For IDS, we were given the acronym E.D.I.C.T. to help us think of our IDS action plan. E.D.I.C.T. stands for Empathise, Define, Ideate, Create, and Test. Using the first three parts of the acronym, we successfully came up with a series of not one, but two ideas!
Empathise:
For this year’s Sec 1 IDS, we were given the theme of making a sustainable NYGH campus set in 2030. Besides that, we also had important creative boundaries, such as designing the school such that it retains the heritage, culture, and history left behind by the generations before us. These set us with a good place to start thinking, as it meant that the building would not only have to be functional, but also be aesthetically pleasing and contain iconic parts of the school.
Define:
Last term, our principal, Madam Heng stated that the school’s utilities bills had increased due to extensive usage of water. Stemming from that, we thought of ways in which we could help reduce the utilities bills as it not only meant that we could aid the school in financial aspects, but more importantly, in the environmental aspects, thus we came up with various ideas to do just that. We hope the ideas we have come up with fit the theme of sustainability with their features and functions, while also retaining the school’s heritage and culture.
Ideate:
Draft ideas we came up with for our sustainable NYGH:
1) Use a different type of material for the walls of the building such as TRP or hempcrete as a better and more environmentally-friendly alternative as compared to concrete.
2) Soundproofing classrooms
3) Add more solar panels to reduce consumption of non-renewable energy
4) Adjust the angle of the school so that the quadrangle will not be as affected by direct sunlight in the morning, allowing students to feel more comfortable during and after assembly.
5) Make the canteen more airy and bright, along with more openings to reduce the need for an increased number of ceiling lights and fans.
After much thought and consideration, we decided to work with Idea 6 as it is a environmentally and financially sustainable idea, due to solar panels being widely available and usable for many years, with the ability to cut down on electricity costs. Besides that idea, we felt that we wanted to create a new addition to the school. As the current two new school buildings aren’t very populated by the students most of the time, wit the exception of CCA and PE hours, we decided to integrate two domes into the school campus.
After much research, one of us suggested using SolarCity’s Solar Roof Tiles. Although it sounded peculiar at first, we decided to go with it instead of using conventional solar panels. One of the reasons why we chose the solar roof tiles, was because we wanted to retain the iconic brick-red roof of our classroom block when building the new school campus. When arranging the floor plan, we chose to leave the exterior of all buildings excluding the new buildings alone to retain that timeless feel of the campus which has really shone through as Mdm Ling’s masterpiece and work, of which we felt that conventional blue solar panels would not match well with, thus we decided to use the Tuscan roof tiles for the classroom block.
This is also because the solar roof tiles are:
- More durable than conventional solar panels or ceramic tiles
- Is the best in its class in wind, fire, and hail resistance (Class F ASTM D3161, Class A UL 390, Class 4 ANSI FM 4473 respectively)
- Has a 30 year warranty
- Is able to absorb more sunlight than a conventional solar panel
- Is better at insulating heat than a ceramic roof tile
- Looks and feels like a normal roof tile
- Set on panels to allow for it to be tilted for a maximum sunlight absorption rate
- Lower maintenance than conventional solar panels which are very fragile and have to be regularly serviced
As mentioned earlier, we chose to replace the two new buildings, a.k.a. the two green slopes, with two domes as we also wanted to adopt a Canadian trend to our school campus, in which modern buildings are set in rustic-styled buildings. It may sound chaotic, but it is beautiful. Hence, we decided to redesign the two additional buildings in our school.
Why domes? This is because domes have:
- A geometry that allows for better regulation of temperature as it does not have corners or “cold corners”
- Better insulation, with no need for additional costs to be spent on temperature or light regulating materials (e.g. hempcrete, insulation, blinds, shades)
- Dome-shaped buildings, to us, provide a sense of community and openness, with inspiration being drawn from buildings such as The Esplanade and Gardens by The Bay.
- Take less time and require less materials to build.
- Easier to assemble.
- Are less susceptible to sudden shocks and collapse as their frames and geometry allow for impacts and weight to be spread out across the frame.
The covering is made up of solar roof tiles too, this time with the”Smooth” tiles to give it a sleek feel. Having solar tiles on a dome-shaped building is advantageous as no matter which direction the sun is facing, at least a portion of the solar roof on the domes would be able to capture maximum amount of sunlight. The solar tiles on the surface of the domes would also convert light energy from the sun into electrical energy which would be used to power on all the facilities in the domes for a period of 10 hours, from 8a.m. in the morning to 5 p.m. in the afternoon. In both domes, there are two floors each. The first dome consists of the indoor sports hall and special rooms, whereas the second dome has the atrium and a multipurpose sports hall. In one dome, there will also be platforms to provide the students with a relaxation are. This can also be used by spectators during a tournament. In between the tiles at the base of the domes are mini gaps, or what we call shutters. It allows not only pockets of sunlight through to provide natural lighting to the building to reduce the amount of electricity used in the domes, but also ventilation throughout the building. An airy building would provide a conducive environment for all Nanyang students to concentrate whether on their work or play. There are also pathways between the tiles that create a drainage system of sorts to ultimately collect rainwater for filtration and further re-usage.
Create:
Under create, we created our model of the classroom block physically as wanted to allow people present at the exposition to be able to, perhaps, move the movable panels of solar roof tiles aligned on the building to further understand how it works in aiding the rate of which sunlight is captured to be converted into electricity. We also did this as we wanted to show how there is very minimal change to the existing building
We also built out our virtual model of the domes in Minecraft to showcase what we have envisioned our concept as. As it does not have a real life for comparison, we used Minecraft as it is a helpful tool for us to add minute details which may not be as clearly seen if done with a physical model.
Inter-disciplinary Studies 