SINGAPORE — A study on the feasibility of establishing a pilot energy scheme in Housing and Development Board (HDB) homes will be in the works, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by HDB and the Energy Market Authority (EMA) with Panasonic at the World Cities Summit today (Jun 3).

The year-long study will be looking at the different energy choices and solutions which are enabled by new technologies.

Findings from this study will then be used to asses if the pilot energy scheme - which aims to encourage residents to reduce and shift their energy usage - can be implemented across some 3,000 households in the Yuhua estate. The estate is under a Greenprint programme that brings sustainability initiatives to HDB estates.

Some of the initiatives under the Smart Home Energy Pilot will include a Time-of-Use pricing scheme, for instance. This means residents could pay lower charges during off-peak hours, incentivising them to shift their electricity consumption to off-peak periods, and save more on their electricity bills.

A Home Energy Management System (HEMS) will also be included in the pilot, which provides energy usage data. For example, residents will be able to view and monitor their household energy usage on-the-go with a smart phone app that is linked to this system. This aims to encourage residents to subsequently change their behaviours and reduce energy consumption.

They will also look into implementing energy aggregation models to offer residents alternative sources of electricity. For example, residents will be able to use a combination of solar and grid electricity for their homes.

Speaking at the MOU signing ceremony today, HDB chief executive officer Cheong Koon Hean said the study will be useful in developing future generations of sustainable public housing.

“Ultimately, we hope to encourage and empower residents to adopt a more eco-friendly lifestyle, so that they too, can join us in building a green living environment in the HDB heartland,” added Dr Cheong.

Last year, Punggol also piloted a total energy solutions testbed, involving 10 households. As a result, the homes managed to reduce their average monthly electricity consumption by about 20 per cent.