Human influence on energy efficiency: A story based on an innovation project with a hospital...

©Teaching and Learning Case Studies

Human influence on energy efficiency: A story based on an innovation project with a hospital in Singapore

Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services) Programme Singapore Institute of Technology, 10, Dover Drive, Singapore 138682

Corresponding Email: fadeyi.moshood@singaporetech.edu.sg

ABSTRACT

The human need or quest for comfort and convenience and lack or denial of awareness can contribute to energy wastage. This paper contains a written and video story of a research learning journey designed to develop the educational experience of Year 2 building services engineering students in developing a solution that can potentially be used to reduce the negative effect of human behaviour on energy consumption at Yishun Community Hospital, Singapore. The role of storytelling in developing the students’ critical and reflective thinking needed to induce learning to form an educational experience, i.e., knowledge, understanding, and practical and communication skills, was examined. Students went through classroom training to give them the background knowledge and understanding required to fulfill the energy efficiency innovation project requirements. The reported educational experience gained from the learning journey is documented in this paper. This paper reports a method of developing human capability for energy-efficiency agenda achievement. It also reports an approach for contributing to the educational experience needed to prepare undergraduate students to solve real-life problems and be job ready upon graduation.

Keywords: Artistic research; Sustainability; Applied learning; Energy efficiency; Innovation

CHAPTER 1: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

“What is on dad’s mind lately? Why has he been so agitated and stressed out? Is he feeling, okay?” Jevan questioned as he lay in bed around 2:42 am, wondering what could be wrong with his dad, called Brandon. Jevan's mind was restless. “Dad was not like this the past few months, but he once mentioned that since he got promoted to the role of facility manager at Yishun Community Hospital, he has constantly been receiving alarms and alerts out of nowhere. Could that be the reason? Is he

Chong SL, Lim JJ, Tan TS, Lam ZL, Lim JY, Choo J, and Fadeyi MO (2023). Human influence on energy efficiency: A story based on an innovation project with a hospital in Singapore Teaching and Learning Case Studies #04. ISSUU Digital Publishing

Shi Li Chong, Jun Jie Lim, Teck Sheng Tan, Zi Liang Lam, Jia Yi Lim, Jevan Choo Students, project researchers, and story writers

Moshood Olawale Fadeyi

Module instructor, project designer and advisor, and story writing advisor

feeling too stressed out from his work?” Jevan pondered upon these questions as he slowly drifted back to sleep.

“Good morning, Dad! Dad, here is your coffee and toast bread, have a good day at work!” Jevan said as he passed his dad's breakfast, hoping to make him feel a little less stressed. “Good morning, son. Thank you for breakfast and have a good day at school too!” As Brandon reached his office, his phone started to chime. He reached over to look at his phone, only to be greeted with overwhelming alarms. “Hey! Do you know what the reason why I keep receiving all these alarms is? “Brandon turned over and asked his colleague. “Oh! I think it is because the medical supply room's door in each ward was not closed and locked properly in a significant period,” his colleagues replied. That was how Brandon was notified of the situation.

As the day progressed, Brandon continued to receive these alarms while working in the office, having lunch with his colleagues or dinner with his son, Jevan, and even at night when he was lying in bed, preparing to go to sleep. “What on earth is causing these alarms? I just want to sleep in peace…," sighed Brandon as he tried to get his eyes shut. The alarms continued to plague Brandon over the weekend, and it affected his sleep which caused him to feel restless, grumpy, and a great deal of stress which started to take a toll on his focus and productivity at work.

Back at the hospital, while the medicine supply staff, Jovan and Jonathan, were getting ready for their shift, “Jordan, let us grab the trolley quickly! We are going to be super busy today. We have lots of medicine to stock up on!” exclaimed Jonathan. “I hate the Monday blues…” sighed Jordan as they loaded the new medical supplies onto the trolley and headed to the medical supply room.

Due to security reasons, authorised personnel had to tap their radio-frequency identification (RFID) access card to unlock the medical supply room and manually pull open the sliding door to enter. Jordan and Jonathan began to restock the medicines to their designated shelves, leaving the door open and unsupervised. As they restocked the medical supplies while simultaneously complaining about their tight schedule for the day, they had little thought about the door that was left open, which was unknowingly causing problems for Brandon, the facility manager.

After finally completing their task to restock the medical supplies in the medical supply room, they moved their empty trolley out and closed the door, which was previously left open for a good fifteen minutes, before heading back to their medical inventory room in the basement to restock and collect more medicine for the next ward.

Figure 1: Entrance to Medical Supply Room

Later that same morning, nurses Shirley and Coco clocked in together to prepare for the start of their shift. As they donned their personal protective equipment (PPE) in the nurse lounge while gossiping about an incident that occurred in the adjacent ward the previous night. “Did you hear about the patient who threw his medicine and shouted at one of the nurses in Ward 4B? asked sister Shirley.

“Oh my god! Yes, I heard that he had a sudden meltdown and started to show aggression toward the nurses. This is why I always say that our job as frontliners is so important, yet our efforts often go unrecognised and not appreciated,” said sister Coco with a slight disappointment as they headed out of the nurse lounge to start their daily shift. When it was time to give the medicine to the patients, they took the medicine cart, tapped their access card, and entered the medical supply room to administer the prescribed medicine to the patients in their ward.

As they were retrieving the medicine, they left the door unattended and open to make it more convenient and ease their workflow. “Hey Coco, are you not going to close the door?”, asked sister Shirley as they were leaving the medical supply room. “It is okay, Shirley. Due to the pandemic, we do not have enough manpower. So, we will still need to come back a few more times later to collect the medicine for the other patients. Let’s just leave the door open to make it easier for us, so we do not need to constantly tap our access card to enter later. And since we already reduced the room temperature, the medicines will not spoil anyways.” replied sister Coco.

