‘Green Data Centre Research Hub Programme’ will be managed by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

The projects are part of five national energy technology road maps that were revealed including solar panel research, carbon capture and storage or utilisation, green data centres, energy efficiency of buildings and industry energy efficiency.

The road maps will serve as a guide to government agencies in formulating technology master plans and funding initiatives to secure Singapore’s energy security.

Buildings account for around 50 per cent of the Singapore’s electricity and the energy efficiency road map will be used to help attain the goal of Low Energy High-rise Buildings in the Tropics, focusing on technological areas such as integrated design and air-conditioning, as well as mechanical ventilation.

Singapore serves as the data centre hub of South-east Asia and hosts nearly 60 per cent of the region’s data centre capacity and the new Research Hub Programme is expected to help drive down energy use at the sites.

The green data centre road map will outline ways in which the research community and data centre industry can assess technology options to achieve sustainability objectives.

The five road maps are part of the Energy National Innovation Challenge announced in 2011, which targets economically viable energy efficient solutions and carbon emissions reduction.

A further two technology road maps addressing e-mobility and solid waste management are being formulated and will be led by the Land Transport Authority and the National Environment Agency respectively.

Singapore to invest $100m in green data centres and green buildings