Built Environment & Green Infrastructure – RVRC Action for Sustainability Symposium 2019

AY1819G36 – “Vegetation: a buffer against anthropogenic influences”

rvrnjy AY2018/19, Built Environment & Green Infrastructure, Project Abstracts April 3, 2019 0 Comment

Elizabeth Chia Kai Lun, Kee Cheow Yan, Lee Saehae, Ong Bai Quan

Academic Advisor: Dr. Chua Siew Chin

While landscape designers often try to incorporate green spaces in urban landscapes, they are usually done with the intention to green the area for human benefits, and often neglect the habitability of wildlife. Research has shown that sound and light pollution can harm the wildlife ecosystem psychologically, mentally and physically. It is important to consider the anthropogenic effects (light and sound) because of human activities from these urban landscapes to figure out the best conditions for wildlife survivability in nearby vegetation. Our project focused on the NUS campus, and measured the damping effect of vegetation with incremental distances from nearby buildings to vegetation. We researched on the acceptable range of anthropogenic effects that wildlife can tolerate, and juxtaposed it against the data we have collected to find an association between foliage density and its damping ability. With these information, future campus infrastructure designers can better plan their project such that buildings are placed at a comfortable distance from the vegetation with minimal impacts on wildlife. Foliage density was classified into sparse, normal and dense using a Secchi Disc, a method modified from aquatic sampling. Light and sound data were measured with incremental distances of 5 meters up to 25 meters away from buildings using a REED environmental meter and datalogger. Our results concluded an overall decrease in light and sound data with incremental distance. A more comprehensive research can be incorporated with our project findings for landscape designers to plan their future projects.

Keywords: Green Landscape, Light and Sound Pollution, Damping Effect, Built Environment and Green Infrastructure

AY1819G29 – “Enhancing the use of Rooftop Greenery in UTown Residences”

rvrnjy AY2018/19, Built Environment & Green Infrastructure, Project Abstracts, Responsible Consumption April 3, 2019 0 Comment

Fong Hok Shing Anson, Jelicia Lim Xin Yu, Spencer Kwan Junhui, Vaarsha Nair

Academic Advisor: Ms. Sadaf Ansari

With the rapid increase in Singapore’s urban density, greenery on walls and roofs is incentivized by the Building Construction Authority for the following reasons – it provides aesthetic relief, creates usable green spaces, and reduces Urban Heat Island effect by cooling ambient temperature (URA, 2017). New projects on the NUS campus incorporate such greenery to promote a sustainable campus. Our project assessed and raised awareness about the use of integrated greenery by NUS students who live on campus, with a focus on University Town residences. Our research identified three factors that impact greenery use by students; 1) awareness of location, 2) perception of these spaces, and 3) design preferences for these spaces.

The project adopted a three step strategy for primary data collection. The first was conducting field trips to measure current use – including observation and user interviews. Preliminary results indicated that green spaces, with the exception of Utown Green, primarily function as transit zones. The second step was to interview staff from the Office of Facilities Management (OFM) to understand operational costs and challenges of maintaining green areas. Our final step was to conduct a workshop with the target users in UTown.

The results from our workshop indicate that students are not aware about the location of these spaces, and that they would be willing to use the spaces if improvements were made such as the installation of lights or better landscaping. Our project concludes with specific recommendations to OFM to enhance greenery use in Utown.

Keywords: Built Environment , campus greenery, landscape,

AY1819G09 – “Enhancing wildlife co-existence in campus”

rvrnjy AY2018/19, Built Environment & Green Infrastructure, Natural Environment & Ecosystems, Project Abstracts April 3, 2019 0 Comment

Clarissa Laurent Yee Qi Xuan, Desmond Lim Zong Wei, Phua Jun Yuan Ryan, Sherman Dang Xi Heng, Tan Zhi Wen Ivan

Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay

Many human-wildlife interactions in Singapore usually shows public ignorance in proper behavior and action when encountering wildlife. This conflict exemplifies a deeper problem of a lack of proper environmental education: people meet animals with improper behavior because of a lack of awareness of what they are, and how to deal with them.

At Ridge View Residential College (RVRC), which is located near a secondary forest, opportunities for human-wildlife conflict abound, making this problem more pertinent. Hence, our project aims to elevate the awareness of RVRC residents on what to do when an animal enters their living space and establish a college-wide Standard Operating Procedure for this.

Our initial survey findings highlighted that more than 75% of the respondents were not aware of how to safely manage an encounter with an animal visitor in their living area. Over 90% of respondents also indicated that they were interested in learning about the biodiversity in Kent Ridge and the protocols they should observe in these situations. Thus, we recommend providing an Animal Response Toolkit (ART) for RVRC, as the foundation for a new standard operating procedure. We propose holding workshops in conjunction with the ART, to better educate them on this knowledge. The workshops will be held in partnership with Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES). 2 such workshops had been conducted with promising outcomes.

Keywords: Ecosystems; Human-wildlife conflict; Workshops; Biodiversity; Natural Heritage; Built environment