CREATE (Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise)
A country that invests in innovation. A cultural belief rooted in the beneficial powers of nature. Intense collaboration with landscape designers, engineers, and architects. Plus, a world-renowned environmental artist.
It took a coalition of creative thinkers to support The Singapore National Research Foundation’s mission to build the most flexible, LEED-loving lab space in the world. Called CREATE, it’s a place where the world’s sharpest minds come to, well, create and collaborate on the most sophisticated research around.
Once word about this vision got out, prestigious universities and global corporations teamed up with the ministry to take advantage of the opportunity to work there. Thanks to flexible walls and electrical and data routed through the ceiling (an innovation at the time), every lab has been able to set up shop.
And let’s not forget about all the research that points to the increase in productivity when people work in green spaces. Because when landscape is brought to the building, all who work there will perform better, too.
Because laboratories consume 5-10 times more water than other building types, we found ample opportunity to reuse the condensation, storm water, and recycled water which reduces potable water by 90%. How? Cisterns. Capturing the water and reusing it for toilet flushing, irrigation, and cooling tower water, it makes for a powerful tool in storm water management.
And the list of green features could fill a lab book: Just some of them include green roofs and walls, photovoltaic panels, solar hot water heating system, glazing solar shading, efficient air handling units and energy recovery, rain harvesting canopy, wind turbines.
Rohan Abeyaratne, Quebti Berg Professor of Mechanics, Director of The Smart Center
