Yuhua chosen as first existing HDB estate to go smart

SINGAPORE — Residents in Yuhua will be the first to experience “smart living” in an existing HDB estate, said National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan in a blog post today (July 28).

Ten households in the estate will be chosen to test smart devices and applications in their homes, which can help families care for their elderly members, as well as save energy and water. The HDB said in a separate statement that various government agencies will roll out smart solutions both within flats and in the neighbourhood progressively until 2018, and some 9,000 Yuhua residents living in 3,194 flats will benefit.

While Punggol Northshore already saw the launch of the first batch of Smart-enabled flats in May this year, Yuhua was chosen as a parallel to be a “living lab for us to refine the smart solutions to improve residents’ lives,” Mr Khaw wrote.

Under this test bedding, residents will be able to monitor their household’s energy and water usage on-the-go, and get suggestions on how to cut back on utility usage using mobile apps, wrote Mr Khaw. “Caregivers can also be notified should their loved ones meet with a mishap,” he added.

Noting that “the potential applications are vast”, Mr Khaw said “It is thus important that we take the first step to study the necessary infrastructure needed in our future flats, so that we can maximise their potential.”

He added that the Yuhua pilot will allow the Ministry to decide on how to extend these Smart solutions elsewhere, to more residents in more estates.

Yuhua is already part of the HDB’s Greenprint project, and boasts the largest pneumatic waste conveyance system in Singapore, which reduces the manpower needed to collect waste and is cleaner. The Greenprint project is aimed at making mature estates greener and and more sustainable, and Yuhua was the first estate to be part of the project.