Nov-2017

Time to Celebrate the Anniversary and Green Buildings’ Infinite Possibility
BEAM Plus on Screen: Reaching more Audience
Say BEAM Plus your Way!
Let's Get Ready for Municipal Solid Waste Charging
Hong Kong Green Building Week Bags Another Award
More Flexible New CPD Policy for BEAM Practitioners
Green Management Practices Key to Green Existing Buildings
Sharing WSBE17 Hong Kong's Success in Paris
Eco Expo Asia: Innovative Solutions for Greener Cities
It’s a Networking November!
An Autumn Visit to a Green Campus

Time to Celebrate the Anniversary and Green Buildings’ Infinite Possibility

It has been eight years since our establishment in 2009. A cocktail reception was held on 20 November to celebrate our anniversary and convey our heartfelt appreciation to friends. This year, we have chosen the symbol of infinity as the theme of celebration, not only because it resembles the shape of the digit “8”, but also because of its meaning - the HKGBC strives to explore the infinite possibility of what our buildings can do to achieve our ambitious goal of saving the planet. Asia Society Hong Kong Center is also a perfect place for the occasion as it revitalises a group of historical British military buildings and therefore an exceptional showcase of building sustainability.

In his welcoming speech, Sr Wong Bay, Chairman of the HKGBC, expressed his gratitude to our four Founding Members, the Government and the industry for their strong support that enables humble achievement in various fronts, including the success of The World Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2017 Hong Kong, as well as a wider adoption of the four BEAM Plus assessment tools by the industry.

Meanwhile, Mr Liu Chun-san, Under Secretary for Development and Guest-of-honour of the occasion, recognised the Council’s remarkable contributions to green building movement in Hong Kong and the world in the previous eight years, and expressed his wish for the Council’s future success in pursuing sustainable development for the benefits of the city and our Earth. Mr Ronnie Chan, Chairman of Asia Society Hong Kong Center, also joined the celebration and gave an insightful sharing.

BEAM Plus on Screen: Reaching more Audience

BEAM Plus is the independent assessment tool for building sustainability performance. It provides the general public with a single performance label that demonstrates the overall quality of the building. Yet, how can the public understand the tool with ease? Recently, the Council produced a short animation, during which GB Buddy, together with narration by Mr Jonny Perks, will guide you through the BEAM Plus family and achievement of BEAM Plus projects to the sustainable built environment in Hong Kong.

Moreover, five top-notch BEAM Plus Platinum projects in town were featured in HKGBC-sponsored segments for five consecutive weekends at Brickspert (磚。家), a programme runs on the free local television channel ViuTV. The programme guided our audience through projects, namely Wah Ha Estate, Energizing Kowloon East Office, Construction Industry Council ZCB, Hang Seng Management College Jockey Club Residential Colleges and Kai Tak Fire Station. Respective project team members also shared some interesting stories behind and special green features during the segment. You may always watch the re-run through ViuTV app, at website viu.tv or HKGBC's YouTube Channel.

Besides, you can also find out various BEAM Plus projects at the BEAM Plus Online Exhibition! Visit http://greenbuilding.hkgbc.org.hk/ and check them out now!

Say BEAM Plus your Way!

BEAM Plus is Hong Kong’s leading initiative to offer independent assessments of building sustainability performance, covering new and existing buildings, master planning and interior retrofit. Launched in 2010, there are more than 1,000 registered BEAM Plus projects, signifies the wide reception by the industry. To further arouse the community’s awareness towards BEAM Plus and green buildings’ benefits to the environment, as well as health and well-being of citizens, the Council is launching a city-wide competition to invite creative entries for promotion.

Participants can submit a slogan in Chinese within 20 characters by 23 January 2018. The winners of both Student Category and Public Category could take home a cash prize of HK$10,000, while five more merit awards would be selected from each category as well. Our judging panel includes Secretary for the Environment Mr Wong Kam-sing, Chairman of the Environmental Campaign Committee Mr Lam Chiu-ying, renowned architect and urban planner Prof. Bernard V. Lim, and former news anchor Mr Ng Ka-him, who has been actively promoting green building concept recently, together with Chairman of the HKGBC.

It’s time for your creativity to shine and send us your catchy BEAM Plus slogan now! We also welcome different parties to be Supporting Organisations of the competition to spread the words. For more details of the competition, please visit the event page.

Let's Get Ready for Municipal Solid Waste Charging

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) charging could be implemented by the end of 2019 at the earliest, and the Government has just announced the modified implementation arrangements. With a massive amount of waste produced during daily operation, it is important for shopping malls and their tenants to get ready for the new initiative as early as possible. Therefore, an event will be organised on 4 December to enhance the understanding of the retail industry on the initiative and to facilitate sharing on how they can prepare for it.

Co-organised by the HKGBC and the Environmental Protection Department, the event has invited Mr Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for the Environment, to provide an update of the latest development of the MSW Charging Scheme. Speakers from the Hong Kong Productivity Council and the World Green Organisation will share insights from MSW Charging trial schemes as well. Relevant experience and challenges in getting ready for MSW charging and waste reduction will also be presented by industry players.

Register the seminar for free now. For further details, please visit the event page.

Hong Kong Green Building Week Bags Another Award

Earlier, the Hong Kong Green Building Week (HKGBW), co-organised by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC), garnered Four PR Awards 2017. The campaign has just received further recognition at the Marketing Excellence Awards 2017 organised by Marketing Magazine, taking home a Silver Award in the category of Excellence in Marketing – NGO. The campaign is also selected as a finalist in the category of Excellence in Marketing – Corporate Social Responsibility.

