Building the Singapore of the future

With careful planning and a willingness to explore new technologies, we may be able to elevate the level of quality of building infrastructure that Singaporeans are used to.儲存Patrick BlethonPresident, Pacific Asia AreaOtis Elevator CompanyAFTER Singapore has celebrated its 48th year of independence, it is tempting to sit back and reflect on her success story from backwater port to bustling metropolis. It is a tale that Singaporeans know well, yet success has inadvertently created fresh challenges, one of which is the combination of increasing population density and ageing infrastructure.Earlier this year, we saw healthy debate on Singapore's projected population growth which was largely focused on the headline population figure of 6.9 million in 2030, and whether Singapore's infrastructure can keep pace with such rapid population expansion.This is a valid concern as, regardless of the outcome of this debate, Singapore will likely only become more densely built-up and populated over time.With careful planning and a willingness to explore new building technologies, I believe it is possible to avoid compromising on the current level of quality of building infrastructure that Singaporeans are used to. In fact, we may even be able to elevate them.Escalators and elevators - what we call people-moving technologies - already play a crucial if unseen role in ensuring that you get to where you want to be safely and on time.Singapore has one of the highest elevator-per-capita ratios in Asia, with approximately 7.9 elevators to every 1,000 people. This puts it comfortably ahead of most of its neighbours in Asia save for Hong Kong (8.5), which is similarly cosmopolitan, at least in terms of elevator and escalator connectivity.Yet with taller buildings and more people to transport in the years ahead, advanced lift technologies may have a key role to play if Singaporeans are to continue enjoying first-class building infrastructure.Take for example advanced lift destination management systems, which we have seen increasing interest in among our Asian customers. Destination management systems help to optimise elevator usage, ensuring that elevator carriages are deployed most efficiently based on the prin新蒲崗迷你倉iple of utilitarianism: the greatest good for the greatest number of people.Some destination management systems require passengers to input the floor they are travelling to, before assigning them a carriage, grouping travellers heading to neighbouring floors in the same elevator.While these "smart" elevators are currently only seen in a few commercial buildings in the Central Business District, it is not impossible to imagine that we may, by 2030, see 40- or 50-storey Housing Development Board (HDB) flats equipped with these systems.Apart from the software and systems powering these elevators, we continue to see innovative new elevator models that have evolved significantly from the first safety elevator designed by Elisha Otis 160 years ago.Double-decker elevators which consist of two lift carriages built one on top of the other, for instance, allow building designers to effectively double elevator passenger capacity at half the elevator shaft space. The extra space saving could prove invaluable to the space-strapped building designer of tomorrow.If you were a building owner, the cost of investing in advanced elevator software and the right elevator model precisely suited to your building may appear significant today.However, I believe that there are also longer-term energy savings when investing in newer, smarter elevators. The past decade has seen a global shift in the manufacturing of sustainable, energy efficient products; elevators and escalators are not exempt.The energy consumption of a building's escalators and elevators is not insignificant - they are responsible for an average of 5-15 per cent of a building's overall energy consumption.In Singapore, there is the added incentive of tapping into government green building initiatives such as those maintained by the Building and Construction Authority, further lowering the total cost of investing in energy efficient elevators.According to a report released by building data-provider Emporis, Asia is home to the world's tallest buildings and fastest elevators, with Taiwan, Japan and China dominating the list of the top five quickest elevator speeds in skyscrapers worldwide.One day, perhaps by 2030, Singapore may well join the list.mini storage