PROJECT REPORT NEW CONNECTIONS

We are the New Connections from the Corporate Services Directorate. The team
comprises of officers from the Office Management, Private Secretaries and Court
Orderlies. The team have been together for the past five years and has always strived
to improve and innovate in our work processes. Following Supreme Court’s strategic
thrusts of learning and innovation, we have decided that we want to do something
different and also ensure that we learn something new for our project this year.

PROJECT SELECTION

We brainstormed the following 6 possible projects:

1. To increase awareness of energy conservation techniques to staff.

2. To reduce the usage of electricity in court-rooms, chambers, and Meeting

Room.

3. To reduce the air intake of fresh air in Supreme Court car park.

4. To minimize the lost of keys.

5. To minimize the lighting consumption in Supreme Court Building.

We short-listed three projects based on the theme of “Exploring the innovative use
of technology to raise environmental awareness.” Then we evaluated the three
projects with the Matrix table as shown below:

To reduce the usage

To minimize the
Project of electricity in To reduce the air
lighting consumption
court rooms, intake of fresh air in
in Supreme Court
chambers and car park
Building
Criteria meeting rooms
Critical to
work 45 58 48
performance
Urgency 31 55 40

Cost Savings 55 68 45
Within
70 56 60
Control
Innovation can
50 53 42
be enhanced
Total score: 251 290 235

1 2 3 4 5

Does not meet Meets criterion Meets criterion Meets criterion Meets criterion
criterion well fairly well well very well extremely well

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PROJECT REPORT NEW CONNECTIONS

In the Matrix Chart, we used a scale of 1 to 5 and selected the project that scored the
highest points. Therefore, our project was “To reduce the air intake of fresh air in
Supreme Court Car Park”.

REASONS FOR SELECTING PROJECT

1. Critical to work performance

Public perception on energy conservation and how energy efficient a government
building has always been a key performance indicator.

2. Urgency
This is one of other iniatives that is in line with the Singapore government’s recent
announcement to create a better, greener living environment, to reduce carbon
emissions and achieving the “Green Mark Award” for government buildings in
Singapore.

3. Cost Savings
In improving energy efficiency we will be progressively saving every month on our
utilities bills.

4. Within Control
The team comprises mostly officers from the Office Management section and
therefore, we are able to ensure that the project could be completed in time and
management of the implementation later could be easily monitored.

5. Innovation can be enhanced

Members felt that Supreme Court staff can be very innovative in the implementation
of certain procedures, rather than simply following the traditional methods. We also
felt that not only innovation can be enhanced but if a solution is available, we can also
look into enhanced customer service to our end users.

COMMON TERMS/TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN THE PROJECT

Purging Fan
To purge stale air and control carbon dioxide concentration in Supreme Court car park
basements.

Air Handling Units (AHU)

Equipment that includes a fan or blower, heating and/or cooling coils, regulator
controls, and condensate drain pans, and air filters. These equipments assist in
providing fresh air and to purge stale air, in and out of the building offices and car
park.

Flushing Operation
The process of catering the supply of fresh air after flushing out stale air to the
serving areas.

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 PROJECT REPORT NEW CONNECTIONS

Exhaust Air Damper

A window that controls air output of the service areas.

Return Air Damper

A window that controls conditioned air to the service areas.

Fresh Modulating Air Damper

A window-like-blind that controls the carbon dioxide level in the air to the
requirement as pre-set by the user.

Building Management System (BMS)

Computer software that controls all the AHU to the service areas.

PLAN THE SCHEDULE

Our team plotted the planned and actual progress of our project with a Gantt chart.

STAGE ACTIVITIES JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

PROJECT
SELECTION

PLAN THE
SCHEDULE

PROBLEM
DEFINITION

PLAN ESTABLISH THE

TARGET

ANALYSE THE
PROBLEM (A) &

DETERMINE
CORRECTIVE
ACTIONS (B)

DO
IMPLEMENTATION

CHECK EVALUATE THE

RESULT

ACTION STANDARDISE THE

ACTION

Planned
Actual

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PROJECT REPORT NEW CONNECTIONS

PROBLEM DEFINITION

What is the problem?

There are a total of 9 Purging fans at Basement 3 and Basement 4 car parks.
These fans were operating at 13 hours every day. As we are enthusiastic in achieving
the “Green Mark Award”. We have done a study and problems were identified.

The following problems were identified:

1. Purging fans running at 13 hours everyday.

2. Less carbon dioxide emission as less cars movement during off peak periods.

3. Unnecessary wastage of energy.

4. Higher utilities bill

DATA COLLECTION

We then collated data on the performance of all our 9 Purging Fans for a period of
one week and below are the performance of the Purging Fans. Of the 9 sets of fans, 4
fans are of 7.5kw/h, 2 sets are of 2.2kw/h, 1 set is 3kw/h, 1.1kw/h and 0.55kw/h . As
can be seen from the table for the performance of the Purging Fans, the figures that
were churned out have reached their optimal level.

