exposure to solar radiation and facilitate wind flow through campus master planning and design
Campus
Develop long-term campus masterplan to facilitate natural wind flows for ventilation and minimise man-made heat sources (for example through building placement and orientation).
Reduce
heat absorption and accumulation in buildings
Building
For our existing infrastructure, reduce heat absorption and accumulation by applying cool paint on buildings and road surfaces, and improve shading by expanding campus greenery and other shading infrastructure.
Cope
through adaptive behaviour
Individual
Facilitate our community to adapt to warmer outdoor temperatures, for example seamless sheltered pathways between buildings through Yellow Ceiling Network and dress code policy that encourages staff to dress light for comfort in a warmer climate.
Managing campus hot spots
4 hot spots
Four key hot spots identified on Kent Ridge campus based on Predictive Percentage Dissatisfied (PPD) at midday in July 2019, one of the warmest months that year.
PPD is the percentage of population that would feel thermally dissatisfied in an outdoor space. This indicator is based on both quantitative measurements (including temperature, solar radiation, wind speed) and qualitative measurements from a local survey where respondents rate their level of thermal comfort in an outdoor space.
What makes the Sports Courts & Open Field a hot spot?
Hard pavement at outdoor sports court; open space with minimal shade
Mitigation Measures
Implement cool paint on the hard courts by 2025
Introduce more shade through progressive greenery planting
What makes College of Design & Engineering (CDE) a hot spot?
Dense buildings with high heat absorption; high amount of hard pavement
Mitigation Measures
Implement cool paint to approximately 50% of CDE’s building facades by 2024
Selective implementation of cool coating on pavements by 2024
What makes NUS Medicine & Faculty of Science a hot spot?
Dense buildings with high heat absorption; high amount of hard pavement
Mitigation Measures
Explore more permeable surfaces (e.g. shrubs, gardens) and greenery shading
Further solar irradiance and wind study to improve outdoor thermal comfort
What makes Prince George’s Park Residence a hot spot?
Dense buildings with high heat absorption; high amount of hard pavement
Mitigation Measures
Planning cool paint on selective building facades with highest solar radiation and existing hard courts
Planning to introduce sun shading devices to reduce thermal heat gain
Planning for more permeable surfaces and greenery shading
Growing possibilities with campus as a living laboratory
Digital twin for simulation modeling
Evidence-based approach to manage hot spots
Assessing how greenery impacts outdoor thermal comfort
Digital twin for simulation modeling
Evidence-based approach to manage hot spots
BEAM framework to drive change
Cool NUS-BEAM Initiative is a collaboration between University Campus Infrastructure (UCI) and researchers from the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) using the campus as a living laboratory.
B
Baseline
Define reference condition using historical data as the basis.
E
Evaluate
Identify hot spots on campus and explore potential mitigation strategies.
A
Action
Trial targeted mitigation measures on campus grounds and assess their effectiveness and feasibility to scale.
M
Monitor
Continuous tracking of microclimate data across the campus over the long term.
