Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival, i Light Marina Bay, has been awarded the 2012 Downtown Pinnacle Award by the International Downtown Association for its contribution towards the vitality of downtown locations while doing so in a sustainable manner. Sustainability in water and energy use is also a pressing matter for China in meeting demands for future growth, and to achieve that, energy efficiency plays a big role. That is a fact that is recognised by the Singapore government which will be launching a one-stop office for all matters energy efficiency related to help companies achieve higher efficiency in their operations. Read more

i Light Marina Bay wins award

By Sunday Times, Singapore (23 September 2012):

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) was given the 2012 Downtown Pinnacle Award by the International Downtown Association (IDA), an international association based in Washington, DC, that champions vital and liveable urban centres.

The award, presented to the URA yesterday at the 58th IDA Annual Conference in Minneapolis, was for the success of this year’s i Light Marina Bay 2012 in March.

The event, touted as Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival, had brought more than 500,000 local and international visitors to Marina Bay to revel in Singapore’s signature cityscape.

Visitors enjoyed more than 30 vivid and innovative light art installations located strategically around the bay, and took part in a host of interactive events and activities over a three-week period.

The IDA Downtown Achievement Award recognises outstanding projects and programmes that are innovative and impactful, and enhance the image and vitality of downtown locations around the world.

IDA president and chief executive David Downey said: “Each year, the IDA awards jury honours to the very best programmes and projects in each category to recognise great work, and most importantly, to set the standard for best practice in our industry.

“i Light Marina Bay is a wonderful example for all downtowns to emulate.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

Countries should explore ways to maximise use of water & energy

By Rachel Kelly for Channel News Asia (20 September 2012):

SINGAPORE: China is looking to expand its power capacity to meet future needs and the target is no mean feat.

By 2030, it plans to add more than the total installed power capacity of the US, UK and Australia combined.

Meeting this goal will add pressure on resources such as energy and water.

To meet China’s growing need for power, experts said, it will need to harness more coal resources.

But currently, HSBC estimates that almost half of coal reserves in the country are located in water-scarce regions.

To meet its target for power capacity, China will need greater efficiency in the use of water and energy.

Experts agree with some having said that energy efficiency is a low hanging fruit that can be implemented by most companies and achieve significant savings.

Chairman & CEO of Sustain Ability Showcase Consultancy Asia, Ken Hickson, said: “It is the easiest thing to address the thing that you can make such a difference in a relatively short time, payback for any investment you are making in two years, and energy reduction of 50 per cent by being smart in the way you use energy. So it is a no brainer for the industry and business to do that and there are plenty of example from companies around the world as to why they doing and how they are achieving remarkable results.”

But China should not be alone in making these efforts.

Experts said that other countries should also explore new ways to maximise their use of water and energy.

To assist companies in identifying and implementing energy practices, Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) will be launching a one-stop online centre – the energy efficiency office will help to link companies to relevant parties.

NEA said more information on the Energy Efficiency Support Office (EESO) will be announced when ready. This is part of a ongoing efforts by NEA.

NEA’s director of energy efficiency & conservation department, A. Ram Bhaskar, said: “Last year, the NEA formed the energy efficiency national partnership as a platform to support companies in their efforts for energy efficiency. We have three main areas that we are covering – the first one is in energy management systems (where) we believe that companies should set up energy management systems so that energy efficiency becomes a sustainable business practice and the norm in their normal daily operations.”

NatSteel Holdings was recently recognised by NEA and awarded Outstanding Energy Manager of the Year.

It reduced its carbon dioxide emission by about 7.5 per cent over the past two years by bringing onboard a number of streamlining measures such as scrapping preheating using waste-off gas, hot charging from steel mill directly into rolling mill, sidewall oxygen lance and carbon injection system.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com