The most recent addition to Singapore’s long list of tourist spots is the River Safari, a spin-off from the popular and industry-respected Singapore Zoo. As Asia’s only river-themed exhibit, it boasts of a huge, star attraction – a pair of giant pandas from China. However, what is less well known is that these creatures that delight them are, in turn, delighted by technology that simulates their natural habitat.
Siemens, a global technology giant, has provided the 12-hectare wildlife park a comprehensive climate control solution for its 1,500-square metre Giant Panda Forest. This state-of-the-art biodome has carefully controlled and monitored environmental conditions where giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia live peacefully.
Landscaped to resemble the mountainous region of western and southwestern China, the Giant Panda Forest has temperatures ranging from 18 to 22°C, the typical climate that these endangered species are accustomed to.
This circumvents Singapore’s own tropical conditions, which otherwise would have affected the pandas and the other flora and fauna in the biodome like the red pandas and golden pheasants.
Peter Halliday, head of building technologies division for Siemens said: “The Giant Panda Forest has been an ambitious project, because its success and longevity depends on how well it can simulate and sustain the temperate forests of China, in spite of Singapore’s tropical climate.”
Siemens applied their unique Apogee building management system into the design and installation of the almost-natural Panda Forest. Aside from climate control, it incorporated chiller plant automation and electrical monitoring of the entire power distribution system.
“Doing so requires an extremely intelligent and complex climate control solution, which can seamlessly monitor and control multiple systems operating under different climate set points, all while being energy-efficient,” Halliday added.
Apogee provides such capability easily, since it is devised by Siemens to work at tip-top performance and optimisation. For the forest, three elements are controlled and balanced: temperature, humidity and ventilation.
In the case of a chiller plant failure scenario, Siemens’ building management system will automatically switch to the back-up chiller so that comfort and climate conditions are not suddenly halted. And while the technology is also flexible, the setting is generally fixed at a variance of a minimal +/- 1 degree Celsius at most.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which developed the River Safari, and Siemens ensure that Kai Kai and Jia Jia’s needs are well attended to. These pandas may only be staying in Singapore for 10 years before returning to China, but should they continue to stay, they may live up to their 30-year lifespan in captivity.