Parameter Purging Purging Purging Purging Purging

Fan 1 Fan 5 Fan 7 Fan 8 Fan 9
to 4 and 6
Capacity 7.5kW 2.2 kW 3kW 1.1 kW 0.55kW

Operating 13 hrs 13 hrs 13 hrs 13 hrs 13 hrs

Hours
Power 390kW 57.2kW 39kW 14.3kW 7.15kW
(k/W)

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TARGET SETTING

The team then set the target for this project by deciding on how much reduction in
energy that we can save.

Current Targeted
Targeted
Energy Reduction
S/No Factors Reduction in
Usage Energy
Percentage (%)
(k/W) Usage (k/W)
Reduce of energy usage for Purging
1 116,447.1 55,894.6 52%
Fans

Target Set: To reduce energy usage for Purging Fans by 52%.

REASONS FOR TARGET

1. Members decided that energy usage could be reduced by 52%. These figures
are just our gut feel and we feel that this is a reasonable target considering the
systems in the Supreme Court are quite accurate.

2. Members also decided that since heavy traffic into the car park are only at
7am to 8am and 5pm to 6pm. activating the purging fans at certain period of the
day.

3. Overall, target of 52%, members felt, was in line with the industry norm of
reduction of energy of 25% to qualify for the Green Mark award.

ANALYSIS OF POSSIBLE CAUSES

We analysed the possible causes and plotted the Cause and Effect Diagram as shown
below:

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 PROJECT REPORT NEW CONNECTIONS

MANPOWER_ MACHINE_

No proper
programmi
ng for
activation
of purging
fans

ENVIRONMENT_ METHOD_

IDENTIFICATION OF ROOT CAUSES

From the Cause and Effect Diagram, we identified the root causes as the following:

1. Newer machine and equipment.

Newer machines and equipment are available but the implementation will delay
our project longer.

2. No proper programming for activation of purging fans

No proper programming on the BMS to activate the purging fans.

3. Incompetent Technical Staff

Newer technical staff are incompetent as they are new to the job and do not
know the right way to monitor the BMS.

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PROJECT REPORT NEW CONNECTIONS

VERIFICATION OF ROOT CAUSES

Having identified the possible causes, data was then collected from our managing
agents, supervisors for the building maintenance and the OM Team of about 10
person. Weighted points for each root cause were awarded as follows: zero for “not
serious”, one for “slightly serious”, two for “moderately serious”, three for “very
serious” and four for “extremely serious”

Cumulative
Problems Total Cumulative Total %
%
Newer machine and
equipment. 40 40 37.8 37.8
No proper programming for
activation of purging fans 33 73 31.1 68.9

Incompetent Technical Staff

33 106 31.1 100

CREATIVE SOLUTIONS WERE CONSIDERED

Taking into consideration the root causes, the team then brainstormed for all possible
solutions to solve the problem. Some of the creative solutions and how they were
generated are as shown below:

How was creativity encouraged and ideas

Creative Solutions
generated?

Using wi-fi infrastructure provided by Singtel,

Wireless programming and fault reporting
able to get on-demand help by accessing PDA and
On-Demand SOP
Programming of purging fan’s operating
hours
programming of equipment and fault will be
wirelessly transmitted to Fire Command Centre
(FCC) and FCC will be able to assist if any fault
are reported wrongly
Starhub Demand TV concept. Technical staff are
input all SOP in the PDA and able to access
information when in doubt.
Starhub Demand TV where we can record any
programme into a hard-disk by programming the
timing the show is to be shown and then can
playback during our free time.

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PROJECT REPORT NEW CONNECTIONS

SOLUTIONS WERE PRACTICAL

We evaluated the solutions using the Tree Diagram and recommended the solutions
that scored the highest points for implementing

Effective Low Cost Team’s Practical Total

Solutions Ability Solutions Points
Wireless Having Smartphones
programming and to programme and
3 5 3 2 13
fault reporting transmit date easily to
FCC to update
Requires technical
staff to undergo basic
IT training so that they 3 2 3 3 11
would be able to use
smartphones
Set-up training for
3 3 3 4 13
technical staff

On-Demand SOP CISD to assist in

developing an SOP
which can be retrieved 3 1 3 3 10
anywhere using a
smartphone (Apps)
OM to draw up an SOP
for technical staff to 4 5 4 4 17
adhere to

Programming or Rescheduling of
rescheduling of operating hours of 4 5 4 5 18
purging fans purging fans
operating hours Switching off purging
4 5 4 3 16
fans totally

1 3 5
Meet Criteria Least Meet Criteria Moderately Meet Criteria Most

The recommended solutions were practical because they met the criteria of:

S/No Criteria Explanation

The solution is sufficient to overcome external party’s involvement,
01 Effective Solutions
enhancing higher quality public service

02 Low Cost The solution does involved spending too much money for Supreme Court

03 Team’s Ability Half of our members are competent in handling building maintenance

The solution also benefits the environment as it coincides with Government

04 Practical Solutions
Drive of Energy Smart Building

We then proceeded to implement the solutions that scored the highest points. First,
we set about conducting a research on the costing of the solutions and do a survey of
the various government building around our area. We found out we are the first one to
implement this are very enthusiastic to proceed further.

