Imagine enjoying air temperatures that are regulated based on the number of occupants in the building and the weather forecast, tracking your consumption and waste habits through a gaming experience, and finding your way around indoor and outdoor barrier-free routes easily using a GIS-enabled guide. These are some innovative solutions from the winners of the Jurong Lake District (JLD) Innovation Challenge, which will be piloted in existing developments in the district to support the ambition to make JLD a model sustainable district and living lab to testbed sustainable innovations. 

Minister for National Development and Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration, Mr Desmond Lee, presented awards to eight winning teams today. Organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Smart Nation & Digital Government Office (SNDGO), with the support of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the JLD Innovation Challenge was held from 24 February to 5 May 2023 for participating teams to propose novel urban solutions for challenge statements on various topics including reducing carbon emissions, energy usage, waste and resources as well as achieving a car-lite environment. A public-private collaboration effort, the challenge statements were identified by the district’s stakeholders, including CapitaLand, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Jurong Community Hospital, Lendlease Global Commercial REIT, Science Centre Singapore, SMRT and the Land Transport Authority.

Winning innovations promote sustainable practices, enhance our living environment and foster a tight-knit community

Selected by a panel comprising representatives from JLD stakeholders and relevant government agencies, the winning solutions stood out from more than 100 submissions received from start-ups, established companies and research institutes for their potential in reducing resource usage and waste, improving energy efficiency and commuting experiences, community engagement and inclusivity – values that will shape JLD as an attractive and sustainable district for live, work and play.

Promoting sustainable practices through engagement 

For instance, the winning solution by Gametize motivates users to adopt sustainable practices by getting them to track their consumption and waste habits through challenges on a gamified application that also offers rewards and feedback. iZeem and Otto’s proposal is another solution that engages building occupants by using smart bin sensors to gather data on the volume, type, and recyclability of waste they dispose, which could be used to glean insights on recycling rates and identify gaps to encourage tenants to adopt better recycling practices.

Improving energy efficiency and creating a more comfortable environment 

To optimise energy consumption while ensuring thermal comfort, the winning solution by Zuno Carbon combines real-time and historical data such as building occupancy, ambient temperature and the weather forecast to recommend optimal temperature and humidity settings. Another winning solution is a Human Thermal Comfort Controller by Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Environmental & Water Technology Centre of Innovation. The solution automatically adjusts air temperature and achieves thermal comfort based on concepts in convection, evaporation and radiation that are not typically measured by conventional room thermostats. These solutions seek to enhance the comfort of the living environment in JLD, and potentially complement heat-mitigating urban design measures such as multi-tiered tree planting, covered walkways and wind corridors which have been planned for the district.

Driving a sustainable and car-lite JLD

Supporting the goal for at least 85% of all trips in JLD to be made by Walk Cycle Ride modes by 2035, winning team Mapxus’ solution seeks to encourage active mobility and the use of public transportation through a navigation application that shows both indoors and outdoors routes. The application also offers barrier-free routes that avoid escalators and stairs, and can potentially be integrated with retail solutions, such as queue or food ordering systems, contributing to JLD’s plans of becoming a more inclusive and vibrant district. Meanwhile, a personalised journey planner application, the winning solution by Nippon Koei, seeks to promote the use of public transport and active mobility by sharing benefits such as time savings, positive health outcomes and positive impact on the environment. 

To enhance effectiveness and sustainability in hardware maintenance, AccuPredict’s and Teredo Analytics’ solutions seek to reduce the need for corrective maintenance work for water tanks with their predictive monitoring systems to detect failures, tapping on automation technologies such as AI.

Winning solutions to be brought to life

Each winning team was awarded a cash prize of $50,000 to support the production of prototypes that will be piloted at JLD stakeholders’ premises by July 2024. For a start, the winning physical solutions will be piloted at a small scale at JEM, IMM, Nordic European Centre in International Business Park as well as a rehabilitation clinic in Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. Agencies and stakeholders will review their effectiveness, with a view to potentially scale up the solutions and deploy them in other areas of JLD and beyond, to benefit more developments and the wider public. Digital solutions such as navigation applications and Gametize’s sustainability application will be test-bedded with small communities within JLD to assess their effectiveness and receptiveness, before being enhanced to benefit more users.

See Annex A [PDF, 93kb] for more information on the winning solutions and stakeholders’ plans to pilot them at JLD. The winning solutions will be exhibited at the URA Centre until 12 August.