SINGAPORE - Instead of learning about saving energy and eco-friendly features from textbooks, Bukit View Secondary School students will get to see and feel their effects on the environment for themselves through a new green learning lab.
For instance, they will get to judge how an indoor green wall - covered in plants - muffles noise by absorbing acoustic energy, and how it improves indoor air quality.
They will get to feel how using a combination of ceiling fans and air-conditioning set to higher temperatures can still be comfortable while using less energy than just using an aircon set at low temperatures.
Two fans near the door only turn on when motion is detected and the aircon system harnesses solar energy and ambient heat. Other eco-friendly features include tables made of recycled wood pellets.
Launching the Joules (Junior Outstanding Leaders in Environment for Sustainability) Smart Centre on Thursday (Feb 22), Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli called it a "good example of sustainability practised".
"I hope the facility will inspire students to think about incorporating sustainable living in every aspect of their life, and to turn some of these ideas into action," he said.
The centre, which is also fitted with certified green building products like paint and flooring, will hold special classes during the curriculum as well as school events and functions.
The school has plans to open it to the community. The centre will complement the school's existing four-year Joules programme, through which students learn about environmental sustainability, including clean energy, and get to go on internships.
Mr Tan Swee Yiow, president of the Singapore Green Building Council, which helped to set up the centre, said green features are not only better for the environment but also healthier for a building's occupants.
According to a study by the Building and Construction Authority, green buildings are better equipped than regular buildings to filter out pollutants as well as harmful bacteria and fungi. Workers are hence 60 per cent less likely to get headaches, for instance.
Mr Tan said the council will carry out a case study on the centre which will be used to encourage more schools to set up greener, healthier classrooms.