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PROJECT REPORT NEW CONNECTIONS

The idea of exploring and implementing ways to save energy motivate us to strive for
the Green Mark Building Award and Energy Smart Office Award. Staff in Supreme
Court is very enthusiastic with our ideas and are actively participating. As a result,
we were convinced that the ideas are practical and will benefit everyone. It brings us
closer and more united as a family in Supreme Court.
We therefore started our trial implementation of the project. Having sought our
Registrar’s approval, we set about to do a prototype of the customization or
optimization of the purging fan usage. Drafting, planning, installation schedules and
venues were discussed.

RISK FACTORS/CONTINGENCY MATTERS

There are a lot of skeptism amongst technical staff as they would have to use the
computer and smartphones to do programming. They are told not to worry and the
more competent ones were sent for training in the use of computer. The risks also
would be that the technical staff would feel threaten that automation would cost them
their job.
After much discussion and also seeking management’s approval, we decided to
embrace the risk. For staff who are less competent would have regular meeting
session with Office Management representatives and advise them on the new work
process,

IMPLEMENTATION

The following solutions were put in place:

a) Remove the balancing valves at the chillers to reduce the pressure

losses and thereby increasing the condenser flow rate into chiller

b) Reducing the capacity of the condenser water pumps to match the

chiller flow requirements.

c) Running pump at a lower speed.

d) Variable Speed Drive installed to able chilled water to be ramped

down to the required flow.

e) Training session took off in mid-June for all technical staff and are
conducted by the Managing Agent of new work process.

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SOLUTIONS WERE INNOVATIVE

The following table shows our new practices
Old Practice
Technical Staff running around to solve aircon
problems everywhere
Running of condenser water pumps at higher speed
without any flow control
Condenser water pumps need to be manually
operated based on the scheduled timing
New Practice
Technical staff will only need to monitor through a monitor
screen on the water flow rate to the chillers
Condenser water pump runs a lower speed with flexibility
to increase or decrease flow rate
Condenser water pump are automatically operated by BAS
based on time schedules

EVALUATE RESULTS
With the implementation of the variable speed drives and removing of balancing
valves we get the same people to rate the changes after implementation, below are the
results:

Cumulative
Problems Total Cumulative Total %
%
Newer machine and
equipment 0 0 0 0
No proper programming for
activation of purging fans 0 0 0 0
Incompetent Technical Staff
19 19 17.9 17.9

The before and after implementation data is shown in the bar chart below:

Area of
Improvement
82.1%

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We then compared it with the situation before implementing our project. The
comparison is depicted in the Before and After Pareto charts below. As can be seen,
we managed to achieve 82.1% improvement, which surpasses our target of 52%.

REASONS FOR SURPASSING OUR TARGET

We had surpassed our target by 30.1% because we are able to eliminate two-thirds of
the root causes identified as both these root causes are technical in nature and thus by
implementing the solutions of programming the purging fans we totally improved the
current problem.

TANGIBLE BENEFITS

Manpower
As the aircon system now has lesser problems, there are a lot of tangible benefits
which can be derived from this reduction. Previously, there are 5 Technical Staff for
aircon servicing but now with the lesser load, we are able to reduce the technical staff
from 5 to 3 technical staff. As these technical staff are from our Supreme Court’s
Mechanical & Electrical Maintenance Contract, the contract sum was reduced to
$40,000 per year

Manpower savings = $40,000 per year

Resources re-channelled
With the manpower savings, staffs are able to do more productive work and assigned
to do more important duties rather than running around the building to fix aircon
faults.

Energy Savings
We did a 2 weeks monitoring of the energy usage with the optimizing of the
condenser water pump. So within these two weeks, we did an audit of the energy
savings and conclude that we would be able to reduce the energy saved from actual
usage of 881,530 k/Wh to 507,104 k/Wh. When we translate these savings into
dollars and cents, we would be savings of $58,692.00.

