Ever since OTH first opened its doors on June 2017, it has provided residents and visitors with over 30 facilities spreading across 5.7 hectares of land. Facilities such as a regional library, sports facilities, hawker centre, retail shops and community centre programmes. You name it; they have it.
Sensors and cameras in Our Tampines Hub (OTH) are continually monitoring the human traffic, the number of hours each visitor stays in the compound and the kind of activities that visitors are engaging. Such cameras can even identify those people who are just passing by, providing data for the marketing department to think of ways to encourage visitors to stay longer. This is only one out of the many ways OTH has integrated advanced technologies into their daily operations
Apart from being a lifestyle centre, OTH has implemented eco-friendly and sustainable elements throughout the entire building too. Together with all the six government agencies all under one roof, OTH is proud to be the very first of its kind.
In an attempt to exercise sustainability, OTH has an on-site waste treatment machine called an Eco-Digester to reduce food wastage in the building itself. It converts food waste entirely into three by-products within 24 hours — non-potable water, liquid plant nutrients, and organic fertilisers.
With this Eco-Digester Center, it has helped eateries in OTH reduce up to 1.4 tonnes of food waste every day.
OTH also uses solar energy to generate as much power and electricity as possible.
Veronica Yong, deputy director of communications and marketing at Our Tampines Hub, mentioned that it is difficult in Singapore to have many solar panels, especially in the East Region as there is limited land.
Despite the restricting quantity of solar panels, it can generate 5% of electricity for the basement car park’s lightings.
She also emphasised that even though the electricity generated by the solar panels in OTH is very minute, it can still make an environmental difference.
OTH has also implemented Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) pillow roofs to lower the temperature beneath the roofs by 2-degree celsius. ETFE roofs are a great way to save electricity while maintaining a moderately cool temperature throughout the entire area.
OTH’s substantial efforts in becoming a green building, Veronica highlighted that because of such practices; they bagged the BCA’s Green Market (Platinum) certification.
Smart technologies are used to maintain and even enhance the daily operations of the building.
Sensors are utilised to save time and enhance the efficiency of the cleanliness of OTH toilets. The sensors eliminate the weight for unneeded work by regularly checking ammonia levels in all toilets, signalling the need for manpower when cleaning is needed.
Other technology introduced also gave residents more convenience. As OTH is primarily a lifestyle hub, it focuses a lot on the integration of services that help aid residents’ efficiency. One significant integration would be the new Public Services Centre.
Since the opening of OTH, all six government agencies located around different parts of Tampines have moved into one mega centre. Now, residents can get all their services at one fixed location.
With the increase of services and duties, technology is used to aid the entire Public Service Centre. From registration, all the way down to cash or cashless payments, devices such as E-Kiosk and iPads are incorporated to run operations and support manpower.
The E-Kiosks are also available 24 hours, enabling residents to register or make payments at any time.
Our Tampines Hub aims to serve as many residents as possible. With these high expectations and requirements to achieve, OTH continues to strive with more eco-friendly implementations to increase sustainability, and technology to better serve their visitors.
by Valerie Ong and Alvira Fong