CHAPTER 2: THE CURIOUS HUNT BEGINS

Brandon began to feel more frustrated and stressed and gradually lost his appetite. “Did dad not solve the issue regarding the alarms and alerts he has been receiving?” Jevan pondered while looking at his dad, Brandon, fidgeting with his food. “The alarms seem to be appearing more frequently. I should do something about it, "Brandon thought. Brandon then decided to investigate the issue by investigating why the alarm was being triggered in the medical supply room.

When Brandon returned to his office the next day, he tapped his access card and entered the medical supply room, where he realised that the air-conditioning temperature was reduced to 20°C instead of the usual 25°C baseline. He discovered condensation happening around the air vents. While inspecting the medicine, Brandon continued walking around the room and was shocked and appalled to notice mould forming at the corners and surfaces of the shelves. Before Brandon left, he decided to test the alarm system only to realise it was not a system malfunction.

Brandon once mentioned to Jevan that it is important for the temperature in the medical supply room to be maintained at 25°C to prevent spoilage of the medicine. As Yishun Community Hospital is naturally ventilated, the medical supply room is required to be air-conditioned 24/7. Hence, there will be a significant temperature difference between the medical supply room's cold air and the ward's warmer air. When the medical supply room door is left open for an extended period, condensation will occur at the vents of the air-conditioners, and mould will start forming due to the temperature difference. Therefore, it is crucial to keep the door always closed upon entering and leaving the room.

Due to the problems that Brandon found in the medical supply room, he decided to check on the integrated building management system (IBMS) for any anomalies. He noticed a spike in the airconditioning temperature in the medical supply room and an increase in monthly utility bills. “Wow! This problem is more serious than I thought! I need to speak to the hospital staff immediately before the situation escalates, "Brandon said in a worried and urgent tone.

“Dear all nurses and medical supply staff, please kindly meet me at my office for an urgent meeting at 2.00 pm. Thank you,” Brandon told the nurses and medicine supply staff on shift that day. Later at 2.00 pm, there was a knock on his office door. He opened and instructed the nurses and medical supply staff to grab a seat around his desk. “Hi everyone! For the past week, I have been receiving multiple alarms and notifications regarding the medical supply room door being left open and unattended for a prolonged period. May I ask why you all left the door open?” asked Brandon in a serious tone. Nurse Shirley was the first to speak up and explained, “I thought I was going to head back to the medical supply room to collect medicines again.”

“Well, I thought I was going to take a short while to prepare the medicine,'' added Nurse Coco. The medicine supply staff Jordan and Jonathan further added, “We forgot to close the door because we were rushing to meet our tight schedule.” Brandon took a deep sigh and then informed the staff that by leaving the door open, they were wasting a lot of energy consumption and causing damage to the air-conditioning system. He firmly reminded them to make sure they remember to close the door immediately after entering or leaving the room and return the room temperature to 25℃ to prevent unnecessary energy wastage. They all looked down and nodded their heads in approval as they reluctantly agreed.

After the discussion with the staff, Brandon understood that to counter the medical supply room's temperature difference, the staff would usually adjust the thermostat temperature manually to 20℃ instead of the minimum required temperature of 25 ℃ . He knew that this prescriptive-based approach of providing a solution to the problem instead of using the solution to eliminate or reduce its cause could only temporarily solve the problem. Such an approach can create another problem. By adjusting the air-conditioner temperature to a lower temperature, the air-conditioner would have

Figure 2: Naturally ventilated wards

to work harder to achieve the desired temperature, which would cause a surge in the monthly energy consumption.

CHAPTER 3: THE DESIRED COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE

A couple of days after the meeting with the facility manager, the nurses returned to their routine of administering the medicine to the patients. Sister Shirley said, “Hey Coco, do not forget to close the door!”. “Aiya… it is so inconvenient and troublesome to keep opening and closing the door every time we want to collect the medicine. We will come back again right after we finish the first round of medicine distribution, and I have an idea! I remember having a magnet in my staff locker. We can use it to bypass the system, such as pretending that the door is locked by sticking the magnet at the magnetic lock so that it will not trigger any alarm”, said Coco with a smirk.

Similarly, when the medicine supply staff were on their routine to restock the medications in the medical supply room, Jordan and Jonathan decided to learn from the nurses’ action by using a magnet of their own to stick at the door’s magnetic lock to prevent the alarm from triggering when the door is left open for an extended period. In their eyes this trick would be more convenient for them as it would save them the trouble of tapping their access card every time they want to enter the medical supply room. It would also improve and ease their workflow due to the lack of manpower they were experiencing and the tight schedule they had to meet.

Meanwhile, Brandon stopped receiving any notifications of alarms or alerts. “Wow! The meeting with the nurses and medical supply staff was so effective. I have not received any more alarms or alerts,” Brandon thought to himself while walking back home. However, little did he know that behind his back, the nurses and medical supply staff were tampering with the system such that the door’s alarm would not be triggered, and no notification alerts would be sent to notify him when the door was left open. With the absence of the notifications and alerts, Brandon eventually thought that everything was getting back to normal, and he would have one less thing off his shoulders to worry and stress about.

