Gardens By The Bay Sustainable Strategies on Passive Design and Energy Efficiency

Asian Architecture ARC 2234

Project 1:Case Study

Gardens by the Bay Sustainable Strategies on Passive Design and Energy

Efficiency

NAME: Choo Ai Lin

STUDENT ID:

0317253

LECTURER: Mr Koh Jing Hao

ARC2234 ASIAN ARCHITECTURE Page 1

Table of Content Page

Abstract 3

1.0 Introduction 4

2.0 Principles of Sustainable Building Design 5

3.0 Passive Design Solution 6-8

4.0 Methods to Cool and Maintain the Interior 9-11

Temperature

12
5.0 Benefits of Using Displacement Air Supply System

6.0 Energy Efficient Building Material 13-14

15
7.0 Conclusion

8.0 References 15
Abstract
The purpose to study the implementation of sustainable architecture is to identify and
understand the sustainability features and workings of a self-sufficient design that supports an
energy-efficient and passive design. The Cloud Forest of Gardens by The Bay comprise the
advance stage of environmental design and sustainable development principles. Singapore's
Gardens by the Bay feature the world's largest climate-controlled greenhouses which this is
an integral part of a strategy by the Singapore government to transform Singapore from a
"Garden City" to a “City in a Garden” and the aim is stated to raise the quality of life by
enhancing greenery and flora in the city. In assisting the validation of research, literature
reviews and research based on various sources regarding the passive design and the
sustainability features of Gardens by the Bay were conducted. In order to provide a wider
variation of research, the sustainable building materials, innovative passive and active
environmental strategies for living conditions within the conservatories and the method of
technical system that makes the conservatory suitable for displaying the collections of plants
on earth was integrated into sustainable architecture. Design by Andrew Grant Associates,
Gardens by the Bay is one of the best representations of sustainable design as it proves how
sustainability and landscaping could come together. The Cloud Forest Dome which is one of
the conservatory that simulate the mountainous tropical region condition where the air
temperature was low during the day and cooler at night but with humidity levels that
approaching saturation throughout both day and night. (Bellew & Davey,2012) The energy
systems of The Cloud Forest works to reduce heat gain with selected material, cool and
maintain the dome by using displacement air supply system and generate heat and electricity
by using waste wood. These sustainability features of The Cloud Forest will explain how
implementation of sustainable architecture with passive designs and energy efficiency can
support the massive glasshouse.
1.0 Introduction

Figure 1: Gardens by the Bay (Source: Trends,2012)

The Singapore Gardens by the Bay which located in Marina Bay is a main project in
delivering the Singapore Government’s vision of transforming Singapore into a ‘City in a
Garden’. Architect Wilkinson Eyre was called upon to design this centrepiece of ambition.

The focal point of of Gardens by the Bay is the 2 conservatories which are The Flower
Dome and The Cloud Forest. They are the 2 largest climate-controlled glasshouses in the
world. The Flower Dome consists of a cool dry conservatory while The Cloud Forest has a
cool moist conservatory. (Rus. M , 2012) Each of them has its own character but both explore
the horticulture of those environments most likely to be affected by climate change.
(Sheppard. C, 2012)

The Cloud Forest highlights the relationship between plants and the planet, showing how the
warming of the cool tropical cloud forests will threaten biodiversity. (Rus. M , 2012) The
purpose of this project is to communicate to the Singapore community the urgency and
importance of environment sustainability with its linked message of its value of biodiversity
conservation arose from the need to expand the footprint of the city. (Bellew & Davey,
2012)
 This paper will investigate on the Sustainable Strategies on Passive Design and Energy
Efficiency of The Cloud Forest in Gardens by the Bay by responding to the following
question:

1. What are the principles of a sustainable building design?

2. How to integrate passive design in this building?
3. How to cool and maintain the temperature of the conservatory?
4. What are the benefits of using displacement air supply system for air conditioning?
5. Which energy efficiency building materials are used in The Cloud Forest?

2.0 Principles of Sustainable Building Design

Building construction and operations can have wide-ranging direct and indirect impacts on
the environment, society, and economy. To balance the needs of these areas, the field of
sustainable design use an overall way to harmonize needs and establish a design which
benefits in each ways.