The Organisers deeply believe that outstanding marketing strategy is essential to reaping city-wide support for local green building movement. Therefore, the previous two editions of the HKGBW, with the collaboration of the campaign agency Betake Marketing, saw the introduction of a number of new marketing initiatives such as engaging popular YouTubers for TV commercial. The HKGBW is looking forward to develop an even better outreach in future editions.

More Flexible New CPD Policy for BEAM Practitioners

To enhance the flexibility of Continuous Professional Development requirement for BEAM Practitioners (BEAM Professional and BEAM Affiliate), the Council is going to revise the CPD policy and qualification maintenance requirements, effective from 1 January 2018 (Monday).

The two major changes include the combination of Mandatory and General CPD hour and the introduction of the annual qualification renewal fee. Feedback collected from the stakeholder engagement exercise conducted in July has been incorporated into the new policy. A series of information sessions concerning the new CPD policy have been conducted recently as well.

For details of new CPD policy, please click here for more details.

Green Management Practices Key to Green Existing Buildings

Greening existing buildings is gaining momentum in Hong Kong! With the launch of the upgraded version of BEAM Plus Existing Buildings (EB) V2.0 assessment last year, the first batch of projects has just completed the assessments with top ratings.

International Commerce Centre (excluding the hotel portion) is one of the projects that has achieved Final Platinum rating under BEAM Plus EB V2.0. With the aid of advanced technology, the building management system collects real-time operational data of building facilities, enabling the property management team to analyse the trend of energy use and implement energy saving practices more effectively. As a result, the overall energy consumption has been decreasing over the last five years. The project is now the tallest certified green building in Hong Kong.

Pacific Place and Lincoln House are the two other projects achieving Final Platinum rating. With a proactive management approach adopted, together with the ongoing commission and benchmarking, energy efficiency is enhanced while the usage of electricity has been reduced. In particular, the property management team of Lincoln House upholds green management practices, including green cleaning, green procurement, as well as waste recycling plan.

To encourage wider participation, BEAM Plus EB V2.0 offered the Selective Scheme as an alternative route of assessment, of which applicants can match the practical conditions and needs of their buildings and undergo assessment on individual aspects. The Hospital Authority Building achieved Excellent, the highest grade available, in Energy Aspect. By adopting a series of energy efficient measures, including a new chiller, CO2 sensors and LED lighting, the building energy performance is greatly enhanced.

Our Founding Member, Business Environment Council, becomes a role model for the industry. By turning the headquarters, Jockey Club Environmental Building, into a green existing building, it achieves Final Platinum rating under BEAM Plus EB V1.2. By upgrading its equipment, including energy-efficient chiller and LED panels, not only the electricity consumption of the building could be reduced, maintenance cost could also be saved.

Sharing WSBE17 Hong Kong's Success in Paris

With the successful completion of the World Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2017 Hong Kong (WSBE17 Hong Kong), the Hong Kong Team, comprising Dr Benny Chow Ka-ming, Vice Chairman of the Scientific Committee; Ms Miranda Yeap, representative of the CIC Secretariat and Ms Heidi Hui, representative of the HKGBC Secretariat joined the final review meeting of the SBE16/17 Conferences held in Paris on 11-12 October 2017.

At the meeting, the Hong Kong Team shared detailed analysis and experience on the organisation of the whole conference over the past 3 years, from scientific content, to attendance and budget, as well as marketing and promotions, etc., providing a lot of input and ideas on the next cycle. We believe that the momentum of the conference is going to be continued by the upcoming SBE19/20 series with the world conference being held in Gothenburg in June 2020.

Eco Expo Asia: Innovative Solutions for Greener Cities

Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, and co-organised by the Environment Bureau, the 12th edition of the Eco Expo Asia took place during 26-29 October, featuring nearly 340 exhibitors and attracted more than 14,000 buyers. In particular, a new Startup zone was set up and a Startup Forum was organised to help green start-ups explore more business opportunities, bringing exciting new elements to the expo.

The Council has again become one of the Supporting Organisations of the expo, with a booth showcasing the development of green buildings and BEAM Plus assessment tool, as well as the HK G-PASS, a certification system for a range of eco-friendly construction materials.

Another expo highlight was the Eco Asia Conference, where about 50 government officials and industry experts from ten countries and regions shared their insights on hot industry topics. Ir Cary Chan Wing-hong, Executive Director of the HKGBC; and Dr Benny Chow Ka-ming, Director of the HKGBC, attended the Green Building session of the conference co-organised by the HKGBC and the Business Environment Council. Together with local and overseas experts, they have discussed the latest trend of the industry development at the occasion.

It’s a Networking November!

November is a busy month to the Council with four networking gatherings in a row on 1, 6, 9 and 10 November respectively. Suggestions on HKGBC member benefits and other collaboration opportunities were collected from Patron Members, NGOs and green groups, as well as key partners of the Hong Kong Green Shop Alliance.

We believe collaboration is the key for the coming year and comments received in these gatherings are valuable for us to plan ahead further engagement with different parties for a joint effort in green building promotion.

An Autumn Visit to a Green Campus

On 25 November, a total of 55 participants joined a green campus tour organised by the Council to the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) for comprehensive insight for the incorporation of sustainability in campus buildings and their operation. They also participated in an engagement workshop led by architects and building professionals on green building knowledge, before concluding the day with a guided tour in The Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change.

Apart from being a local campus that hosts the most number of green buildings certified by HK-BEAM and BEAM Plus, CUHK is committed to being a leader in the research, teaching and institutional practice of environmental sustainability.

From time to time, we organise tours to visit green building projects in town. You and your family and friends may get the latest update on the Council’s activities by signing up for “Friends of Green Building”.

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