Punggol Digital District, an upcoming smart and sustainable business district spanning 50 hectares, will be Singapore's largest mixed-use Green Mark Platinum District. SINGAPORE: Fewer parking spots but a lot more electric vehicle chargers and bicycle parking lots will be found at the upcoming Punggol Digital District, touted to be Singapore’s first smart and sustainable business park.
Besides greener transport, the new business park will have infrastructure and technology to optimise land use and energy. This will also lower its carbon footprint, with a 35 per cent reduction in operational carbon emissions annually – equivalent to taking 4,000 cars off the road, said JTC.The Punggol Digital District will be home to a business park and the new campus of the Singapore Institute of Technology .
The business park has received the Platinum Award, the highest rating, under the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark Districts. The award recognises sustainable practices in district developments. Another three buildings have been certified as super-low energy buildings for being able to achieve at least 40 per cent energy savings. This includes an eight-storey office block constructed with mass-engineered timber sourced from sustainably managed forests, where new trees are continuously planted to replace those felled.
Bioswales and rain gardens will capture rainwater for reuse in landscape irrigation. Such features can help save 208,000 cubic metres of water annually, enough to fill 83 Olympic-sized swimming pools, JTC said.Punggol Digital District will be powered by an open digital platform, which collects real-time data.and a smart energy grid, to “talk to one another”, said JTC’s Mr Liew.
All estate services such as cooling plants and the pneumatic waste conveyance system are located underground so that the district can be fully walkable, said Mr Chan Ee Mun, director at WOHA Architects.