Renewable Energy and Circular Economy: Application of Life Cycle Costing to Building Integrated Solar Energy Systems in Singapore

Abstract

This chapter seeks to provide a representative example of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) for building-integrated solar energy systems in Singapore. First, renewable energy is introduced from the circular economy perspective, to better understand its significance in promoting sustainability. Solar energy among all renewable energy sources is the most promising for resource-stressed tropical cities such as Singapore. For such densely populated built-environments, innovative energy systems such as the building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems serve as good options to capture and use renewable energy incident on large facade areas. To estimate the financial feasibility of implementing BIPV systems and the cost-competitiveness in comparison with conventional building materials, the LCC serves as an enabling tool to evaluate the viability of these energy systems as per the market need. A step-by-step illustration of the LCC analysis, based on the tool developed by the BIPV Centre of Excellence at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), is provided as a case study. This highlights the significance of LCC in evaluating the economic benefits of a practical application of a BIPV system for a representative high-rise building in Singapore. The benefits of transiting toward such sustainable and clean energy systems from a consumer and environmental perspective are summarized as the conclusion of the chapter.