“Hey son! Come, let us have dinner together. I bought your favourite chicken rice. And to add on, I bought us desserts too!”, said Brandon as he walked into the house happily. As Brandon and Jevan were eating and talking, Jevan noticed that his dad seemed much more relaxed and less stressed out than the past few days. Jevan asked, “How is your work so far, Dad? You seem much better now compared to the past few weeks.” “Remember, my phone has received multiple alarms and notifications for the past week. It was because the door to the medical supply room was left open for an extended period.

Hence, I met with the hospital staff to find out more about the situation, and I reminded them not to leave the door open. They seemed to understand from my point of view, and since then, I have not been receiving any alarms. I am sure that they have been closing the medical supply room door now.”, said Brandon with an optimistic tone. As Brandon watched his favourite Korean drama on Netflix, Jeven felt happy and relieved for his dad. But little were they aware and oblivious to what the nurses and medical supply staff were doing at the hospital.

CHAPTER 4: THE RECURRING WAVES

“Jevan, I am back! I bought two packets of Nasi Lemak with extra egg and chili and your favourite bubble tea! Come, let us eat dinner together!” exclaimed Brandon as they sat at the dining table. A week had passed since Brandon last told his son about the situation at work, and Jevan was pleased to see his dad coming back home in a good mood. However, that soon would be a fleeting moment.

While they were busy indulging in their Nasi Lemak, Brandon’s phone made an awfully familiar chime again. His smile faded away, and a look of dread returned as he looked at the messages that were sent from his supervisor, “Hi Brandon, I noticed that the medical supply room door was left open and unattended a few times today, but I did not receive any notification or alarm. How about you? I suspect there is a problem again. Please ask the staff about it and check the system tomorrow. We need to get this resolved as soon as possible. Thanks.”

As soon as Brandon finished reading the messages, a sense of betrayal washed over him, and he covered his face with both hands. Jevan immediately knew something was wrong. “Is everything alright? “Jevan asked his dad in a worried tone. “Not really. I am just puzzled about what is happening at the hospital. But it is okay. I will check on the situation tomorrow,” said Brandon while sighing.

The next day, Brandon hurriedly went to check on the IBMS, only to find out that there were still spikes in the air-conditioning temperature. “How could I have been so gullible and trusting? I have only myself to blame for not making sure that the hospital staff had stopped leaving the door open and not checking on the IBMS to ensure the temperature readings were back to normal. They must have found a loophole to bypass the system which was why I did not receive any more alarms or alerts,” Brandon sighed with a look of defeat on his face.

Brandon came home and briefly told Jevan about the situation at work. “Oh no…that must be so disheartening for you…maybe I can help you with it since I am studying Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services),” Jevan instinctively asked if he could help after hearing about the troubling situation. Jevan remembered attending a lecture in school for the module on Sustainable Building Engineering. The lecture was about the Principles of Sustainable Building Engineering, whereby Professor Moshood covered the topic of Respect for the Wisdom of the natural system, People, Place, Cycle of Life, Process and Energy, and Natural Resources.

He understood the importance of delivering more value in terms of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of Sustainability. He thought he could assist in the situation since he was an undergraduate in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering. The modules he learned in school were related to what his dad was doing as a facility manager in the hospital. Brandon replied, “Yes, sure. Since you are also studying something similar to what I do at work, there is no harm in asking you for help at this point.”

Jevan was thrilled at the thought of being able to help his dad and get him out of this stressful situation. “Maybe I can bring you lunch tomorrow and, if possible, bring me around the hospital too? “Jevan suggested and hoped he could make some observations on his own to understand more

about the situation. “Sure, be careful and let me know when you reach the hospital tomorrow,” said Brandon as he walked into his room.

CHAPTER 5: THE SAME OLD PATTERN

As Jevan arrived at his dad’s office the following day, he knocked on the door and called out, “Hey, Dad! I brought some salad for lunch. Let's eat, shall we!”. After finishing their lunch, Jevan asked if he could look around the medical supply room to do some observations of his own. As he stood outside the room with his iPad, waiting for the nurses or medical supply staff to enter, nurses Shirley and Coco appeared around the corner, pushing their trolley toward the medical supply room as they were preparing to administer the medicine to the patients.

Jevan observed them tapping their access card to open the door, but the moment they entered the room, sister Coco took out a magnet from her pocket and stuck it on the door’s magnetic lock to prevent any alarm from triggering when the door was open. He watched as they went in and out of the medical supply room several times to collect and dispense the medicine to all the patients in their ward, leaving the door unattended and open.

A short moment later, the medical supply staff, Jordan and Jonathan, arrived at the medical supply room with their freshly stocked medicine on their trolley. Similarly, Jevan watched them tap their access card to open the door and take out a magnet to stick on the door’s magnetic lock and go straight into the room to start restocking the medicines without closing the door.

As Jevan returned home with the newly found observations from the hospital, he sat at his table thinking about why the nurses and medical supply staff would avoid such a simple task of closing the door immediately after they entered the room or completed their tasks. Based on his observations throughout the day, it seemed that despite the security measures put in place to ensure that the door would stay closed by triggering an alarm when the door is kept open for too long, the nurses and medical supply staff would still find ways and means to bypass the system. It helped them achieve the high level of comfort and convenience they desired, even at the expense of security being compromised, potential spoilage of the medicine, and increase in energy consumption and bills.

Jevan remembered from his lectures that Professor Moshood always emphasised the importance of defining a problem and identifying cause(s)of the problem before coming up with a solution informed by the cause(s). Most importantly, he understood that critical and reflective thinking is crucial to problem-solving. Jevan pulled out his lecture notes and referred to the Indoor Air Cartoon Journal from Professor Moshood's class, hoping to gain the understanding that would aid him in identifying the cause(s) of the problem. While Jevan questioned the question, he thought to himself. “What problems are to be solved? What is the importance of these problems? What are the main contributing factors that led to these problems?” “How will the problem affect the human behaviour of the nurses and medical supply staff?"

