SIE2016 Effective Communications (Grp 5)

1  Introduction Energy conservation in Singapore has been on the rise in recent years. As an open economy with no natural resources, Singapore is vulnerable to rising energy costs that can affect our economic competitiveness. It is therefore crucial that we take steps towards becoming more energy efficient. In the Dover campus of Singapore Institute of Technology ( hereby known as SIT@Dover), there is a tendency for students to leave the classrooms without switching off the lights. Students of SIT@Dover have indicated that there might be another class going on later and requires no necessity to switch them off. Moreover, students, in a rush for the next class, might forget to switch the lights off. Coincidentally, there are students who do not even bother about energy conservation. With students developing such energy-wasting behaviour, the probability of students not switching off the lights is rather high. As such, security guards have to switch off the lights in every...

In the article “Use of Cladding in Buildings Here Have Grown in Recent Times”, Mokhtar (2017) reported the increasing use of cladding in Singapore and its benefits and risks. He defines cladding as a layer of panels added to the exterior facade of buildings to cut energy use, improve building appearance and provide shade. However, he points out that the use of cladding came under the intense scrutiny after the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, where the fire had spread upwards rapidly due to the ventilation gaps between the cladding and the building’s wall, drawing oxygenated air from the bottom of the facade and fueling the fire. Mokhtar iterates that the use of cladding in Singapore is regulated, where the cladding material must not allow fire to spread along its surface when ignited. While it is undeniable that the use of cladding has many advantages, it is crucial to review the materials used in its design, where the material property, combustibility, is critical in improving fire ...

Readers Response In the article, “Use of Cladding in Buildings Here Have Grown in Recent Times” (Mokhtar, 2017), reported the increasing use of cladding in Singapore and its benefits and risks. Cladding is a layer of panels added to the exterior facade of buildings to cut energy use, improve building appearance or provide shade. The use of cladding, however, came under the limelight after the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. The fire had spread upwards rapidly due to the ventilation gaps between the cladding and the building’s wall, drawing oxygenated air from the bottom of the facade and fueling the fire. In Singapore, the use of cladding is regulated. For example, cladding material must not allow fire to spread along its surface when ignited. Besides meeting statutory regulations, a building owner was cited to have included measures to prevent fire from spreading between levels and regular certification of fire protection systems. While it is undeniable that the use of cladding has ma...