Shared by Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC)
Many may think that they only need to reduce carbon emissions and save energy in order to enjoy a green lifestyle. However, they do not realize that buildings, including housing estates, offices and malls, and all kinds of activities in buildings actually account for 90% of electricity consumption or 60% of carbon emissions in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050 published in 2021 clearly states the city’s strategies and targets for decarbonisation, and new measures on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Specifically, the electricity consumption of commercial buildings should be reduced by 30% to 40% while that of residential buildings should be reduced by 20% to 30% from the 2015 levels.
What is a “green building''? Is it just a building that comes with green walls or solar panels? Actually, a green building is way more than that. When it comes to promoting green buildings in Hong Kong, the biggest challenge often comes from technical problems involved in renovating the buildings, such as upgrading the systems and equipment without affecting the use of the existing buildings, or ensuring that additional fixtures will not result in overloading the building structures when restructuring is infeasible. The second main challenge is the complicated issue of the building’s management rights as property owners cannot reach a consensus on the use of money.
Going green is an investment rather than just a cost
In order to raise people’s awareness of green buildings, we must let them know that green buildings can beautify and improve the environment, and benefit people's health and well-being at the same time. More importantly, the capital costs of a green building project can be offset by the operational savings. It may even offer returns at the later stage of the building’s lifecycle, boosting the building’s value in the long run. As a common assessment tool for commercial and residential buildings in Hong Kong, BEAM Plus can effectively highlight buildings’ performance in energy saving and carbon emissions reduction, helping to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
Demonstrate commitment to net zero with BEAM Plus
What is BEAM Plus? It is a set of recognised tools developed for Hong Kong to offer independent assessments of the sustainability performance of buildings. BEAM Plus has a comprehensive set of performance criteria for a wide range of sustainability issues relating to planning, design, construction, commissioning, fitting out, management, operation and maintenance of a building. By providing a fair and objective assessment of a building’s overall performance throughout its lifecycle, BEAM Plus helps improve the building’s long-term efficiency and effectiveness in achieving decarbonisation and net zero, enabling organisations and companies of all sizes to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable development.
Since the establishment of Hong Kong’s first green building certification system, it is encouraging to see the wide recognition of BEAM Plus from local organisations. Today, there are more than 2,000 registered building development projects or nearly 7,400 registered buildings under BEAM Plus. With the increasing awareness of BEAM Plus, we believe “green building” will be a key trend in the future, and we will see more low-carbon buildings featuring renewable energy, low-carbon materials, healthy building design, biophilic design, or smart technologies. These will accelerate our progress towards net zero, and help achieve the targets of net-zero operational and embodied carbon by 2050.
About HKGBC: https://www.hkgbc.org.hk/eng/main/index
About BEAM Plus: https://www.hkgbc.org.hk/eng/beam-plus/beam-plus-new-buildings/index.jsp