“Hey Dad, let me share some of my observations today. Basically, I noticed that the nurses and medical supply staff have been placing a magnet on the magnetic lock of the medical supply room door. Perhaps this is the reason why you stopped receiving the alarms and notifications even though the door was still left open. “Jevan shared his observations after Brandon came home from work. “Oh, I did not know the nurses and medical supply staff would do something like that. I am so disappointed but thank you, son. I will take note of it and try to solve the issue.” Brandon said while shaking his head. Jevan nodded his head in agreement.

Figure 3: Design Thinking Flow

While reflecting and looking at the notes Jevan took down during his observation back at the hospital, he identified the root cause of the problem that first started because of the human behaviour of the nurses. Since the nurses wanted to make their lives easier by leaving the door of the medical supply room open when giving out medication, this caused mould to grow and the medication to spoil. In order to protect the medication from spoiling, the nurses decided to reduce the temperature from 25 ℃ to 20℃

However, by doing so, they created another problem: to increase the room's energy usage as the air-conditioners have to work harder now to maintain the lower temperatures. It was obvious that the nurses and medical supply staff did not care about the increase in energy consumption as they were not the ones paying for the damages and bills.

“But what are the factors that led the nurses and medical supply staff to this behaviour?”, Jevan questioned himself. He began to analyse based on his observations, and he concluded that it was because of the factors of security, comfort, convenience, and awareness.

For the comfort factor, due to the nurse-to-patient ratio of 6 to 34, the nurses faced an issue of having a lack of manpower which meant they would be tasked with more responsibilities and had a tight work schedule which caused many to feel tired and stressed. This led to them choosing an easier way of leaving the medical supply room door open by bypassing the system instead of

following the proper procedure. In addition, leaving the door open triggers the security alarm, which is super annoying. To prevent triggering the alarm, the nurses decided to cheat the system by sticking a magnet at the magnetic door lock.

In terms of security, to prevent unauthorised personnel like patients or visitors from entering the medical supply room, the door uses an RFID system to ensure that people without the staff access card will not be able to access the room, and the door will be locked. However, as observed by Jevan, the design caused discomfort to the staff, i.e., introduced challenges which the staff to experienced pain to their wellbeing.

Thirdly, for the convenience factor, the nurses and medical supply staff had to tap their access card every single time they entered the room, which seemed troublesome for them as they would need to make multiple trips to the medical supply room to administer medicine to the patients or when restocking new medicine. The action of tapping their access card and manually sliding to open and close the door seemed troublesome and obstructive, especially when they pushed a trolley full of medicine around.

Figure 4: Human Behaviour - Comfort Aspect

Figure 5: Human Behaviour - Convenience Aspect

In addition, the nurses reduced the room's temperature to 20℃ to solve the problem of leaving the door open. However, it caused an increase in energy consumption. The lack of awareness could also be why the nurses and medical supply staff were unaware of the magnitude and implications behind their actions. Furthermore, the nurses and medical supply staff probably do not care as the implications do not directly affect them.

CHAPTER 6: THE SOLUTION

“How can I come up with a solution for the nurses and medical supply staff to influence their human behaviour such that they would not need to sacrifice their comfort and convenience but also maintain the security of the medical supply room? At the same time, raising awareness that it is possible to reduce energy consumption without compromising the other aspects?”Jevan pondered while sitting in his chair.

As Jevan translated the questions he had asked himself earlier with his observations and analysis of the problem, he began writing a list of the things that cannot be compromised when coming up with a solution based on the nurses' and medical supply staff’s human behaviour. Firstly, security should not be disregarded to prevent unauthorised personnel from entering the medical supply room while making it easier for the nurses and medical supply staff to access without compromising comfort and convenience. Ensuring that the door is kept open to a minimum duration to maintain the required temperature of the medical supply room to prevent damage to the medicine and air conditioning equipment is also crucial.

The door should open and close automatically to ensure ease of access to the room. Sensors first came into Jevan’s mind, and he began researching different types of sensors and their uses. Ultrasonic sensors, infrared sensors, and pressure sensors were all possible solutions. Still, with the limitations of the different scenarios of the nurses and medical supply staff entering or leaving the medical supply room with a trolley, Jevan concluded that the ultrasonic sensor would serve best in this context.

Figure 6: Human Behaviour - Awareness Aspect

With the help of Professor Moshood’s lecture notes, Indoor Air Cartoon Journals, and a critical and reflective mind, Jevan developed an integrated solution and prototype that covers both the security and the minimum duration of keeping the door open. This potential approach will influence human behaviour in reducing energy consumption while maintaining security and, at the same, not compromising on convenience and comfort. The prototype developed was based on these scenarios; firstly, when the nurses and medical supply staff tap their RFID card, the door will automatically open, and after a short delay, the door will automatically close.

Secondly, the door will stay open for longer when the ultrasonic sensor detects a motion. Lastly, when the nurses and medical supply staff are about to exit the room, the door will open automatically when the ultrasonic sensor detects a motion near the entrance and eventually close when the nurses and medical supply staff leave the room after a short delay. The coding screenshots of the three scenarios implemented onto the prototype are shown in Figures 7 to 9. For the first scenario, the automated door will open once the hospital staff ID tag is tapped onto the RFID reader.

In the second scenario, the door will stay open for a longer duration when the ultrasonic sensor detects a motion in the room.

