Reducing Energy Use in Light Industrial Buildings in Southeast Asia: A Singaporean Case Study

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in improving the energy efficiency of the Southeast Asian building sector. However, much of this work has focused on residential and commercial buildings rather than industrial buildings. Therefore, this work undertook a case study of the energy used in a Singaporean industrial building complex typical of those used in the light manufacturing sector in the region. A building energy simulation analysis was performed on the “as built” building and was validated using measured energy usage data. Subsequently, a parametric analysis was utilized to identify opportunities for reducing energy use on the site. The results indicate that energy savings of over 15% could be achieved by improving the performance of the industrial equipment, HVAC system, lighting, and building thermal envelope. Of these factors, improving the energy efficiency of the equipment and relaxing the HVAC setpoint temperature accounted for over 10%. Given the typical nature of the building, it is believed that the results are indicative of what may be achievable in other light manufacturing complexes in Southeast Asia, and similar locations more generally.