POTENTIAL FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION AND URBAN AGRICULTURE WITHIN THE CITY: AN INTEGRATED PRODUCTIVE BUILDING ENVELOPE SYSTEM

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and population growth have contributed to issues of increased expenditure of land and resources towards housing developments. In response, this paper discusses the viability for a method of retrofitting existing residential blocks in Singapore with an integrated food and energy productive building envelope system, to potentially increase food and energy self-sufficiency within the residential sector. For this study, out of the three main public housing HDB building types – slab bock, point block and contemporary block, the slab block typology was assessed. Following this criterion, a typical residential neighborhood was selected and with the aid of the computational simulation tools of Autodesk Ecotect and Daysim, calculations for daylight autonomy were taken to determine the viability for food production in terms of crop cultivation and energy production using PV panels. A set of parameters was also discussed to determine the ratio of energy to food production placement within the boundary of a building envelope. From the results achieved from the two sets of sample simulation conducted, it shows a high potential for retrofitting existing residential blocks with solar and food production systems. As such this study hopes to provide a basis for the assessment of future strategies for public housing development in Singapore and the potential for designing sustainable urban self-sufficient living.