Annual Symposium 2014

The University of California, Berkeley (UCB) established and is operating the Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore, BEARS, a center for research, graduate education, and innovation aiming at achieving an international reputation. BEARS is a non-profit entity incorporated in Singapore and managed by the Berkeley team. The first core research program within BEARS is Building Efficiency and Sustainability in the Tropics 1, 2012 to 2017 | Return to SinBerBEST 2, BEST, presenting a significant opportunity for economic development. The BEST program represents one of the most important strategic directions for UCB where it brings to the BEARS alliance a tremendous amount of leverage in terms of engagement with ongoing major projects at Berkeley.

The involved faculty members of the UCB are eagerly engaged in transformative research collaboration with faculty from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the National University of Singapore (NUS). The theme of BEST is use-inspired basic research for novel demand-side energy and carbon footprint reduction in buildings. This area addresses demand-side solutions for the world’s growing energy needs to reduce the per capita carbon footprint of consumers. After two years of substantive discussion at Berkeley and in Singapore, it was determined that this research area is the most promising as an Interdisciplinary Research Program (IRP) within BEARS due to shared expertise, revolutionary potential, leverage of ongoing and new research support, and, most of all, impact in the form of creation of new industry sectors in Singapore and California.