Lastly, in the third scenario, for the staff to exit the room, the ultrasonic sensor has to be triggered to open the door for the staff, which is beneficial and convenient for when the hospital staff is carrying medication and exiting the room.

Figure 7: Coding Screenshot - Scenario 1

Figure 8: Coding Screenshot - Scenario 2

Figure 9: Coding Screenshot - Scenario 3

Figure 10: Prototype Flow Chart

The proposed solution can be broken down into two aspects that aim to solve both human behaviour and electrical problems. For the human behaviour problem, there would be an automated door incorporated with the RFID system for the nurses and medical supply staff to tap their access card to open the door, which maintains the security function. The door will then open automatically for better ease and access when the nurses and medical supply staff push their trolley to transport the medicine.

Through this solution, Jevan hopes it can influence human behaviour by meeting their comfort and convenience and potentially increasing their work productivity. For the electrical problem, an ultrasonic sensor would be used to detect any motion in the room. If there is no motion detected near the door and after a while, it will automatically close to prevent the temperature in the room from increasing from the baseline of 25℃ which eliminates the need for the nurses or medical supply staff to lower the temperature to 20℃ to prevent spoilage of the medicine. Hence, it will help in lowering energy consumption and utility bills.

To further ensure that this proposed solution that Jevan had come up with was practical and costeffective for the Yishun Community Hospital, he researched the relationship between the operating temperatures and the cost of them, putting the data into revised Singapore tariff cost and installation costs of the implemented solution. With context to the medical supply room, Jevan determined the cost saving of reducing the temperature from 25 degree celsius to 20 degree celsius for the 24hours medical supply room to be approximately $882 per year.

The total payback period for this proposed solution would be an estimated 5.67 years, and thereafter, the projected savings would be approximately $882.00 per year after the breakeven point. These potential savings come from the automatic door, which ensures the door is kept closed after a certain duration to prevent the need to lower the air-conditioning temperature, which reduces energy consumption.

Figure 11: Data calculation in the context of the medical supply room

Jevan also thought of an idea for the feature. The idea is to develop a facial recognition solution. The facial recognition solution will provide the nurses and other staff more convenience and comfort as they do not need to tap their access pass to scan the RFID system. He also reckoned that there is a need to provide information on how a developed solution influences energy consumption with reference to the set benchmark of energy consumption. He believes such a measure will make monitoring and identifying early energy consumption problems in the medical supply room easier.

“Dad! Dad! Did you manage to think of a solution?” asked Jevan. Brandon replied, “Sadly, no, my team and I are still brainstorming for solutions.” Jevan exclaimed, “I have an idea, come and take a look at the prototype! I believe this would help solve your issue!” Jevan exclaimed excitedly as he could not wait to share his idea with his dad. Brandon rushed into the room with anticipation to know what Jevan's solution idea was and for him to better understand why and how Jevan came up with the solution.

Jevan began explaining the whole design thinking process that led to his prototype. As Brandon heard the proposed solution and design process, he began to nod in agreement, with hope in his eyes, and said, “I think it is a really great idea, son! Let me think about it more and see if this solution is feasible. I will show the prototype to my supervisor and see what he says.”

CHAPTER 7: THE FINAL THOUGHTS

As Jevan went to bed that night, reflecting on the whole incident. He thought about how the human behaviour could have such a huge impact on the way people consume energy. The problems that arise from the human behaviour often happen without a second thought as people often seek comfort and convenience.

People often do not consider the consequences that would be brought forward to our future generations in the long term. In the world that we are living in right now, where we experience limited resources, along with climate change affecting all parts of the world, it is important to

Figure 12: Payback period and return of investment from potential new implementation.

design and engineer solutions and solve problems with foresight in the future in terms of the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability.

Listening to Brandon talk about his problems at work and how it was constantly stressing him out and giving him anxiety could make it tempting for Jevan to come up with a solution immediately without considering the root cause of the problem, the factors that led to the problem, the objectives, and potential risks. As Jevan learned in Professor Moshood’s lecture, it is always easy to adopt a prescriptive-based approach of merely throwing a solution to a problem that will temporarily work and produce results fast but often create more unforeseen problems and conflicts in the long run.

But learning to adopt a performance-based approach is ideal for ensuring that the proposed design meets the defined objectives of the problem. Considering possible implications and looking at it from different perspectives before coming up with a solution can prevent conflicts with other performance mandates from happening.

This experience showed Jevan, an undergraduate studying Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services), that there is a level of responsibility to advocate for a performance-based approach to solving problems in the real working environment. With the critical thinking, reflective thinking, and technical knowledge and understanding that Jevan gained in school, he hoped that the proposed solution that he came up with through the performance-based approach could be beneficial to Yishun Community Hospital. The experience made Jevan appreciate how human behaviour could be influenced to help reduce energy consumption and be a step closer to bringing sustainability to life.

“Goodnight and have a good rest dad!”, said Jevan as he went back to his room to lay on his bed. Seeing that his dad had finally relaxed and was back to his usual self, Jevan felt a sense of relief and slowly drifted to sleep.

-The End-

VIDEO COMMUNICATION OF THE STORY AND PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION

Aside from the written version, a video of the story and prototype demonstration is provided for effective communication of the story. Click on this link for the video. Refer to Appendix for all six students’ reflections, as submitted to the module instructor, of how they have benefited from the module learning journey designed to invoke their critical and reflective thinking that induces learning for developing an educational experience

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The support of Yishun Community Hospital, Singapore, and its staff in conducting the research is gratefully appreciated. The support of the Singapore Institute of Technology in providing a conducive environment for applied learning and financial support for the research is gratefully acknowledged

APPENDIX: Students’ Reflections

Student Reflection 1

“Through the learning journey of SIE2013 Sustainable Building Engineering, I have learnt many things and I will categorise them into 4 parts – critical thinking, reflective thinking, communication skills and technical knowledge.

