Tampines Town Council and SP Group boost efforts to transform Tampines into an Eco-Town

Singapore, 12 December 2020 – About 633 households in Tampines will be the first in Singapore to have digital Eco Boards installed at their blocks and receive real-time updates on their blocks’ electricity and water consumption and carbon emissions. Tampines Town Council (TTC) and SP Group (SP), with support from Temasek and the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, today unveiled the Eco Boards which have been installed at five HDB blocks.

Minister for Social and Family Development, Second Minister for Health and Minister-incharge of Muslim Affairs, Mr. Masagos Zulkifli witnessed the launch held at Block 878A, Tampines Avenue 8. He was accompanied by his fellow Members of Parliament for Tampines GRC - Ms. Cheng Li Hui, Chairman of Tampines Town Council; Mr. Desmond Choo, Mayor of North East District and Vice-Chairman of Tampines Town Council, and Mr. Baey Yam Keng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Transport.

Building a Sustainable Future for Tampines

The introduction of the Eco Boards is a pilot programme to build sustainability awareness among residents and encourage them to adopt eco-friendly habits. The pilot is part of a larger national effort to bring sustainability to the community and transform HDB towns into EcoTowns. A total of 10 Eco Boards will be rolled out in Tampines over the next two months.

Designed and developed in-house by SP’s team of energy tech experts, the Eco Boards provide residents with real-time updates on the block’s aggregated water and electricity consumption, and the resulting carbon emissions. They will be installed at the lift lobby of each block, giving residents easy access to green tips on lowering their utilities consumption. Residents can also participate in energy-saving challenges such as block-level competitions. A sample screen grab of the Eco Board can be found in Annex A.

The Town Council can use insights from the Eco Boards to plan and achieve more efficient estate management. There are also plans to enhance the Town Council’s operations with an artificial intelligence-enabled anomaly detection component that will alert the Town Council to any resource wastage or inefficient consumption patterns.

The Chairman of Tampines Town Council, Ms. Cheng Li Hui commented: "Our efforts to transform Tampines into a model Eco-Town continue to be a priority. We will always engage with our residents and gather inputs from different stakeholders."

"With the support from our residents, grassroots organisations and SP Group, I am confident that the Eco Boards will be a success," Ms. Cheng added.

Empowering Residents to Make Sustainable Choices

Mr. Stanley Huang, Group Chief Executive Officer, SP Group said: “At SP Group, we enable everyone to play a part in building a low-carbon future for Singapore. Through the Eco Boards, we provide useful data and solutions for residents and estate managers to make eco-friendly choices and reduce their carbon footprint.”

The Eco Boards complement the SP Utilities App to further encourage individuals to adopt a greener lifestyle. With the App, residents can track their household’s utilities consumption and use the My Carbon Footprint calculator to be more aware of their own impact on the environment. Residents will also be rewarded for their eco-friendly choicesthrough the App’s GreenUP programme, which empower and incentivise consumers to go green through sustainability challenges and earn rewards when bringing their own mugs or food containers to selected partner merchants. The App can be downloaded at https://utilities.spdigital.sg/. Screen grabs of the App can be found in Annex B.

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About Tampines Town Council

Tampines Town Council was set up in 1990 to manage and maintain common property of HDB housing estates in Tampines which consists five divisions, namely, Central, East, West, North and Changkat.

Tampines is fast becoming Singapore's model Eco Town. The town will see enhancements making it more green and environmentally sustainable.

Some green initiatives include projects like Sustainability@Tampines Park. It is Singapore's first community-based circular ecosystem. Tampines has also implemented community- based projects to encourage on-the-ground sustainability initiatives. There are Reverse Vending Machines in selected parts of Tampines where residents are incentivised with FairPrice discount coupons to practise recycling. The Town Council is also working with relevant agencies to recruit Resident Gardeners to maintain and enhance our community gardens.

About SP Group

SP Group is a leading utilities group in the Asia Pacific, enabling a low-carbon, smart energy future for its customers. It owns and operates electricity and gas transmission and distribution businesses in Singapore and Australia, and sustainable energy solutions in Singapore and China.

As Singapore's national grid operator, about 1.6 million industrial, commercial and residential customers benefit from its world-class transmission, distribution and market support services. These networks are amongst the most reliable and cost-effective world-wide.

Beyond traditional utilities services, SP Group provides a suite of sustainable energy solutions such as cooling and heating systems for business districts and residential townships, electric vehicle fast charging and green digital energy management tools for customers in Singapore and the region.

For more information, please visit spgroup.com.sg or for follow us on Facebook at fb.com/SPGroupSG, on Linkedln at spgrp.sg/linkedin and on Twitter @SPGroupSG.