This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Long dubbed an "air-conditioned nation," Singapore is experimenting with cooling alternatives from chilled beams to "passive displacement" to curb its thirst for energy-guzzling air conditioning. The city-state has the highest per capita air conditioner ownership rate in Southeast Asia, with about 99% of private residences equipped with cooling units.
Singapore's local building sector accounts for one-fifth of its emissions, while cooling itself accounts for 40% to 60% of a building's energy consumption, according to studies. A stroll down renowned thoroughfare Orchard Road highlights that dependence. Shoppers are greeted by blasts of cool air that waft into the street as doors swing open—a major draw given daytime highs hover between 31C and 33C (88 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit) year-round.
But air conditioning can make the heat problem worse. Compressor units belch hot air back out into the environment, and the electricity that powers the systems can contribute to climate change if generated from fossil fuels. Some buildings in Singapore are looking at other options, including active chilled beams, which are perforated panels equipped with cooling coils that are mounted on ceilings.
A chiller plant on the building's top floor cools water down to 9C (48 degrees Fahrenheit), then pumps it into the coils. Simultaneously, air is blasted through small nozzles inside the beams. The jets of air create a low-pressure zone that sucks up warmer air from the room below so it passes over the coils and is cooled before recirculating.
The technology keeps the offices at the eight-story Paya Lebar Green building in eastern Singapore at a comfortable 24C (75 degrees Fahrenheit). A visiting team felt noticeably cooler air flowing from the sleek white panels on the ceiling of the building, described as one of Singapore's "greenest." The system is also quiet, without the constant hum of air-conditioning units. When HR professional Renuga Shekar first moved into an office space at Paya Lebar Green last November, the 30-year-old and her colleagues just thought the exposed pipes and panels on the ceiling were a "warehouse kind of look." "We didn't really think much about it.
No one really commented about it," she told AFP. It was only months later, after noticing how quiet the office was and hearing technicians mention "ACB" during maintenance, that they realized it was cooled by active chilled beams. "We didn't even realize how different the air cooling system is because it was very seamless, and in terms of the temperature, ideal for everybody in the office," she said.
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