Formula = Energy Usage of Condenser Water Pump (before implementation) –

Energy Usage of Condenser Water Pump (after implementation) x No of operation
hours per day x No of Weekdays per year = $58,692.00

*Based on electricity peak tariffs: $0.1520 kWh

*Based on electricity off-peak tariffs: $0.1122 kWh
*Contract capacity: $7.04 kWh
*Full calculation will be furnished when asked.

Total cost savings = $40,000.00 + $58,692.00

= $98,692.00

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 PROJECT REPORT NEW CONNECTIONS

INTANGIBLE BENEFITS

Improved Staff-Senior Management

With this project, we got to interact with Senior Management very closely and
thereby building a closer working relationship with them. From interacting with
Senior Management on a more informal basis, we also got to understand their needs
better and it goes a long way to nurture our relationship with them as our valuable
internal customers.

Improved morale
The morale of the technical staff was also boosted with this project, as they seldom
get complains of air con breakdown and able to do better maintenance with the
reduction of faults.

Improved co-operation
The team also learnt to think out of the box and have better co-operation and
understanding of one another as we now work very closely with the Managing Agent
and the Technical Staffs.

Improved personal skills

Some staff may not have the technical knowledge of how these whole process of air-
con system works and with this project, we are able to understand the process better
and also gain valuable knowledge thereby increasing our personal skills and
knowledge.

IMPACT ON ORGANISATION

We had also achieved the impact on organization:

a) Government’s Vision: This project aligned well with the government’s vision
of attaining Green Mark Building Award for all government building

b) Beneficial even to environment: Energy savings lead us to a better

environment and help in a way of Going Green.

NEW PROCEDURES WERE DOCUMENTED

a) Standardisation: On 15/07/09, approval was given by the senior management

to standardize the proposed solution.

b) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP): On 15/07/09, a set of SOP was

drawn up and adopted by technical staff on the new work process and also the new
way of maintenance.

c) On-going feedback: Office Management organized weekly meetings with

Managing Agent and Technical Staff for feedback on the new work process and
brainstorm better procedures or new projects, which are able to save energy.

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ENSURE NEW PROCEDURES WERE ADOPTED

To ensure that the solution is adopted and maintained, these follow-up actions were
taken:
a) Staff feedback: Office Management meet up with Technical Staff for
feedback on the new work process and brainstorm better procedures or new projects
that are able to save energy.

b) Orientation of new staff: All new technical staff to the Supreme Court will
be introduced to the newer procedure of maintenance and briefed on supreme
court’s drive for energy efficient.

c) Audit: Members will conduct an audit monthly on the utility bills to ensure
that there are changes to the energy consumption of the building

d) Review demand: We would monitor the savings and brainstorm on other

ways we can conserve energy. We will make recommendation to our senior
management to improve further through our regular feedback sessions.

REVIEW FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT

S/No AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS TAKEN

Lack of technical know-how
Only 3 of our members have the technical know- Members are briefed and explained on the
01
how of the aircon system works. procedures and notes printed for them on newer
projects which are to be undertaken.
Unfamiliar with WIT tools
02 Only 3 of the members went through the WITS 8 other members went through the WITS
Leader Course Member Course conducted by IPAM
Lack of computer skills
03 Members still feel lack of computer skills Members will continuously learn from more
experienced team members
Attendance problem
5 of our members are Court Orderlies and need to Days of meetings were fixed normally after
attend to Judges’ needs and 3 are Personal 5.00pm when Judges do not need their services.
04
Assistant to Judges. And now we have TIPIC, so we can also get
feedback or hold conference in TIPIC if meeting
cannot be done face to face.
Resistance from Finance Department
We were rather upset that Finance Department Finance Department supported the project finally
05 says that with the implementation of the project, as the project is government driven and it would
they would be spending a lot and eat up into their be awkward for a government building not to
budget participate in the drive.

REASONS FOR NEXT PROJECT

NEXT PROJECT

Our next project is “To raise awareness of energy conservation techniques to staff”.

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REASON FOR NEXT PROJECT

1) Scored second highest in Matrix: This project is selected because it scored

the second highest in the Matrix Chart.

2) Green Mark Award: This project will help to enhance our energy
conservation drive and achieve the Green Mark Award

3) Energy Conservation: We need to raise awareness of how the earth are

deteriorating everyday and push the message of Go Green amongst staff.

GANTT CHART FOR NEW PROJECT

STAGE ACTIVITIES OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

PROJECT
SELECTION

PLAN
PLAN THE
SCHEDULE

PROBLEM
DEFINITION

ESTABLISH THE
TARGET

ANALYSE THE A A A B B
PROBLEM (A) &

DETERMINE
CORRECTIVE
ACTIONS (B)

DO

IMPLEMENTATION

CHECK

EVALUATE THE
RESULT

ACTION

STANDARDISE
THE ACTION

Planned

Actual

A project of Corporate Services & Courts Section 14