PRE-VISIT WORK ABOUT THE POH ERN SHIH TEMPLE

ABOUT

1.1. The exterior of the temple

Poh Ern Shih temple, also known as PES temple, located on a small hilltop at Chwee Chian Road, off Pasir Panjang Road, on Singapore's southern coast. The Buddhist temple was built as a memorial to the villagers as well as Japanese and Allied soldiers during the World War II who died during the Battle of Pasir Panjang in 1942. Following a major development project which began in 2003 becoming the first religious building in the country to have both eco and elderly friendly features. Together with its partner, the Buddhist Fellowship, the temple holds programmes such as Dharma talks, Sutta discussions and meditation courses in both Chinese and English for the Buddhist community who are interested. They also conduct talks about eco-friendly features
to promote alternative sources of energy in Singapore. 

1.2. The interior of the temple, The Wall Of The Golden Buddhas

1.3. Another picture of the interior walls of the temple

Interesting information about the temple

-first green temple in Singapore using solar-energy, wind energy , micro-hydro turbine.

-entire temple is wheel chair accessible.

- public can also use the terrace/rooftop to hold different events which is lit by electricity generated by solar power.
-also use environmental friendly furniture ; they only use bamboo instead of woods as bamboo only requires 5 years to grow fully.
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3f5wm1nWTM&feature=player_embedded


 ACCLAIMED GREEN/ECO-FRIENDLY FEATURES AVAILABLE AT PES TEMPLE

SOLAR AND WIND POWER

The solar cells in the temple's rooftop

The Poh Ern Shih Temple has many features that such as the solar panel pagoda and other solar panels installed all over the temple. There are 3 different types of solar cells on its rooftop. They are the poly-crystalline silicon solar array, mono-crystalline silicon solar array and amorphous silicon solar array. This ensures that the the temple has enough electricity for the 22 abbots living there and the heating of water used for cooking, ensuring that they are self sustained.The solar panel pagoda will absorb solar energy in the day and will convert it to electricity to power the pagoda's lighting at night. In the events of bad weather where the sun is not at its brightest, there are mini wind turbines installed to help generate electricity and store it in a battery in the temple.


HYDRO POWER AND RECYCLING WATER
The rainwater which falls on Poh Ern Shih is collected from surface run-offs and rain gutters and used to irrigates plants in the temple grounds, as well as to generate electricity used for charging the batteries of in-house motorized wheelchairs. Rain water that was collected at the 4th floor of the temple will be delivered to the basement carpark as it flow it will turn the micro-hydro turbine which will charge batteries of wheelchairs. A purification system is being installed so that the collected rain water can be filtered and made for drinking purposes. The rain water collected will be distilled and stored in a water storage tank where in a event where water pipes are damaged or water is unable to be obtained, the water in the water tank is drinkable.


MAKING USE OF RENEWABLE SOURCES
To achieve their aim of making use of renewable resources, the furniture in Poh Ern Shih are made up of bamboo instead of other types of wood. Bamboo is considered to one of the most ecologically friendly materials for use in home furnishing and flooring as it can be harvested without cutting the entire tree. Replanting is not required as the bamboo will grow to its full height again over the span of about five years.




REFERENCES
Pictures 1.1 and 1.2 taken from:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poh_Ern_Shih_Temple
Picture 1.3 taken from: http://www.pohernshih.info/index.phpoption=com_joomgallery&func=detail&id=16&Itemid=7
Information taken from:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poh_Ern_Shih_Temple
http://www.pohernshih.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=4&Itemid=4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3f5wm1nWTM&feature=player_embedded