News & Events

This event is organised by Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC).

In a crowded metropolitan city like Hong Kong, streets with countless street lamps and huge neon signs result in serious light pollution. It may cause adverse effects on environmental and ecosystem. Excessive outdoor lighting may disorient physiological cycles and movements of animals. In the worst scenario, it would even influence the entire ecological balance of the local living environment.

In the seminar, speakers will review the current status, causes and impacts of light pollution, both in Hong Kong and around the world. The importance of luminaire design and selection in controlling light pollution will also be explained. In minimising the light pollution problem, speakers will reveal the achievement rates of BEAM Plus credits related to light pollution (e.g. BEAM Plus NB V1.2 - SA15 and EB V2.0 - SA3), and discuss different measures to alleviate the problem, such as good lighting design, smart control and local regulations.

Speakers 

(1) Dr Chun Shing Jason Pun, Principal Lecturer, Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong

Dr Chun Shing Jason Pun is currently Principal Lecturer at the Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong. Since 2003, he has been conducting scientific studies of light pollution in Hong Kong.  In 2010, he and his research team founded the Hong Kong Night Sky Brightness Monitoring Network (香港夜空光度監測網絡). The project has since collected over 8 million night sky brightness measurements to provide a detailed picture of the extent of light pollution in Hong Kong.  He also initiated the first multinational long-term night sky brightness monitoring network to study light pollution on a global scale.  The network currently comprises over 30 stations in 10 countries/regions.

Dr Pun has recently been named as a member of the Working Group on External Lighting.  The new working group will assist the Government to review the effectiveness of the Charter on External Lighting, and advise the Government on more measures to better manage external lighting.

Topics to cover:

• Cause of light pollution and its Impacts on people and on the environment
• Current status of light pollution in Hong Kong and in the world,
• Remedies to the light pollution problem: technical, social, legal and educational

(2) Ir Eddy Lau, Head of Green Labelling, Hong Kong Green Building Council

Ir Eddy Lau is the Head of Green Labelling of HKGBC, who is responsible for managing the BEAM Plus certification scheme.  He is a building services engineer by profession and had worked in the industry for over 17 years before joining HKGBC in 2012. Since 2013, he has been conducting research and compiling contents for HKGBC’s annual CPD seminar “Cream of BEAM Plus”, which seeks to disseminate the performance of BEAM Plus-certified projects.

Topic to cover:

• Achievement in light pollution credit in BEAM Plus assessment

(3) Mr Ken Lo, Architecture Manager, Philips Lighting Hong Kong Ltd

Ken Lo is the Architecture Manager of Philips Lighting Hong Kong Ltd.  He joined the company in Sep 2017.  Before joining Philips, he has gained over 30 years’ experience from other German and British lighting companies.  Ken has an academic background in Building Services Engineering and finished his Master Degree in Lighting from Queensland University of Technologies.  Ken is currently the Chairman of International Commission of Illumination [CIE (Hong Kong)]. He is also a Member of Illuminating Engineering Society of North America.  

Ken has considerable experiences in illuminating engineering application design, luminaire design and manufacturing, production control, lighting layout design/illumination simulations, customised product development for projects, technical support, construction site installation supervision, testing and commissioning for projects across Asia Pacific Region.

Topics to cover:

• How light trespass affects us 
• The importance of luminaire design and selection in controlling light pollution
• Ways to minimise negative impacts through good lighting design, smart control as well as local regulation