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Swire Properties Among Top 10 Most Sustainable Real Estate Developers Globally, Dow Jones Sustainability World Index
Hip Hing Promotes Sustainability with Smart Sewage Guard
Expanding our expertise in RCx to Greater Bay Area
Scaling up BEAM Plus Certification: Registration Fee Discount for Volume Certification of Existing Buildings
ECF Green Building Education Video Series has officially launched!
Retro-commissioning Solutions cum “Energy Saving Championship Scheme - Competition for Organisation” Briefing
Materials Expert Workshop
The Green Building Map of Public Housing Developments in Hong Kong
Swire Properties Among Top 10 Most Sustainable Real Estate Developers Globally, Dow Jones Sustainability World Index
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| Swire Properties has once again attained exceptional results in three of the world’s most recongised sustainability indices, including the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) and Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index 2019. |
Swire Properties' sustainable development (SD) work has once again achieved exceptional results in three of the world's most recongised sustainability indices.
Swire Properties was recognised as the 8th most sustainable real estate developer in the world, and No.1 in Asia by the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World). The Company has again taken a leading position in this year's Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (“GRESB”), retaining the global's No.1 spot in the Other (mixed-use development) category and maintaining a 5-star rating, the highest possible score. In Hong Kong, Swire Properties topped the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index 2019, receiving the highest total score among all index constituents, and maintaining “AAA” sustainability rating, the highest possible grading.
To attain these fantastic results, Swire Properties has been financing and developing green and sustainable buildings in Hong Kong.
Following the issuance of a US$500 million green bond in 2018, Swire Properties has launched its second sustainable financing initiative in 2019. Swire Properties is the first company in Hong Kong to launch a sustainability-linked loan that indexes against its year-on-year environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance targets. Within this loan structure, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank will grant a reduction in interest rate each year based on the following criteria:
• Swire Properties retains its listing on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), and;
• Swire Properties achieves a target reduction in energy use intensity (“EUI”, measured in units of kWh/m2) each year for its Hong Kong portfolio.
• Swire Properties achieves a target reduction in energy use intensity (“EUI”, measured in units of kWh/m2) each year for its Hong Kong portfolio.
The loan will be used for investments supporting the Company's targets set under the SD 2030 strategy, such as adoption of advanced energy saving technologies, and to fund ongoing green building developments, including Two Taikoo Place – the triple Grade-A office building which is a key component of the Company's Taikoo Place redevelopment project. Spanning 1 million square feet, Two Taikoo Place is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in 2022. The building has already obtained Pre-certified Platinum for LEED Core and Shell Version 2009, Provisional Platinum for BEAM Plus New Buildings Version 1.2, and Pre-certified Platinum for WELL Core and Shell Version 1.0.
For more information, please refer to Swire Properties' Sustainability Indices Results and Sustainability-Linked Loan.
Hip Hing Promotes Sustainability with Smart Sewage Guard
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As a leading building contractor in Hong Kong, Hip Hing Construction Co. Ltd. (Hip Hing) recognises the importance and is committed to ensuring sustainability is incorporated into their business and operating practices. They consider the social and environmental impacts of their business on their staff, clients, business partners and the communities in which they work.
One of their priorities is to provide a safe and healthy working environment and to improve the well-being of every individual involved in the construction process. The company continually seeks to innovate and develop measures through which their sustainability commitment can be achieved. An example of how they are doing this is the “Smart Sewage Guard”.
The sewage collection tank is something one probably wants to distance oneself from at a construction site, as most of the people would consider the tanks “essential, but dirty and smelly”.
To cope with the problem, Hip Hing presents a new generation of an engineered steel tank named as “Smart Sewage Guard”, which delivers a solution to build a cleaner, safer and a better workplace.
Traditionally, the sewage collection tanks varied from 5m3 to 8m3, with desludging services being arranged frequently, which added pressure on cost control. The sewage collection might also impose risks on the operators as they needed to climb up the tanks with the suction pipe, then insert the pipe into the tank to carry out the desludging operations.
Breaking the boundaries, the new design maximises its size to an unprecedented 12m3, with the features of built-in pipework and safety guardrails. An indicator is installed so that the operator can monitor the level of sewage at ground level, thus avoiding the risk of working at height. Besides, deodoriser is applied to slash 97% of ammonia gas, the main source of the odour; a cathodic protection system has been incorporated to prevent corrosion of the metal tanks, effectively addressing the potential problems of leakage and ensuring the hygiene of the site.
