When the heat becomes unbearable at home, 76-year-old retiree Abdul Razak struggles to sleep, even with his fan turned on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to open all of my windows, drink lots of water, take showers; and if nothing works, I leave my flat and head downstairs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
For Abdul Razak, who has diabetes and uses a wheelchair, coping with the heat adds another challenge to daily life. So he usually leaves home before 10am and comes back at night to avoid spending afternoons indoors.<\/p>\n
Facing a similar situation is Ta Gamas, 80, who also copes with the heat by taking frequent showers or switching on her only standing fan.<\/p>\n
And for Wong Hoi, 80, and his wife Chang Nguk Lan, 73, the kitchen and toilet are particularly warm because their fan does not reach these areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For these elderly residents who live in rental units at Punggol North, keeping cool is not as simple as pressing a button to turn on the air-conditioning.<\/p>\n Chang Nguk Lan with her new KDK stand fan, one of the cooling solutions tailored to her home that supports better airflow and ventilation in the unit.<\/p>\n PHOTO: CAPITAL DISTRIBUTORS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n While hot days and warm nights are part of life in tropical Singapore, some residents are more vulnerable to heat than others.<\/p>\n Lim Weili, general manager of Capital Distributors<\/span><\/a>, KDK<\/span><\/a>\u2019s exclusive distributor here, says: \u201cAs Singapore gets hotter, managing heat becomes increasingly important as it can affect health, comfort and general well-being. This is especially so for vulnerable groups such as seniors.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cMany seniors may have underlying health conditions that increase their sensitivity to heat, so creating a cooler, more comfortable living environment is critical for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Recognising this, Capital Distributors marks 30 years as KDK\u2019s exclusive distributor in Singapore to look more broadly at how airflow, ventilation and other factors affect comfort at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n To better understand the living conditions and comfort needs of residents, it is working alongside consultancy Sustainable Living Lab (SL2), which runs StayCool, a community heat adaptation programme.<\/p>\n Heat stress can also be difficult to recognise, according to Celeste Koh, country manager (Singapore) of SL2. Early signs such as headache, dizziness, or feeling unusually tired can easily be mistaken for everyday discomfort.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs we age, the body becomes less efficient at regulating heat, so older adults may not notice or respond to rising temperatures as readily,\u201d says Koh.<\/p>\n She adds that heat varies from place to place, shaped by how densely an area is built up, how much greenery and shade there is, and how much concrete surrounds a block. Concrete holds heat, so walls can still feel warm hours after sunset.<\/p>\n Even within a neighbourhood, and even in the same block, conditions can differ further depending on how much direct sun a unit receives, how air moves through it, and how the space is used. Under HeatAware SG, an earlier SL2 community initiative covering 54 flats, the \u2018feels like\u2019 temperature indoors averaged as much as 7 deg C higher than outdoors overnight, a sign that some homes hold heat well after dark, Koh notes.<\/p>\n Capital Distributors staff with the 100 KDK DC stand fans distributed to residents as part of the company\u2019s 30th anniversary community initiative on Sept 26.<\/p>\n PHOTO: CAPITAL DISTRIBUTORS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Capital Distributors and SL2 visited three Punggol North households, identified with support from the Punggol North Citizens\u2019 Consultative Committee Development and Welfare Fund, each bringing its own lens to a shared goal of making homes cooler and more comfortable for the residents.<\/p>\n SL2 looked at how heat builds up in each home and how residents experience it, drawing on residents\u2019 accounts of daily life at home, with sensors installed to track conditions over time. Capital Distributors\u2019\u00a0specialists examined layout, airflow and ventilation, then matched a combination of indoor air quality products tailored to what each home needed.<\/p>\n Each household received a DC motor ceiling fan in the living room, while ventilation fans were installed in the toilets to help reduce humidity and improve airflow. Other solutions were also implemented, such as table fans, wall fans and a water heater, one of KDK\u2019s latest products.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope this initiative will bring greater comfort to the participating households and make a meaningful yet impactful difference to their daily lives,\u201d says Lim. The residents say they have already noticed a difference.<\/p>\n \u201cMy home is not as warm as last time and I perspire a lot less,\u201d says Ta. Abdul Razak agrees: \u201cMy home is more comfortable, better than before.\u201d And Wong and Chang say they now shower twice a day, instead of repeatedly doing so to cool down.<\/p>\n Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong with Capital Distributors general manager Lim Weili and Sustainable Living Lab country manager, Celeste Koh, together with resident Chang Nguk Lan at the KDK Fans Distribution event on Sept 26.<\/p>\n PHOTO: CAPITAL DISTRIBUTORS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/picture><\/div>
An invisible stressor<\/h2>\n
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Tailoring solutions to each home<\/h2>\n
Bringing cool comfort to more residents<\/h2>\n
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