Innovation

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term innovative can be defined as the new method
or design of a product or an idea. In other words, it can also be defined as a person introducing
new, original and creative ideas or thinking.
There are various elements of innovation which are applied throughout the entire structure of
the LEO building. These elements of innovation include the co-generation / tri-generation
system, direct-supply design of chilled water piping system, car park ventilation system, EV
charging stations, and innovative integrated PV shading system.

Elements of Innovation
1) Co-generation / Tri-generation System.
Building had been supported with co-generation or tri-generation system which uses
natural gas as fuel to produce primary outputs, chilled water and electricity. The
electricity generated will be used to operate electrical chillers to produce chilled water as
secondary output. All of the chilled water produced will be supply to all government and
commercial buildings within Putrajaya.

Figure
2) Direct-Supply Design of Chilled Water Piping System.
Chilled water supply from the district cooling system normally will pass through heat
exchangers (HEX) in every building before the cooling can be supplied to all AHUs and
FCUs using the building chilled water pumping system.

In the LEO building, no HEX is installed and thus the cooling system supplied chilled
water directly to all AHUs and FCUs in the building. It utilizes the direct chilled water
pressure from the main supply.
3) Car Park Ventilation Systems.
Building has 2 floors of basement car park. Underground car park requires proper
ventilation to achieve and maintain good indoor air quality. However, continuous running
of ventilation system will use high energy.
Vehicles will emit CO gas that is very harmful to human if the minimum limit of
concentration in an area is exceeded. Thus, to solve this problem, the ventilation system
is designed to integrate with carbon monoxide (CO) sensor system. This sensor system
will measure the concentration of CO continuously at several locations and will
automatically assign the car park ventilation system to operate when the average
concentration of CO is higher than the CO set point.

Figure

Figure
4) Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations for Putrajaya.

A 3kW EV charging system has been installed in the LEO building. It is located near
the main entrance area not far from the drop-off zone. The installation is one of the main
EV charging station unit in Putrajaya and it was installed under Protons EV
demonstration program and also to support the campaign to make Putrajaya as pioneer of
green city.

Figure
5) Innovative Integrated PV- Shading System.
An innovative and integrated photovoltaic shading system had been installed at the
entrance of the building. This shading system is design with integrated and laminated
with 3kWp photovoltaic.
PV modules are always conventionally installed on the roof with typical design and
concept. By having the demonstration of new idea of design, it will facilitate towards
more creative design and development of PV application in buildings.

Figure
Analysis and Evaluation
Advantages:
1) Co-generation / Tri-generation System.
This system normally demonstrates the efficiency conversion and utilization of energy.
For example, multiple type of output energy such as electricity, cooling & hot water can

be produced by using just a single primary fuel (natural gas).

Reduce wastages (energy). For example, energy loss via combustion of exhaust air.

2) Direct-Supply Design of Chilled Water Piping System.

Reduced chilled water plumbing load tremendously (pumping system is equipped with
variable speed drivers). The main chilled water supply doesnt have sufficient pressure to
cater the usage up to 60% of the total AHU cooling load without using the chilled water
pumps. This occurs especially when AHUs and FCUs are scheduled to operate after
working hours or during the weekends.
Production of pumping load and operation means save energy and carbon emissions to
the environment.
3) Car Park Ventilation Systems.
Improve air indoor air quality and saves energy.
Avoid over ventilation scenario.
Improve indoor air quality and maintain good health of the occupants of the building.
Slightly reduce AHUs energy consumption.
4) Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations for Putrajaya.

As catalyst to promote the use of EV in transportation

Provide monitoring, data collection and analysis of potential implementation of EV and

charging infrastructure in Malaysia.

Reduce harmful gases/ pollutions to the environment.
Provides data collection and analysis to the input of the policy development.
5) Innovative Integrated PV- Shading System.
Provides comfort to the surrounding area in the atrium.
Part of the innovative interior design.
Demonstrate use of renewable energy to power the water feature in atrium.
Promotes the uses of renewable energy. Example: using PV as part of a building material.

Disadvantages:
1) Co-generation / Tri-generation System.
Has very high level of noises which will result in the discomfort of the occupants.
Has high level of air emissions.
Requires the need of maintenance regular and thus this will result in the high
amount of maintenance cost.
2) Direct-Supply Design of Chilled Water Piping System.
Water supplied throughout the building is prone to contamination that can be

caused by microorganisms, insects and etcetera.

The setting of this system might occupy the valuable spaces of a building which

were firstly intended for other purposes.

This system requires a strong foundation because it is use to carry the additional
load from the tank and the water.

3) Car Park Ventilation Systems.

Has high initial cost because it is highly sophisticated and it cost quite a fortune to

install it.
Only has a very short operating life, maximum lifespan of this system only up to 2
years.

4) Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations for Putrajaya.

Might result in the slow charging. For example, the EV charging station will
charge a car for an hour and only produces the range distance of 3 to 5 miles.

Relatively expensive due to the installation costs.

5) Innovative Integrated PV- Shading System.

High initial cost because of the technologies of it and its quite a fortune to install

it.
Must be placed at a suitable location to ensure theres no any a blockage or shades
that can prevent the absorption of sunlight.

Findings and Conclusions

Based on the analysis done, its clear that this building tried to imply as many innovative
technologies as possible and it is agreeable that these are good innovative technologies. This is
because all of these innovative technologies play major roles in helping the building to conserve
resources. For example:

Co-generation or tri-generation system uses natural gas as fuel to produce chilled water
and electricity. This clearly shows the technology which helps in energy efficiency of the

building.
Car park ventilation system automatically operates when high CO concentrate is detected.
It shows the innovative technology which is able to meet the GBI criteria for energy
efficiency and indoor air quality.

Overall, it is safe to conclude that the technologies are very good and suitable to be used in the
analyzed building. However, there are some minor changes which can be done to further
improve the innovative technologies in LEO building and these technologies will be discussed in
the next section.

Recommendations
There is only one small improvement which can be done to improve the already available
innovative technology in the LEO building. The improvement which can be done is to increase
the speed of EV charging station. As were mentioned above, the charging station only provides
3kW per hour. 3kW indicates a very slow charging and it only enables a car to travel about 3 to 5
miles maximum. Thus increasing the speed of charging 50kw + DC will be very much
recommended.

Figure