1. Critical thinking:

I have learnt to apply critical thinking. This sentence might sound simple and easy, however, the process of applying critical thinking is difficult. In the past, I am used to just diving straight into finding the solution after receiving the problem. However, in this module, I have learnt that not all general solutions will fulfil the problem requirement in terms of applying the knowledge of prescriptive-based and performance-based approaches. For example, many traditional solutions might be the general solution to solve all the problems in the past. However, with the new integration of technologies and with the world evolving, we are not able to copy-paste the traditional solution to the problem we are encountering. It might work to solve the problem, but it might cause new problems as well. “You can’t be creative with the things you don’t know.” – A quote from Professor Moshood. This quote really enlightened me that if I don’t understand the problem, I am solving in terms of who, what, when, where, and how the problem occurs, I will never find the solution that solves the problem. In addition, I am glad that I was able to apply critical thinking in this module and especially in the weekly reflection question and project. Hence, I understand the importance of critical thinking.

2. Reflective thinking:

While applying critical thinking, reflective thinking is also critical in solving problems. While analysing the problem or question, it is also important to question myself and by doing so allows me to explore more in-depth what the problem or question is asking. Furthermore, by applying reflective thinking, I was able to think and view things from different people’s points of view. For example, through the group project, I was able to analyze and understand the reason behind the human behaviour of the nurses as I thought from their point of view which helped a lot in the project. Hence, by applying reflective thinking, I can learn more in-depth knowledge of and various factors behind the problem or question.

3. Communication Skills:

As we meet and communicate with different people every day, communication skills are essential. I feel that communication skills refer to the ability to convey your idea or message effectively. If someone’s communication skills are not that good, they will not be able to convey their idea or message effectively and the person receiving the idea or message will not understand. This can potentially lead to miscommunication and a worse scenario of argument due to being irritated. Through this module, I am happy that I was able to develop my communication skills.

4. Technical Knowledge:

In this module, I have learnt more about the technical knowledge of Sustainable Building Engineering. At the start of this module, I felt that I did not have much knowledge regarding

Sustainable Building Engineering. However, with the help of the lectures and lecture materials, I was able to understand more in-depth the technical knowledge such as the way we should approach the problem, prescriptive-based and performance-based approaches, the factors that affect indoor air quality, how digital solutions can be integrated into the Sustainable Building Engineering, factors that contribute to water and energy consumption. I am also glad to be able to apply what I learnt through the group project. By doing so, I was able to understand better while applying critical and reflective thinking.

In conclusion, I have learnt a lot in this module, and I am super lucky that I have a supportive and fun group which makes the learning journey much more enjoyable.”

Student Reflection 2

“Before this module or even this trimester, I was doing a summer internship with Aurecon Singapore as a student sustainability consultant. My job scope there was mainly helping with green mark certifications. I am fortunate to have had an excellent supervisor and team during my learning journey there. Often, I was given the luxury of flexibility in my work at the same time, I could always clarify some uncertainty and guidance along the way. However, I have approached this job scope by jumping into the policies and trying to solve the problem based on the structured criteria, which is a prescriptive method now that I know of. There was a certain level of critical thinking involved, but I wish I had attended this module before working at Aurecon. I would have achieved more with these critical thinking and problem solving skill sets. I would definitely say this module has honed my problem-solving skills.

Friday has always been the most draining day, nonetheless, it is also the most efficient and anticipated day for the week. I credit this to Sustainable Building Engineering. Why so? Let me tell you why. As I always believe in muscle memories, upbringing and environment. Thus, I really appreciate how Professor Moshood educates us each time, always consistently diving deep into issues. No doubt, it has always been energy-draining each time, but it has influenced my train of thought and critical thinking skills.

Moreover, the weekly graded presentation has really sharpened my presentation skills and communication skills. Despite, we can choose our own team, I have not personally worked with three of my group mates. Fortunately, they are wonderful and capable people, I would say by far this team is one of the best project teams I have worked with. We are people with different background and skill sets, and all of them has been committing unselfishly. We manage to quickly find each of our strengths and weaknesses, and we split our roles accordingly. I am thankful that the weekly presentation has always been a professional set up which made us want to do our best, and the constant feedback on our presentations has made us better presenters. I was archiving my presentation case studies for the exam before writing this report, I am proud to see the progress we have made throughout these few months, and I can clearly see how our presentation evolve into more professional and engaging materials.

Sustainable Building Engineering is also by far, the only module which allows me to work with industry partners. This is an exceptional experience. It really helps us better prepare ourselves for the work phase. From sourcing potential partners based on project requirements to communicating and being accountable for this “start up” like project. There were many uncertainties along the way, which we had to clarify with our project partners. Thankfully, they are approachable and treated us professionally, these stages have given us a platform to learn and acquire communication skills with other stakeholders. For instance, organizing meetings and crafting professional emails, I really love how this module instills our technical knowledge into practical industrial applications.

Initially, for our project, we wanted to locate the issue caused by human behaviour online, but after 2 weeks, we felt this approach will only allow us to feel the surface of the issue. Thus, we decided to outsource healthcare facilities and schedule visits to find the core of the problem. Moreover, we did not know where and how to start, but this module emphasizes a lot on feedback on everything

and everyone. Hence, it shined a stepping stone for us to start, which is crafting questions, through questions, we will then deep dive into issues.