The aim of sustainable designs is to avoid reduction of critical resources to prevent

environmental degradation caused by facilities and base installation throughout their life
cycle. (WBDG, 2013) Therefore, it is important to create a building with passive designs and
energy efficiency.

Buildings use resources generate waste and give out harmful emissions. Hence, architects
and builders face a unique challenge to meet demands for new facilities that are able to secure,
healthy and productive while minimizing their impact on the environment.

There are 6 basic principles for sustainable design. That is by optimizing site potential,
optimize energy use, protect and conserve water, optimize building space and material use,
enhance indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and lastly optimize operational and maintenance
practices. (WBDG, 2013) The Cloud Forest of Gardens by the Bay had fulfilled all the six
principles of sustainable design.
3.0 Passive Design Solution
The Cloud Forest structures have been designed with sustainability as a starting point with
every consideration given to passive climate control techniques. A computer-controlled
shading system and carbon neutral cooling technologies have been integrated into the fabric
of the building to efficiently maintain the climate within the conservatory. (Bellew & Davey,
2012)

The giant gridshell framework protected by a series of 28 steel ribs or arches, anchored at
the base and the arches deflect and absorb the strong winds, protecting the glass beneath. The
customised glass panels, each weighing approximately 320kg, incorporate metal oxide
adjusted to a level to achieve the right amount of light transmission. The ribs at ground level
are also painted off-white to reflect light and heat. (Bellew & Davey, 2012, p.42)

However, a retractable shading system will be arranged between the arches during hot
weather to reduce heat loss and maintaining the indoor temperature. 8m x 10m of rolled
triangular sails will be hidden within the arch structure and these will spread out as a
shading device.

Process of rolled triangular sails concealed the dome

Shading between arches conceal the glasshouse Heat detected

Figure 2 :Gardens by the Bay (Source: Archdaily,2012)

Biomass boilers are applying in this conservatory for heat supply. It is considered to be
close to carbon neutral that making a significant improvement to the energy rating of The
Cloud Forest by giving out minimum amount of smoke while boiling. This heating system
will reduce the energy that use to heat up the building and will also cut down the carbon
footprint therefore contribute Singapore to move to a low carbon environment.

The Cloud Forest make us of the primary energy which is the waste wood sponsored by The
National Parks Board to provide energy to cool the conservatory at the energy site centre.
3 millions of waste wood were used monthly. The reuse of waste wood is used to drive the
Combine Heat and Power (CHP) system.

K.W. (2012, June 19) stated that ash from the boiler will be re-used in the garden while
heat from the Combine Heat and Power unit will be used to regenerate a liquid desiccant.
These desiccants will be used to remove moisture from the fresh air supply. This helps cut
power consumption, dry air requires far less energy to cool it than moist air does.
Renewable Energy- Automatic Pellet Feed Boiler

Waste wood is use to provide

cooling and power energy to the
biomes.

Figure 3: Biomass heating system (Source: NorthStar Energy, 2011)

Generally, wood pellets or other biomass products are put into a chamber where an electric
probe burn the material. Microprocessor then monitors the combustion using thermostats in
the flue gasses as a result adjustments are made automatically to the fuel supply and the fan
speed. (NorthStar Energy, 2011)

Then, heat is transferred from the combustion gasses to the water used in the central
heating system when hot gasses are passed through a heat exchanger. The hot water is then
circulated around a standard central heating system. (NorthStar Energy, 2011) Hence the
biomass heating system is a renewable heating system which only requires minimum
energy.

Figure 3 shows that the rainwaters are collected from the roof by using gutter to transfer it
to the filtration system underground. The rainwater then will store and transfer for plant
irrigation and to the manmade waterfall. After cleaning and filtering, the clean water was sent
to the reservoir for daily usage.
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8 The environmental diagram showing sustainability cycles that incorporates the water, energy and materials cycles

Figure 4: The Gardens (Source: Gardens by the Bay, 2012)

Gardens By The Bay Sustainable Strategies on Passive Design and Energy Efficiency

4.0 Methods to Cool and Maintain the Interior Temperature

Despite the efficiency of the high performance glass and the use of external shades during
times of high solar gain. Hence, there remain a significant amount of solar and other heat
gains into the biomes that needed to be offset through the introduction of cooling in various
form.

