The iconic lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands, designed by Safdie Architects with Aedas, has become the fist museum in the Asia Pacific region to obtain LEED Gold certification.

The museum excelled in the areas of water, energy and waste management, as well as sustainable purchasing, set forth by the LEED rating system.

Key sustainable features of the museum include the infiltration of natural daylight into the interior and the integration of a rainwater-harvesting system. Energy-saving initiatives such as the use of LEDs and a programmable lighting system enable the museum to be 47-per-cent more energy efficient than similar rated buildings.

The museum reports that its Rain Oculus allows nearly 1,400,000 litres of rainwater to be recycled annually. The water is used for the landscape, water feature maintenance and toilet flushing. It also reports that its waste management strategy results in over 50 per cent of all operational waste – such as paper, cardboard and plastics – being recycled.

More than half of the office and cleaning supplied used in the museum are certified sustainable, and staff education activities spread awareness of sustainable practices such as measuring and recycling waste.

“This award reflects the success of our environmentally-sound practices in design and construction, as well as operations,” says Kevin Teng, Executive Director of Sustainability at Marina Bay Sands. “The fact that ArtScience Museum is the first museum in the region to get this award speaks volumes of our commitment in reducing environmental impact.”

Offers Mahesh Ramanujam, President and CEO, USGBC: “Given the extraordinary importance of climate protection and the central role of the building industry in that effort, Marina Bay Sands demonstrates their leadership through their LEED certification of Gold.”

Photos courtesy of ArtScience Museum.