By adopting “Smart Sewage Guard”, in addition to improving the site environment, a significant cost saving of around HK$300,000 can be achieved on a typical project. The tanks are now being used across all Hip Hing projects.
The innovative application, indeed, displays Hip Hing’s determination to pursue sustainability of the construction industry. The Company will continue to press forward and join hands with its stakeholders, to shape a green future.
1. The new design of the sewage collection tank has received positive response from the site based people.
2. Deodoriser is applied to slash 97% of ammonia gas, so as to effectively reduce the unpleasant odour.
2. Deodoriser is applied to slash 97% of ammonia gas, so as to effectively reduce the unpleasant odour.
Expanding our expertise in RCx to Greater Bay Area
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| Mr Alfred SIT, Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (3rd from the left), Ir Cary CHAN, Executive Director of HKGBC (3rd from the right), Ms Lena LOW, Senior Director of Customer and Business Development of CLP Power (4th from the left) and Dr YUEN Pak-leung, Senior Manager (Engineering) of Hospital Authority (5th from the right) received the award at the AEE Regional Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on 24 Sep 2019. |
Being part of Government’s Climate Action Plan, retro-commissioning (RCx) is one of the key promulgated measures to reduce Hong Kong’s carbon emission. Aligning with Government’s initiatives, the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC), as a pioneer in the industry, has facilitated a number of RCX pilot project in over 30 commercial buildings in Hong Kong since 2016 and further expanded the building type and contributed Council’s expertise to public hospitals and non-government organisation buildings this year, leading to substantial energy savings.
The result of the RCx energy saving project for Hong Kong public hospitals in Asia was outstanding and the project has proudly won AEE’s Asia Pacific Rim Region Energy Project of the Year Award for 2019. Executive Director of the HKGBC, Ir Cary CHAN, JP, was invited to attend the AEE Regional Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on 24 Sep 2019.
The encouraging results in those RCx projects paved a clear way for full RCx implementation in the industry, which would lead to tremendous energy savings per year for the society with little resources required. The findings of these projects, will not only be invaluable for the local industry, but also a strong support to the Climate Action Plan across the region.
Early to Nov of the year 2018, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) signed a memorandum of co‐operation (MOC) with the HKGBC, aiming to promote the development of RCx of buildings in the Guangdong‐Hong Kong‐Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). With the sufficient experiences gained from the pilot projects, the HKGBC will collaborate with other MOC signatory parties to further promote RCx and share knowledges within the GBA.
Building up the standard of the industry: RCx Registration Scheme and Training
Other than knowledge sharing, a well-established registration scheme for qualified RCx practitioner would also help to facilitate the adoption of RCx in the industry. In view of this, the HKGBC, with the support by EMSD and other professional institutions, will operate the RCx Training and Registration Scheme and organise relevant training courses for engineers and stakeholders. For people who fulfilled pre-qualification requirements, completed the courses and passed the examination will be eligible for registration of the Scheme.
Under the RCx Registration Scheme, three kinds of practitioners are available for registration, namely RCx Practitioner (Level 1), RCx Practitioner (Level 2) and RCx Professional. Corresponding training courses will be held in Nov and Dec 2019. For interested parties, please visit HERE for further details and enrolment.
Scaling up BEAM Plus Certification: Registration Fee Discount for Volume Certification of Existing Buildings
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From financial point of view, when buildings go green and get certified to a green standard, the property value could be enhanced. The properties would become more attractive to potential buyers or tenants. Besides, the global trend is that investors increasingly demand for disclosure of corporate sustainability performance. Thus, certification of corporate building portfolio would help to communicate the building sustainability results to relevant stakeholders.