The first method is the use of a displacement air supply system which involves introducing
the conditioning air at low level within the occupied zone to limit the volume of the building
that requires conditioning thereby reducing energy usage and plant capacities.

From there, the conditioned air rises easily into the user's zone and as the air moves
through the room, it gains heat from users, equipment and lighting. Then, it continues to
move upward until it is exhausted out of the space through open windows or be extracted
and re- circulated. Displacement ventilation also allows the air conditioning to be supplied at
18˚C rather than 12˚C, which would be the norm for a conventional conditioning system and
this elevated supply temperature results in saving the energy.

Air exhausted out will

be re-circulated

Air flow
adjusted to
suit individual
needs
Displacement air supply system in The Cloud
Forest

Cool air delivers

from low level

Figure 5: Raised Access Floor (Source: Architectural Record, 2010)

Figure 5 shows that fresh air is drawn in from outside through air intake louvers and shafts
concealed within the embankment planting. Diffusers integrated into the vertical surface of
the planter beds anti-displacement diffuser terminals placed in beds throughout each biome
deliver air at low velocity into the lowest space at lowest level. (Bellew & Davey, 2012,
p.44)

Next, to absorb and remove the incident absorbed solar radiation in the biomes, the method
of radiant cooling in the pathway in pathways and pavements are also being used. This
reduced the amount of heat gain to distribute by the air systems and reduce mean radiant
temperature for occupants to improve human comfort. (Bellew & Davey, 2012, p.44)

ARC2234 ASIAN ARCHITECTURE Page 9

 Umbilical Walkways Floating Walkways

The two types of walkways used for radiant cooling are the umbilical walkways and the
floating walkway. Air supplies are distributed above the floor structure of the umbilical
walkway. They adapt to gradients and usually apply an individual or continuous vent. While
the floating walkways is a fixed walkway that is adaptable to surrounding changes and
continuous low profile vents are used. (Bellew & Davey, 2012, p.30)

In addition, The Cloud Forest Dome requires extremely high levels of moisture to duplicate
the cool humidity of high attitude cloud forest. At the high levels, the air requires to be
supplied at more than 100% relative humidity. Hence, the uses of direct evaporative
humidification are installed within the space to provide the very high humidity levels which
provide additional moisture to the atmosphere at the same time enhance the cooling
performance. These systems are largely installed within the planting on the aerial walkways
that extend from the mountain.

Visible fog
created

The Cloud Forest Mountain shrouded in mist

Figure shows that the misters allowed the moisture to be directly injected into the space to
keep humidity level high but also to form part of the visitor show by creating a visible fog
bank inside the building.
The Cloud Forest has a 35-metre tall mountain which covered in lush vegetation envelop the
world’s tal est indoor man-made waterfall in order to cool and maintain the indoor
temperature therefore showcases the plant life from tropical highlands up to 2000m above the
sea level.
 5.0 Benefits of Using Displacement Air Supply System

Minimize heat gain Generating energy and

harnessing waste heat

Cool only the

occupied zone

Figure Green Building Guideline for design (Source: Architectural Record, 2010)

Displacement air supply system will minimize the solar heat gain. The conservatory was
fitted with double glazing with low-E coating that allows optimal light in for plants but
reduces a large amount of solar heat. At sunny day, the automatically open sensor-operated
retractable sails will provide shading for plants. (Trends, 2012)

In addition, this air conditioning system will cool only the occupied zones. The
Conservatories apply the strategy of cooling only the lower levels so that it can reduce the
volume of air to be cooled. This is achieved through thermal stratification which the ground
cooled by chilled water pipes which cast within the floor slabs to enable cool air to settle
at the lower zone while the warm air rises and is vented out at high levels. (Trends, 2012)

Lastly, the advantage of this system is to generate energy and draw out waste heat.
Electricity is generated on-site to run the chillies that cool the Conservatories but at the same
time, waste heat is captured in the process to regenerate the liquid desiccant. This energy is
generated by the use of a Combined Heat Power (CHP) steam turbine that is fed by
horticultural waste from the Gardens and other parks around Singapore. (Trends, 2012) The
CHP system will reduce the dependency on the electrical grid.
 6.0 Energy Efficient Building Material
The choice of double glazing is important to prevent heat loss in the conservatory. The
double glazing of The Cloud Forest will have a low emission coating on the inner surface
of the glass. This is to ensure more sunlight which is about 65% into the building but only
only 35% solar heat was transferred. In this case, double glazing which is the main building
material used to allow maximum lighting into the building with a minimum heat transfer.