There are many keywords I have acquired that are good reminders to keep myself on a right track; like value = usefulness/ invested resources, risk = hazard x vulnerability. Many case studies and informative slides broaden my knowledge of sustainability. As mentioned, you can only be creative over something you know, this module has touched on many aspects of sustainability which I am truly curious about.

All in all, prior to this, I enrolled in this course due to curiosity. This module and Professor Moshood have changed this curiosity into interest, and knowing that the world is only at the surface of sustainability, there is so much more to achieve to make the world a better place for ourselves and future generations. The journey toward better sustainability will not be easy, knowing there are so many stakeholders and money involved, but we must keep in mind that these things will not exist in the first place without a healthy mother earth.”

Student Reflection 3

“I would like to start the reflection report by thanking Prof Moshood for taking the time and patience for guiding us through the course and correcting the mistakes made along the way.

The lectures have been a two-way interaction as Prof Moshood takes the initiative to ask questions that would lead us or to say enable us to think critically, about how to approach the problem which is rare in Singapore’s education system. As such it took a couple of weeks to get accustomed to the teaching methods, as it was different from how the other modules were taught but it has definitely benefited me greatly in learning to think critically and reflectively in the long term. And that to be open-minded as there are no particular correct answers.

The reflection questions at the end of the presentation slide enable me to think critically about what is taught and how to apply them. Furthermore, the tutorial classes enable me to step out of my comfort zone and to always keep improving my presentation skills, which I believe is one of the critical skills to have in the current age and would also be beneficial for the near future after graduation.

Sustainability engineering comprises of many different factors that can affect one another directly or indirectly such as the performance mandates contradiction quote “A complex problem is the kind of problem that evolves from connected components of a system with competing performances that affect the system’s overall performance” from Prof Moshood.

And through the innovation project, reinforces the concepts taught in the lecture and applying them though real-life scenario. It’s important to focus not only on the solution but also paying attention to the process the end user of the solution has to go through to use it. I believe that sustainability engineering is an ongoing process where it can be further improved like how mother nature had millions of years of evolution and to this day, it is still improving itself.

I would like to end the reflection report with an equation from Prof. Moshood that Value = Usefulness / Invested Resources can be applied to most things in life, from something as simple as an action to something as complex as deciding how a building is to be built, the equation still stands true.”

Student Reflection 4

“I have learnt a lot from this module, starting from the lectures. I first learned that the word sustainability involved a lot more factors then just being eco-friendly. Also learning how sustainability differs from Green as sustainability can only be achieved if the three main factors, Environmental, Economic and Social have been taken into account in the actions to create something sustainable be it something as big and complicated as designing a building or something as small as making a recyclable shoe. Learning how to define words that I would have thought to have only mean something simple was eye-opening, one example was defining value as usefulness divided by invested resources. This was of thinking has opened my mind to help me better understand that these words are very powerful and just by slapping sustainable or green on a product, doesn’t make it sustainable or green.

I have learnt to better analyse the problems that I have been presented regarding this course and also sometimes the problems I face in real life. The problem-solving method that I had prior to this module, is to just find a solution to the problem. That was why when I was first asked to think of a problem regarding human behaviour and either excessive energy or water consumption that was in a healthcare facility in Singapore, I found myself thinking of how to reduce energy and water consumption in the context of a healthcare facility. When told that, that was thinking of a solution and not identifying the problem I was confused and lost on what I was expected to do, as that was the only way I know how to solve problems. After learning that in order to solve a problem you must first find the root cause of it, then everything made sense.

To solve a problem, knowing what is the cause of the problem is crucial as after identifying it, making steps towards creating a solution for it ensures that the problem will not come back again. This leads to also identifying what is the problem a problem, this method of thinking will help one to find the proper root cause of the problem. After that learning how to question the processes that is already in place, on why they should or should not be continued led to me learning about prescriptive and performance-based problem solving and solutions. The examples provided by Professor Moshood was nothing short of amazing, because the examples given was simple to understand but not something I had thought about before. This examples really helped me to truly understand the difference between the two problem solving methods, the good and the bad of each of them while prescriptive was acting as a base line, safe and easy to access.

Performance based problem solving was the harder one to do as you would need to ask questions about the processes provided to you if they were really all that great, or if they are how can we better improve. The world we live in now will need us to use both of these methods to solve problems, as without prescriptive based solutions, we would not know where to start from and without performance based problem solving we will not survive as mother earth is changing and we need to make sure when she does, we are ready for it. Which leads to the next thing I have learnt, the six principles of sustainable building engineering. To respect the wisdom of natural systems such as the bio mimicry principle, to learn how nature solves some of the problems we are facing without having to spend a huge amount of resources.

The respect for people, when designing a solution of a problem you must think of how it affects the end user and think whether your solution brings value to them, if not will this solution only

cause them more pain rather than ease, which will bring into question will people use the solution you have made or just throw it aside. The respect for place, this ties into the performance based problem solving, for example when designing a building in Japan as compared to a building in Singapore, even if the task is similar to design a building. However the two are very different, in terms of the climate, biology of living things, geography and things like how Japan are more prone to earth quakes but Singapore rarely has them. In order to design a building to provide value to the end users, you must first respect the place to find out all of the things mentioned above to better under the problems you will need to solve.

