January 07, 2017, 10:17 AM 
The National University of Singapore (NUS) broke ground on an upcoming Net-Zero Energy Building (NZEB) at the School of Design and Environment (SDE) last year.
What is net zero energy?
It means that this building will only use the energy that it generates on its own through renewable energy sources.
NZEB@SDE is actually not the first net-zero energy building in Singapore.
The first NZEB was retrofitted into one of the buildings in BCA Academy which achieved zero power consumption and even a surplus of 16.3 MWh (megawatts/hour) of electricity in its first year of operation.
Not good with numbers? The amount of surplus can be equated to savings of $3,900 per month for 35 units of 1HDB 5-room flats at residential electricity tariffs at 224.13 cents/kWh (kilowatts/hour).
This new building will provide a conducive environment to promote research collaborations with partners and innovative ideas from staffs and students.
Check out some of its cool features (pun intended):
The building will be mainly powered by more than 1,200 solar photovoltaic panels installed on the roof.
Open platforms with minimal solid walls to allow natural ventilation and daylight.
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