A Refreshing Shopping Experience as Hang Lung Raises the Bar on Indoor Air Quality
Swire Properties’ Platinum Performance Turning Where You Work and Shop Green
Environmental Forum on Green and Healthy Buildings
Hong Kong Green Shop Alliance: Check out New Website & Facebook Page!
HKGBC Welcomes Green Initiatives in the Budget
BEAM Plus Slogan Competition Winners Announced
A Refreshing Shopping Experience as Hang Lung Raises the Bar on Indoor Air Quality
Parc 66 in Jinan has implemented the Clean Air Initiative.
What makes a mall a favourite among the people?
Stylish design, notable market position, attractive portfolio of brands are always part of the hardware that a shopping centre uses to increase footfall, but it is the software, customer experience, that is central these days. Caring service, pleasant ambient temperature, and clean restrooms are some of customers’ main concerns in this area, but Hang Lung goes one step further by improving indoor air quality for the benefit of its customers.
Championing a people-centric approach in the construction and operation of its projects, Hang Lung strives to improve the environment and public health through various endeavours. Since 2017, the Company has invested over HK$40 million in upgrading all air purifying devices at its malls and office towers across mainland China. The aim has been to create an even more invigorating and comfortable environment for staff, tenants, and the community.
For all its properties to exceed the highest standards among Grade A commercial properties, the Clean Air Initiative has acquired a specialised system that fits the needs of their premises on the Mainland. The system consists of hospital-grade high efficiency bag filters, germicidal UV lamps, electrostatic precipitators, and photocatalytic filters. With this combination of hi-tech devices, up to 80% of airborne pollutants, including PM2.5 can be removed.
The first stage of the initiative has been implemented in three Mainland projects, Plaza 66 in Shanghai, Center 66 in Wuxi, and Parc 66 in Jinan, while the second stage is slated to roll out this year at other Hang Lung projects in Shenyang, Tianjin, and Dalian to provide a unique and refreshing experience for customers.
Swire Properties’ Platinum Performance Turning Where You Work and Shop Green
Previously certified with HK-BEAM (4/04) Platinum rating, One Island East has earned another top rating under BEAM Plus with its outstanding environmental performance over the years.
Swire Properties are committed to greening its building portfolio in Hong Kong. Its major developments have recently undergone BEAM Plus Existing Buildings assessment and achieved Final Platinum ratings. They are the signature One Island East, Cambridge House and Oxford House at Taikoo Place, and Cityplaza 3 & 4 at Hong Kong East. Its commercial developments with shopping malls are also on the list, including Pacific Place together with Three Pacific Place, as well as One Citygate and Citygate Outlets in Tung Chung.
Cityplaza 3 & 4 provide collection points of recyclables for tenants to support the call of waste reduction.
Green management is a key to enhance buildings’ environmental performance. What helps Swire Properties’ property management team to excel is the implementation of an array of management system. Pacific Place, Taikoo Place, Cityplaza, and Citygate were certified with ISO 14001, ISO 50001, and OHSAS 18001, enabling the team to take environmental considerations together with risks of occupational health and safety into account, while achieving improvement on energy performance continuously.
On the engineering side, on-going commissioning plays a vital role in maintaining high energy efficiency of the buildings. The engineering team keeps an eye on the energy performance and thus could look further into energy saving opportunities based on the operational data. Such exercise is in place at these BEAM Plus projects of Swire Properties.
Furthermore, to engage more occupants to go green, Cityplaza 3 & 4 provide recyclables collection points for tenants’ convenience in waste recycling. At Taikoo Place, as one of the best practice in food waste reduction, a centralised composter was installed to process food waste collected from restaurants in the premise.
Good indoor air quality creates a healthy and pleasant working and shopping environment for tenants and shoppers. Pacific Place and Citygate Outlets have achieved Good or Excellent Class in Indoor Air Quality Certification Scheme in three consecutive years. No wonder they top the favourite malls list among Hongkongers and tourists.
The number of registered BEAM Plus Existing Buildings projects is rising steadily, indicating a positive trend of green retrofitting. Swire Properties’ Platinum Performance is a showcase on the concerted efforts of building owners, property management teams and tenants to turn existing buildings green with outstanding performance.
Pleasant indoor and outdoor environment at Citygate Outlets make it a favourite spot for holiday shoppers.
Implementation of green management practice at Pacific Place and Three Pacific Place includes the use of green clearing detergents and adoption of green purchasing plan.
Environmental Forum on Green and Healthy Buildings
A new edition of Environmental Forum co-organised by the HKGBC and OUHK sees a full-house of participants from OUHK, the industry and general public.
Secretary for the Environment Mr Wong Kam-sing reveals his electricity bill to show how we can do our part to mitigate climate change.
Co-hosted by the Council and the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK), the Environmental Forum debuted last year had received overwhelming support. Following its previous success, the new edition of Environmental Forum on 26 March, free and open to the public, focused on how green building designs and information technology could enhance occupants’ health and comfort. The forum attracted a full-house of around 250 participants.
Mr Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for the Environment, kick-started the forum by introducing the Government’s climate action policies. He also revealed a number of simple green design at his home and his own electricity bill as examples of how individuals could take a part in mitigating climate change at home. Speakers including Prof. Edward Ng, Yao Ling Sun Professor of Architecture from The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Dr Benny Chow, Director cum Chairman of Industry Standards and Practices Committee from the HKGBC, and Mr Lewis Lam, Assistant General Manager (Property Management) from International Commerce Centre Management Services Office then shared how urban microclimate, workplace design and the application of Internet of Things could shape a green and healthy built environment for occupants. A Q&A session led by Dr Yau Yiu-hung, Associate Professor from School of Science and Technology of OUHK, saw a vibrant discussion between the speakers and the audience to conclude the forum.