To help accelerate the greening of existing buildings, the Council now offers a discount in Registration Fee for BEAM Plus Existing Buildings (EB) if portfolio of existing buildings are registered at the same time and they are using new assessment mechanisms designed for buildings that share common characteristics. These new assessment mechanisms include pre-approved credit mechanism and portfolio assessment mechanism. Both are introduced by BEAM Society Limited so that the assessment process can be streamlined and accelerated. The benefits of using these mechanisms include –
- Lower cost of certification for each project
- Reduced documentation for assessment and achieve certification faster
- Increased certainty that common policies and management practices can comply with BEAM Plus benchmarks
- Increased marketing opportunities to demonstrate corporate commitment in sustainability
The Registration Fee discount is a limited-time offer that lasts for 3 years, from 30 Oct 2019 to 29 Oct 2022. Please take the opportunity and get in touch with HKGBC Secretariat to learn more about the offer. For more information, please click HERE.
ECF Green Building Education Video Series has officially launched!
Educating the younger generation on the importance of green building is one of the prioritised tasks for the HKGBC. Therefore, with the funding support from the Environmental and Conservation Fund, HKGBC developed the “ECF Green Building Education Video Series” project. This video project targets the P4-S6 students in Hong Kong with the aims to raise students’ awareness on green building concepts, deepen their knowledge on the relationship between green building and environmental issue, and bring out the global issue of climate change in a lively and interesting approach, so as to drive environmentally responsible behavioural change in youth.
Eight videos of this project have been launched. The Green Building Key Opinion Leaders (KOL), Green Building Buddy and Green Sleeves, are the main characters to go through all the videos. Come and take a look at these two adorable KOLs’ videos at the council’s website!
Apart from the education video series, the Council will arrange talks, workshops for teachers and students to introduce the fundamental green building concepts and features. Green building tours will also be organised to enable teachers and students to understand the operation of green buildings in real practices.
You are welcome to visit our official webpage and different social media channels including Facebook and Instagram to watch the video and more activity highlights. Stay tuned!
Retro-commissioning Solutions cum “Energy Saving Championship Scheme - Competition for Organisation” Briefing
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| The two Briefings were held successfully with over 200 industry participants. |
Organised by the Hong Kong Green Building Council, the Retro-commissioning Solutions cum “Energy Saving Championship Scheme - Competition for Organisation” Briefing aims to promote smart technologies and solutions on retro-commissioning (RCx) to the industry and encourage the adoption of RCx practices in existing buildings. The Briefings were held on 2 Sep 2019 and 24 Oct 2019 respectively and over 200 industry practitioners joined the events.
During the Briefings, representatives from the EMSD introduced the “Energy Saving Championship Scheme - Competition for Organisation” to the participants. To promote paperless submission of application and facilitate the assessment process, the Competition of this year accepts online submission and an online platform was established that applicants are allowed to upload required information and materials, review and amend their application during the application period. In addition, industry professionals were invited to share the up-to-date smart technologies and solutions on RCx in the event.
Please visit HERE for more details regarding the “Energy Saving Championship Scheme - Competition for Organisation”.
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| Industry professionals were invited to share the latest smart technologies and solutions on retro-commissioning. |
Materials Expert Workshop
The Materials Expert Workshop, organised by the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI), was held on 26 September 2019. Around 20 building and construction practitioners, comprised of architects, engineers and contractors, attended to learn about the latest technological advancement on building and construction materials.
A briefing session highlighted some of the most recent innovations developed by NAMI which are readily deployable. A tour included visits to the Atrium Link with more than 25 award winning technologies showcased in various sectors which include building and construction and NAMI's Smart Construction Materials Lab, a first-of-its-kind construction & building materials focused laboratory in Hong Kong.
Participants were interested in many technologies and applications. They will be put in touch with the corresponding manufacturers to explore opportunities.
The Green Building Map of Public Housing Developments in Hong Kong
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Both Kwai Tsui Estate in Kwai Chung and Lin Tsui Estate in Chai Wan achieved Final Platinum Rating under BEAM Plus New Buildings. Hong Kong Housing Authority has been actively pursuing the modular and standardised components in public housing developments. Over 40% of building works in both projects adopted the prefabricated building elements, effectively reducing wastage, improving site environment and enhancing cost effectiveness.
While there are new public housing developments at different districts, they are actually green buildings! For example, Long Ching Estate in Yuen Long is also a BEAM Plus Platinum public housing estate; For the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats, Mei Ying Court and Mei Pak Court in Sha Tin, Ching Chun Court in Tsing Yi, and Sheung Tsui Court in Tsuen Wan achieved Final Gold rating under BEAM Plus New Buildings. Let's explore their green features!