Singapore said Wednesday its flagship R&D project, the Zero Energy Building (ZEB), is on-track to achieve its target of net zero energy consumption in October 2010.

The Zero Energy Building, a super energy efficient building, has achieved zero power consumption and a surplus of 16.3 MWh ( megawatts/hour) of electricity.

The power surplus translates to savings of about 3,900 Singapore dollars (2.928.6 U.S. dollars) per month for 35 units of 5-room flats.

The ZEB, undertaken by Singapore's Building and Construction Authority, is the first existing building in Southeast Asia to be fully retrofitted with green building design features and technologies. "Passive Design" and "Active Solutions", a two-step, integrated design approach was employed to ensure that the ZEB was 40-50 percent more efficient than a typical office building.

Through "Passive Design," the project team managed to minimize heat transfer through the building envelope via design features such as greenery systems, light shelves and sun-shading devices.

This was followed by a well conceived installation of "Active Solutions", such as energy efficient air-conditioning system, high efficiency lighting including motion sensors and carbon dioxide sensors.

To achieve net zero energy power consumption, the building also produced its own electricity.