The speakers interact with the audience during the Q&A session.
Excerpts from the forum will be aired in the “Open for Learning” programme on Sunday morning on TVB Pearl. Last year’s discussion on green building global trend and case sharing of green buildings’ operations and management were also broadcasted earlier this year. The Council considers the continuous collaboration with OUHK as a valuable opportunity to raise the awareness of professionals, students and public about the latest development on green buildings.
You may head to our Facebook album for more highlights of the forum as well!
Hong Kong Green Shop Alliance: Check out New Website & Facebook Page!
Officially launched in 2017, the Hong Kong Green Shop Alliance (HKGSA) is a strong network of the retail industry stakeholders. Now, 19 developers, 120 malls and 485 shops have pledged to adopt a variety of green measures and build a greener retail environment. Starting from today, the HKGSA website and Facebook page will be the one-stop spots for all the latest update of this Alliance!
Latest News from HKGSA members and partners
From the website and Facebook Fans page, you may know the latest initiatives, activities and programmes organised by the HKGSA to engage malls, shops and shoppers. Our Alliance members and NGO partners will share their latest initiative in creating a green shopping environment, including latest campaigns and activities, green features in shops and malls, and more.
The Green Map in the HKGSA website plots the locations of participating malls and shops.
Find out green malls or shops
You can find a Green Map in the new HKGSA website that plots the locations of participating malls and shops under the HKGSA, while our Facebook page will also feature our Alliance members regularly – Green shops are just at your fingertips!
Be a Green Shopper
Shopping with a sustainable mind set is crucial. Therefore, you could also find some useful tips on being a green and smart shopper in our website and Facebook page.
Please like our pages and share them with your colleagues, tenants and friends. Moreover, the HKGSA will launch its e-newsletter starting from this April. You are welcome to subscribe for more updates about the HKGSA.
HKGBC Welcomes Green Initiatives in the Budget
The profit tax reduction for Installations like solar photovoltaic panels in BEAM Plus projects could be claimed in full within one year as proposed in the Budget.
The Financial Secretary announced the 2018/19 Budget late last month and proposed a series of initiatives related to the adoption of energy-efficient and renewable energy installations and the promotion of overall green building development. Among them is the tax concessions enhancement for capital expenditure incurred by enterprises in procuring eligible energy efficient building installations and renewable energy devices, in which the tax deduction could be claimed in full within one year instead of the current time frame of five years.
Currently, all types of buildings and premises achieving “Final Bronze” rating or above under BEAM Plus New Buildings, BEAM Plus Existing Buildings and BEAM Plus Interiors (or Satisfactory grade under Existing Buildings V2.0 Selective Scheme – Energy Use) are eligible to profits tax deduction upon registration under the Energy Efficiency Registration Scheme for Buildings administered by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department since this year. The enhancement is expected to be a stronger financial incentive for more buildings to adopt energy efficiency installations and participate in BEAM Plus assessment.
The HKGBC also welcomes the HK$800 million funding reserved for the installation of renewable energy facilities at government buildings, venues and community facilities. According to the administration, the total annual electricity generated is estimated to be over 6 million kilowatt-hours upon completion of all these renewable energy projects.
The Government may fund BEAM Plus-certified green projects like Kowloon City No. 1 Sewage Pumping Stations through the issuance of green bond in future.
The Budget also saw a solid push in green finance market. A Green Bond Grant Scheme will be introduced to subsidise qualified green bond issuers in participating the Green Finance Certification Scheme recently launched by the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency. The Government also proposed to issue green bond with a borrowing ceiling of $100 billion, of which the sums borrowed will be credited to the Capital Works Reserve Fund to provide funding for green public works projects. The measures are expected to back green bond as an emerging platform for green development projects to tap funding from the capital market, and hence promoting the overall green building development.
BEAM Plus Slogan Competition Winners Announced
The BEAM Plus Slogan Competition has concluded with winners selected by our judging panel and the public. The “Best Slogan Award” winners of both Student Category and Public Category are taking home a cash prize of HK$10,000, while HK$2,000 is awarded to each merit award winner from both categories. Moreover, extra HK$3,000 is awarded to the winner of the “Online Most Popular Award”.
| Public Category - Best Slogan Award | Lam Siu-ting |
| Public Category - Merit Awards | Ip Tsz-sum, Wong Yee-ting, Yip Kwan-ying, Yeung Man-tik, Carmen Cheung Ka-man |
| Student Category - Best Slogan Award | Chow Kiu |
| Student Category - Merit Awards | Chan Tsz-yuet, Chau Man-kit, Tam Hang-mui, Ting Wai-kwan, Tsoi Ka-leong |
| Online Most Popular Award | Ip Tsz-sum |
The winning entries of “Best Slogan Award” and “Online Most Popular Award” will have a chance to be adopted (with an English version of the slogan) in future promotional campaign of BEAM Plus. We deeply appreciate the support from all participants and Supporting Organisations, as well as the efforts from our judges. Let’s look forward to the strong impact of these slogans to the local community in raising awareness of BEAM Plus and congratulations to all winners!
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