Insulated Glazing (reduce heat transfer)

Cool Air
(long w ave radiation reflected the cold air back to the interior)

Figure 6:Roof & Frame Glass (Source: Conservasolve, 2009)

- In The Cloud Forest, double glazed glass is where it assists in keeping air conditioned
spaces cooler for longer time, cutting down on energy bills and improving comfort.

Double glazed glass consists of two panes of glass with a gap in the middle which
enable sunlight to be reflected back to the surroundings. The two pieces of glass and an
insulated frame are sealed together as one unit while the gap in the middle is usually a
vacuum and sealed tight. (Double Glazing Info, 2010)

Usually, a certain amount of Argon gas, which is a naturally occurring inert gas, is inserted
between the panes of glass. Argon gas has a higher density than the surrounding air and this
reduced heat energy to be transmitted into the conservatory. The gas also acts as a barrier
reducing heat loss as well as heat absorption in the building.
 - The main structural members were
(Source: Glass Network, 2011) deliberately placed outside the glazing to help
with shading

The conservatory uses low-e glasses for the glass facades because the solar rays passes
through the glasses as short wave and goes through the glass to be absorbed by the
interior of the building. From Double Glazing Info (2010), most of the longer wave heat
energy is reflected back into the building exterior while the low-e glass filter out most of
the heat wave and reduce the interior heat gain.

The combination of low-e glass and insulated glazing can ensure a better heat insulation for
the building improving the thermal comfort of The Cloud Forest. The glass can minimize
the loss of the cool air in the interior that passes through the double glazed glass. This glass is
chosen not only maintain interior temperature but also reduce external noises.
7.0Conclusion

The success of this grand enterprise rest on the total understanding of the intent of the
project, the creativity and professional talent and skill brought in achieving the technical
and aesthetic aspirations and passion- driven effort of the architect to translate dream into
reality. (Bellew & Davey, 2012) The most important is they let people know the effects of
climatic changes on the world’s plant species, the importance of maintaining a sustainable
environment and also to survey the main questions on how the building stands and how
environmental control is maintained within the spaces.

References
1. Bellew, P., & Davey, M. (2012) Green House, Green Engineering: Environmental
Design at Gardens By the Bay. Singapore: Oro Editions.

2. ArchDaily.(n.d.). Gardens by the Bay / Grant Associates. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from
http://www.archdaily.com/254471/garde ns-by-the-bay- grant-associates/

3. Sheppard, C. (2012). Gardens by the Bay by Grant Associates and Wilkinson Eyre
Architects. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://www.dezeen.com/2012/06/19/gardens-by-
the-bay-by-grant-associates-and-wilkinson-eyre-architects/

4. Arup. (n.d.). Gardens by the Bay South. Retrieved April 18, 2014,
from http://www.arup.com/projects/flower_dome.aspx

5. Rus, M. (2012). I Like Architecture. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from

http://www.ilikearchitecture.net/2012/10/singapore-gardens-the-bay-wilkinson-eyre-
architects/

6. Sheppard, C (2012). Detail Daily The architecture and Design Blog. Retrieved May
10, 2014, from http://www.detail-online.com/daily/5515-5515/

7. WBDG Sustainable Committee, (2013). Sustainable. Retrieved June 10, 2014, from
http://www.wbdg.org/design/sustainable.php

8. Trends (2012). The sky's the limit – Gardens by the Bay from Commercial Design
Trends, Volume 2814. Retrieved June 10, 2014, from
http://trendsideas.com/Article16828/NewZealand/book=861

9. Double Glazing Info (2010). Air or Argon Gap. Retrieved June 12, 2014,
from http://www.double-glazing-info.com/Choosing-your-windows/Air-or-
Argon-gap

10. Dr. Tan, K.W. (2012, June 19). Gardens by the Bay by Grant Associates and Wilkinson
Eyre Architects. Retrieved June 12, 2014, from dezeen magazine website:
http://www.dezeen.com/2012/06/19/gardens-by-the-bay-by-grant-associates-and-wilkinson-
eyre-architects/