Singapore pilots smart meters to monitor school energy use

Singapore's Ministry of Education, the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) and IBM are collaborating to install smart meters to track energy usage in 20. The computer giant is funding the S$121,000 (USD100,000) cost of the project, which is expected to be completed by August next year.

Under the one-year project, the schools will first establish how much energy they use and the three project partners will then work with them to reduce usage, especially in lighting and air-conditioning. Students will be chosen as energy ambassadors to help identify ways to reduce electricity use in their own schools.

Data from the meters will be uploaded to a shared server where the schools can look at each other's progress and share best practices. No energy-reduction targets have been set for the schools yet but a spokesman for the project said they may set their own.

If the scheme is successful, it may be expanded to other schools in a move which SGBC president Tai Lee Siang said could encourage Singaporeans to go green from an earlier age.