Promising 42,000 new homes across five residential districts, the eco-town of Tengah will be the 24th new settlement built by Singapore’s government since World War II. It is, however, the first with centralized cooling, automated trash collection and a car-free town center, which conservationists hope offers a road map for slashing carbon emissions in the Southeast Asian city-state.
Although comparatively small, with a population of under 6 million people, Singapore’s per capita emissions are higher than those of the UK, China and neighboring Malaysia, according to the country’s National Climate Change Secretariat. That’s due, in part, to air conditioning, which accounts for more than a third of typical household energy consumption. The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) has predicted that, by the end of this century, average daily temperatures in the city-state may be at least 34.1 degrees Celsius “almost every day” during the eight warmest months of the year.
As such, keeping cool will, increasingly, be a necessity for residents. Rather than demonizing air conditioning, Tengah’s planners have instead sought to reimagine it. Cold water, chilled using solar power, will be piped through the district’s homes, meaning residents don’t need to install inefficient outdoor AC condensers. According to the town’s energy provider, SP Group, this will generate carbon dioxide savings equivalent to taking 4,500 cars off the roads each year.
Planners used computer modeling to simulate wind flow and heat gain across the town, helping to reduce the so-called urban heat island effect. Elsewhere, “smart” lights will switch off when public spaces are unoccupied, and trash will be stored centrally, with monitors detecting when garbage needs collecting. All residents will have access to the app allowing them to monitor their energy and water usage. Digital displays in each block will meanwhile inform occupants of their collective environmental impact, which could even encourage competition between residential blocks.
Regardless of whether the use of smart technology can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions or not, engaging residents with their own consumption could encourage behavioral change, according to Perrine Hamel, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University’s Asian School of the Environment. “Changing behavior is going to be an integral part of achieving climate targets and, of course, urban design is the first way to affect and change behavior,” she said.
【小题1】What can we know about Tengah from Paragraph 1?| A．It offers free cars to every resident. | B．It faces serious environmental problems. |
| C．It features a sustainable urban design. | D．It’s the first eco-town in Southeast Asia. |
| A．To predict climate change in the future. |
| B．To warn people not to use air conditioning. |
| C．To explain the importance of conserving energy. |
| D．To stress the necessity of adopting efficient cooling. |
| A．They will be able to check their energy usage. |
| B．They will be required to dispose of garbage on their own. |
| C．They will be involved in various competitive activities. |
| D．They will no longer be affected by the urban heat island effect. |
| A．Helps efficiently reduce carbon emissions. | B．Promotes changes in people’s behavior. |
| C．Encourages the decrease in energy consumption. | D．Brings more convenience to people’s lives. |
