Summary,thesis & reader response.

Summary

Environmental sustainability is one of the principles behind the planning and design of Gardens by The Bay, according to .

The Garden Lake system acts as a natural filtration system for water from the Gardens catchment. The system incorporates essential ecological processes and functions which help in providing aquatic habitats for biodiversity. The Garden Lake system consists of two main lakes called the Dragon Lake and the Kingfisher Lake. The system acts as a natural filtration system for water and provides aquatic habitats for biodiversity. The presence of aquatic plants and reed beds are reducing nitrogen levels and phosphorus which is critical in ensuring better water quality.  High variety of aquatic plants, good water circulation and aeration is the solution for potential problems.

The conservatories are an energy efficient cooling system which applies sustainable engineering technology. A specially selected glass is fitted on the conservatories to allow excellent light for plants and reduce a considerable amount of heat. To decrease the volume of air to be cooled, only the lower regions of the conservatories are cooled. By dehumidifying the air using liquid desiccant before cooling, the amount of energy required in the cooling process is lessened. Through the usage of Combined Heat Power (CHP) steam turbine, the reliance on the electrical grid reduces. Electricity to run the chillers in the Conservatories are generated on site and waste heat is utilised to reconstruct the liquid desiccant.

Supertrees also play a part in the environment sustainability efforts by having photovoltaic cells on their canopies to harvest solar energy, and some serve as air exhaust repository.

Thesis statement

Making the effort to provide energy-efficient solution in coolings, Gardens by the Bay could rely on cutting edge technology in saving energy consumption and improve the indoor environment  quality for the users.

Reader response

Being a user who often visited Gardens by the Bay back in polytechnic years, I had been studying about their efforts in sustainability. Ever since 2009, Garden by the bay have received numerous awards, apart from tourist attraction awards, majority of their awards had been awarded by Building Construction Authority (BCA). The latest award was Green Mark Platinum for New Non-Residential Building awarded on 2016.

In addition, online sources states that cutting edge technology were implemented at Gardens by the bay, help to achieve 30% saving in energy consumption, Gardens by the Bay (2016) retrived from ‘http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/the-gardens/about-us/sustainability.html’ . Along with Nation Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan who estimated that the conservatory operates on 14 million dollars annually after energy saving, Asiaone (October 15, 2012)retrived from 'http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Relax/Story/A1Story20121015-377822.html’ As well as the Tariff, we can conclude that Garden by the bay have saved approximately of 6 million dollars and 300 mega watts annually.

Having the specialize glass what could optimal light for the plant and provide shade when it gets too hot, Garden by the bay provide great care to plant to photosynthesis. While in return, the plant produce oxygen for the users around, making the environment conductive, improving the Indoor Environment Quality(IEQ).

Online references

Gardens by the Bay (2016) About the gardens, Sustainability Efforts

http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/the-gardens/about-us/sustainability.html

Gardens by the Bay (2016) About the gardens, Awards

http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/the-gardens/about-us/awards.html

Building Construction Authority (2016) Sustainable Built Environment.

https://www.bca.gov.sg/green_mark/Sustain/BuildingDirectoryDetail.aspx?id=1678

Asiaone (October 15, 2012)Final cost for Gardens by the Bay within budget http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Relax/Story/A1Story20121015-377822.html

SP services (Jun 30, 2016) Electricity Tariff Revision

http://www.singaporepower.com.sg/irj/servlet/prt/portal/prtroot/pcd!3aportal_content!2fcom.sp.SPEPCustomization!2fcom.sp.SP_Default_Framework!2fcom.sp.SP_Custom_Desktop!2fframeworkPages!2fcom.sp.SP_Custom_Default_Framework_Page!2fcom.sap.portal.innerpage?windowId=WID1332135032094&NavigationTarget=navurl://41c8e6a3faf48bb168af2c222faa8ee4&windowId=WID1332134938209

My Green Space (Sep 2012) Gardens by the Bay : A Garden for Singaporeans https://mygreenspace.nparks.gov.sg/gardens-by-the-bay-a-garden-for-singaporeans/

Principle of Environmental Sustainability Effort with Gardens By The Bay

Environmental sustainability is one of the principles behind the planning and design of Gardens by The Bay.

The Garden Lake system acts as a natural filtration system for water from the Gardens catchment. The system incorporates essential ecological processes and functions which help in providing aquatic habitats for biodiversity. The Garden Lake system consists of two main lakes called the Dragon Lake and the Kingfisher Lake. The system acts as a natural filtration system for water and provides aquatic habitats for biodiversity. The presence of aquatic plants and reed beds are reducing nitrogen levels and phosphorus which is critical in ensuring better water quality.  High variety of aquatic plants, good water circulation and aeration is the solution for potential problems.

The conservatories are an energy efficient cooling system which applies sustainable engineering technology. A specially selected glass is fitted on the conservatories to allow excellent light for plants and reduce a considerable amount of heat. To decrease the volume of air to be cooled, only the lower regions of the conservatories are cooled. By dehumidifying the air using liquid desiccant before cooling, the amount of energy required in the cooling process is lessened. Through the usage of Combined Heat Power (CHP) steam turbine, the reliance on the electrical grid reduces. Electricity to run the chillers in the Conservatories are generated on site and waste heat is utilized to reconstruct the liquid desiccant.

Supertrees also play a part in the environment sustainability efforts by having photovoltaic cells on their canopies to harvest solar energy, and some serve as air exhaust repository.

My English Language Learning Journey. It was a hectic one actually. As I come from a Chinese spoken family, I didn't think that language is important at all in the early stage of my life especially English. Examinations after examinations, neither learning my mistake nor making the effort to learn , same thing happened over and over again, getting the lowest grade there is for my language.

Until primary 3 when I was chosen, along with a group of student leaders to go to Australia for an international exchange program. Without any hesitation, I immediately accepted the rare opportunity for the exchange program. Upon reaching there, we will pair with the students there. We were being asked to introduce ourselves to one another and mix around as the teachers went to settle some administrative stuff. As I was bad in English, I could not bring my message across properly to the students there. Upon feeling embarrassed and ashamed of my strong ‘Singlish’, I basically keep quiet throughout the session. I envy my friends of having such fluent pronunciation in English and had much fun interacting in the exchange program. I thought to myself that if only my English was as good as their, I could also enjoy myself through the exchange. That was what happened that made me made my mind to do my best in English language despite the poor start. Ever since then, I find ways to improve my English language such as reading the books and newspaper, watching documentary, etc.

In conclusion, having a good fundamental of English language will definitely be an advantage, partly to avoid language barrier with other people. As time goes by, we will enter the working industry and interacting with other countries staff, documents such as reports and emails will be the most basic requirement for communication. Hence, I urge the younger generation to build a good fundamental of English at start.