The respect for the cycle of life, cradle to cradle and the circular economy was unknown to me before this module, as good as cradle to cradle sounds, for companies to implement such methods they would have to invest more resources and maybe even cause themselves more problems as this idea does not have a general solution to it, thus leaving these companies ‘alone’ when a problem arises. Therefore, they would so much rather stay safe and continue to do what they having been doing that works as it generates them money in the end of the day. This led to me questioning why is that so, one reason I could think of was because as much as Singapore is advocating to go green or be sustainable, Humans will always want to prioritize their comfort and convenience over anything else. Which leads me to the respect for energy and natural resources, as professor Moshood once said you cannot appreciate something that you do not understand, this quote really highlights how blessed I was to use water so freely as I did.

Not understanding how hard it is to really to maintain a readily available source of electricity and water leads to one being complacent and not value it by wasting it. Finally, is the respect for the process, as the world changes, solutions that was once considered great in the past cannot be used in modern times as the problems we are facing or about to face has evolved and will continue to do so. Therefor the processes we use to solve our problems must also change. This module I can safely say has really helped me in more aspects of my life rather than just learning about sustainable buildings. I am very grateful to have Professor Moshood teach me about this module and also skills that I can see myself using in the future when I am working.”

Student Reflection 5

“Critical Thinking

Throughout the process of this whole module, I have learnt how to think critically. For example, when working on the project and for the weekly presentations, I often have to think out of the box and to look further than what we are asked. We often have to question the question, which really helps to make us think more.

Reflective Thinking

Through the project given, we are tasked to analyse and also influence human behaviour on how it may affect energy or water consumption. We are also able to put ourselves into the perspective of the relevant individuals in our case, the nurses and staffs. We are able to think in their point of view, and to relate why do they waste energy or water. It could be because of their own comfort, convenience and lack of awareness which eventually leads to energy or water wastage. Our group visited Yishun Community Hospital and found out that the nurses will leave the door of Medical Supply Room open frequently and this causes issue in the hospital as the hospital is naturally ventilated while the Medical Supply Room needs to be air-conditioned 24/7 in order to prevent spoilage of the medication. Leaving the door open may also cause condensation to occur and thus formation of mould as well which will eventually affects air quality.

Communication

I get to meet up very often with my groupmates to discuss on the project. We would meet at least once every week so that we get together to brainstorm and think of ideas together to ensure that we know what to do and we are on the same direction. We also get to communicate with the facility manager of Yishun Community Hospital through emails, online meetings and face to face meeting. We get to learn how to communicate and to get all the information that we require professionally.

Technical Knowledge

I get to understand further beyond the word “Sustainability” and realised that it affects other aspects, such as economic, social and environmental. The formula of Value = Usefulness/Invested Resources has deeply etched into my mind.

I would like to thank Prof Moshood for helping me to think critically by asking me questions in class and for all the dedications to the class.”

Student Reflection 6

“I remember when I first attended the first lecture, I was taken aback because growing up in Singapore and going through the education system here, it was not common to have the teacher, or lecturer or in this case a professor teaching with so much energy and passion. It was truly a refreshing experience and being naturally introverted and shy I was not the type of person who asks or answers questions in class. But I realised through the weeks, that by not actively participating in class I was losing out because I was spending my time as an invested resource but I was not engaging in the discussion which meant that I was not learning. I was not using my brain to think and to question.

One of the key takeaways from the past thirteen weeks, is that having a critical and reflective mind is crucial and uncompromisable to have. Especially as an undergraduate in the Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering course and potentially a future engineer. Without the ability to think critically when faced with problems and the inability to reflect on all aspects of the problems can be severely dangerous. My eyes and my mind were really opened through the course of this module because it showed me new perspectives and facets to what Sustainability is all about. I learned that Sustainability is not just about recycling or going green or saving plastic but rather it is so much more than that. It is not just about caring and trying to save the environment although that is important as well, but other aspects such as social and economic sustainability is as important too. Having balance and respecting each aspect is a key part in sustainability, and it is a tall order for us future engineers as we strive towards building a sustainable world to live in.

Another key learning point I have learned in this module is the process on how to solve problems and the ability to convey our solutions and ideas through story telling. Through the help of the project assigned to us and working with real world scenarios and industry people really gave me valuable experiences. Learning to adopt a performance-based approach when solving problems and taking the time to talk and empathise with the users’ needs is so much more important and beneficial than just giving a cookie cutter solution to them because if a solution merely solves one issue but causes two or three more issues in the process means that the solution is ineffective and has no value. The process of finding the root problem and slowly coming up with ideas and solutions while being able to adapt because the process is ever changing allows us to be teachable and fixable.

Story telling is also a skill that I had the opportunity to really stretch and learn here in this module. I have been exposed to many presentations when I was studying Architecture in my polytechnic, but the weekly presentations on the different questions each week really stretched my mind and forced me to think, reflect and at times question the question. Over the weeks, I have learned that communicating our technical knowledge through story telling is an effective method to present and convey your message across. Working together in a team also allowed me to learn from my group mates because we all have our own individual strengths and areas that we are good at, thinking, reflecting, and questioning together in a group setting really made discussion more interesting which led to so much more depth in our discussion and presentation.

There is really so many aspects and things that I have learned through this module that I will be able to mention them all, but I have really enjoyed every single moment in class. I genuinely believe

that my mindset, my perception, and attitude towards everything I am learning has changed as compared to when I first stepped in the class. I would like to take this time to express my gratitude and thanks to Professor Moshood for going the extra mile than just being a professor who gives lectures. I respect and admire your passion in wanting to teach, and to partake your knowledge and experience to the future generation so that they can make a difference too. I truly feel all of your passion and energy and I am inspired to make a difference in the world we live in, to raise awareness of the importance and be an advocate for sustainability. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”