Ecoseed has an article on Singaporean efforts to develop a cleantech industry in the country - Singapore ramps up clean energy R&D investment.

The Singapore Economic Development Board (E.D.B.) will spend about 680 million Singapore dollars ($483.3 million) to build a clean technology ecosystem over the next five years as part of the country’s plan to become a global research and development hub.

The fund is expected to establish a more conducive environment for innovations in research, test-bedding and commercialization that will advance Singapore’s solar industry.

The board allocated 350 million Singapore dollars of the total investment to develop the country’s clean energy sector, with a focus on solar energy. Having a tropical climate, Singapore is a prime location for companies that wish to enter the Asian solar market.

Suntech Power, for instance, intends to expand its operations in the country because of the strong government support and exceptional technology capabilities. Bosch Group also opened its new headquarters in Singapore to better manage its newly acquired companies in Southeast Asia.

In addition to its linkages to leading Asian solar markets, Singapore has the capabilities to manufacture solar wafers, cells and modules, which will give the country a head start in the solar industry, the board said.

The Jakarta Post has an article on a green building experiment in Singapore - A living laboratory for energy efficiency.

Changes start at home, they say. And Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Academy lives up to that adage with its recently opened Zero Energy Building.

At first glance, the 15-year-old retrofitted building looks just like any other. But, upon closer inspection, a monitor on its first floor tells an entirely different story.

As of Oct. 30, some twelve days after the building reopened, the energy meter showed the cumulative energy consumed by the tower, around 6,300 kilowatt per hour (kWh), was covered by its cumulative energy production of 7,700 kWh.

That’s right, energy produced by the various new features in the building.

“We named the building Zero Energy because we wanted it to reflect our objective of at least matching our annual cumulative energy consumption with our yearly energy production. It would be even better off if we could produce more [energy than consume],” BCA senior development officer Tan Li Sirh said.

With that ambitious but not impossible objective, BCA invested S$11 million to fit solar panels, a green façade and other features to help reduce energy use and increase energy generation.

Using passive design principles, the 4,500-square-meter building features shading devices, “living” walls and mirror ducts, reducing its electricity needs by 5 percent.

Green building of the week from Inhabitat is this "self contained sustainable city" design from Sweden - Sweden’s Sweeping Green Roofed Hillside City.

Nestled beneath an undulating series of rolling green roofs, Kjellgren Kaminsky Architects New Heden project transforms a vacant city block is a self-contained sustainable city interspersed with cycling paths and walkways. Envisioned as a “green lung” for Gothenburg, Sweden, the development will introduce a beautiful expanse of fresh green space to an area currently consumed by parking lots and football fields.

Kjellgren Kaminsky Architects‘ New Heden project aims to establish a vital new community in an underutilized site. The development will house 10,000 people in 5000 new apartments and will provide commercial zones, sports facilities, and parks, reducing the distance that residents need to travel each day.

We love how the development rises up from the earth in a series of gently flowing hills, forming a lovely terrain laced with pathways and plenty of perfect spots for picnics. These green roofs provide excellent insulation to the buildings beneath while absorbing rain that can be purified and reused as household water. The project also includes plans for the local cultivation of fruits and vegetables, and after development the site will feature a much greater biomass than before.

And as an added bonus, here's a green skyscraper for Singapore - Singapore Unfurls A Sail-Shaped Green Skyscraper.

Green building of the week at Inhabitat is this Singaporean project - FUSIONOPOLIS: Singapore’s New Green Skyscraper.

The Singapore skyline has been getting greener these days with new developments from some of the world’s most renown architects. The latest design to join the trend is a new futuristic green building from architect Ken Yeang named Fusionopolis. A research and development complex, this structure will adorn Singapore as the island nation’s most eco-friendly skyscraper.

Another Inhabitat green building is this office tower on London's Southbank.



Inhabitat also has a post on Al Gore's energy plan, though I think the imagery is a bit unfortunate in this one.

Plus one on a Unique Solar Powered Community in Canada and a series of striking pictures in a post about an exhibition called After Nature at The New Museum of Contemporary Art.

Striking images of the week from Inhabitat - these pictures of Foster + Partners’ New Green Complex for Singapore.

A new green complex from world renowned architecture firm Foster + Partners will be adding more than a dash of green to the Singapore skyline. As sustainability becomes an essential ingredient to development in this island nation, the UK-based firm is leaving no stone unturned to make good use of alternative energy sources in this 150,000 square meter mixed-use project. As the winning design from an international competition, Singapore’s new eco-complex from Foster + Partners is pushing the green envelope from top to bottom in this sophisticated downtown design.

The complex will fill an entire city block between Singapore’s Marina Center and the Civic District with commercial, residential, retail, hotels, and a ‘green’ link to an Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station. All facades will be fitted with solar cells and, to help control solar gain, direct sunlight will be filtered through ribbon-like canopies rising from the base of the entire complex to the exposed east and west elevations of the towers.

The canopies will form vertical louvers at the elevations and provide more renewable on-site energy with integrated thin-film solar arrays. Vertical green spaces, and extensive sky gardens are also important components of the towers, further greening the whole structure with natural vegetation and ambient temperature moderation.

The slanted facades are designed to catch the wind and direct it downwards for natural cooling of the ground floor spaces. A rainwater harvesting system, geothermal heating system, chilled beams and ceilings, and an ice storage system for cooling are further enhancements planned for the complex.