Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has disclosed its ambitious five-year plan, which includes constructing a new building on its campus that will house the Nanyang Business School. Sources with knowledge of the matter said that the project, expected to be completed in 2021, will cost around $180 million, have six floors and at 40,000 gross sq. m. will become Asia’s largest wooden building.
While making an announcement regarding the future plans in front of over 2,000 university staff, Professor Subra Suresh, the university’s president, called the new home for the business school as NTU’s most ambitious project incorporating sustainable construction. With 95 percent of the buildings in its campus already being certified Green Mark Platinum, NTU aims to become the greenest university campus worldwide, he added.
According to the sources, the building has been designed by RSP Architects Planners and Engineers, which was responsible for the acclaimed Terminal 4 at the Changi Airport. Supposedly, the building will be constructed using the Mass-Engineered Timber technology. Materials obtained from renewable forests and prefabricated before installation will be used, making it less polluting than conventional methods, besides requiring a smaller labor force.
Further informing about NTU’s eco-friendly approach, the sources mentioned that from October 1, it will stop free issuing of plastic bags, and any earnings collected from the sale of plastic bags will be utilized to provide financial assistance to students. NTU will also look to cut down the intensity of energy usage, water consumption and waste generation by 35 percent till 2021 and by 50 percent till 2025, as compared to 2011 levels, the sources indicated.
Prof Suresh had additionally stated that a project will be undertaken to double the solar power harnessed by NTU to 9.9MW by 2019, which will supply nearly 7 to 10 percent of the university’s electricity demand.