United World College, Singapore

SOLID keeps it hot and cold: United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA), Singapore

The building has been awarded Green Mark Platinum certification by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore.

The new campus was designed with support by SOLID’s concept for large-solar-thermal-systems, to fulfill the criteria of the Green Mark Platinum Certificate. The Green Mark Platinum certificate by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore is the highest possible certificate for environmental friendly buildings.

UWC (or the United World Colleges) is a global network of schools and educational programmes with the shared mission of “making education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future”.

To satisfy the needs of growing numbers of pupils and students the United World College of South East Asia (UWC-SEA) has developed a second campus in Singapore in 2010. The inaugurated East Campus has a size of 60,000 m² and can house 2,200 pupils. It facilitates a wide range of infrastructures such as workshops, laboratories, audio studios, theaters, libraries, cafeterias, dorms, sports grounds as well as green recreational areas for students and staff. This East Campus is a light-house project not only for educational services but also for the state of the art environment and climate protection technologies applied.

The solar thermal collectors with a total area of 3,872 m² generates “green” energy of 1,600 to 2,200 MWh per year over 25 years. SOLID installed large scale solar thermal collectors, which are especially suited for high temperatures. With a size of 9– 12 m² per panel, it is technically suited to realize larger collector fields and fits perfectly in transportation oversee containers.

For cooling purposes, a Lithium-Bromide absorption chiller with a cooling capacity of 1,470 kW is used. In 2011 this was the most powerful solar cooling system worldwide.

Furthermore, the solar system supplies 100% of the hot water energy demand. A hot water buffer tank of 2x30m³ and a domestic hot water tank of 7 m³ allow for sufficient energy management. Hot water supply is operational since August 2011, cooling since October 2011.

The plant has been developed as Energy Service Company (ESCo). UWC-SEA signed a contract with SOLID on energy services delivery for cooling and heat. UWC-SEA is paying comparable prices for cooling energy from SOLID as it would pay for conventional cooling.