Be Part of WSBE17 Hong Kong
Green Building Award 2016: Driving for Green Lifestyle through Excellence in Sustainable Built Environment
Launching BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Version 1.0 Assessment Tool
Record-High Number of Projects Achieving BEAM Plus Platinum Rating
Better Places for People: Global Campaign
Green Tenancy Driver Training Toolkit: Tools for being a Green Shop
“My Green Space” Green Building Competition for Schools 2016

Latest Update on the Board
Art Connects: Kwun Tong – Connecting Art and Community
Hong Kong Projects Triumphed at the WorldGBC Asia Pacific Leadership in Green Building Awards 2016
Sign up for the Friends of Green Building and Stay Abreast of News on Green Building Education
HK G-PASS and Eco-Product Directory Help Suppliers Expand Green Product Market and Foster Green Procurement
Eco Expo Asia: Showcasing Green Solutions for a Changing Climate

Be Part of WSBE17 Hong Kong

The World Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2017 Hong Kong (WSBE17 Hong Kong), co-organised by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC), is now officially open for registration. Industry experts from around the world are welcome to join and share the latest development of the industry.

WSBE17 Hong Kong will be held on 5-7 June 2017. With the theme of “Transforming Our Built Environment through Innovation and Integration: Putting Ideas into Action”, WSBE17 Hong Kong will bring together 1,800 green building experts worldwide. Top-notch speakers will be featured in the plenary sessions, and around 100 parallel sessions will together explore the way forward for sustainable built environment in four major areas: sustainable neighbourhood, deep building renovation, high-performance building and community empowerment. Side activities such as an exhibition, gala dinner and green building tours will also be held during the conference.

Apart from the programme and registration details, sponsorship and exhibition packages have also been launched. Act now and be part of this world-class event!

Click here to visit the WSBE17 Hong Kong official site

Full house of 500 distinguished guests attend the Award Presentation to celebrate the industry’s achievement.

Hong Kong Green Building Council and the Professional Green Building Council (PGBC) joined hands again in co-organising the biennale Green Building Award (GBA) to recognise building-related projects and organisations with outstanding performance and contributions in sustainability. The theme this year was “Driving Green Lifestyle‧Excellence in Sustainable Built Environment”. The “Green Building Leadership” category was newly added to recognise pioneer organisations in contributing to the sustainable built environment.

GBA 2016 received overwhelming response with 70 finalists competing for the awards in five categories. During the two consecutive judging days in September 2016, project team presentations and site visits were arranged for the Jury Panel to select the most deserving winners for the awards. The Award Presentation was held at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong on 22 November 2016. A total of 12 Grand Awards and 21 Merit Awards were presented.

Mr Paul Chan Mo-po, Secretary for Development, attended as the Guest of Honour together with a full house of 500 distinguished guests including Government representatives, developers, construction companies, consultants, as well as representatives from professional and educational institutions. This special occasion also marked the 7th Anniversary of the HKGBC. While celebrating the achievement of the award winners, industry guests also looked forward that the Council would ride on its foundation and be more successful in driving green building movement, both locally and globally.

Click here for the list of GBA2016 awardees

Government officials, Chairmen of HKGBC Founding Members, Green Building Award 2016 jurors, Organising Committee and Scientific Committee Members, as well as other guests join the officiating guests for a group photo after the kick-off ceremony.

Launching BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Version 1.0 Assessment Tool

(From left) Ir CS Ho, General Manager of the BSL; Prof. John Ng Cheuk-yee, Chairperson of the BSL cum Chairman of Green Labelling Committee of the HKGBC; Mr Paul Chan Mo-po, Secretary for Development; Sr WONG Bay, Chairman of the HKGBC; Mr Larry Poon, Convener of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood V1.0 Steering Committee/Roll-out Task Force and Ir Cary Chan, Executive Director of the HKGBC officiate at the Launching Ceremony.

The launching ceremony of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Version 1.0 Assessment Tool was held on 6 December 2016 at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum in Central, with Mr Paul Chan Mo-po, Secretary for Development, as the officiating guest.

The Council initiated the development of the assessment tool in 2012 with the goal of encouraging environmental sustainability and incorporating the design for public realm in the master planning stage of a development project. The assessment tool included seven performance aspects, namely Site, Materials and Waste, Energy, Water, Outdoor Environmental Quality, Innovation and Additions, and last but not least Community, which emphasises the importance of socio-economic elements. There are four ratings like other BEAM Plus tools: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. With the launch of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood, BEAM Plus now covers the full building lifecycle, from planning to design and construction, further to operation and maintenance and finally interior fitting-out.

Prior to the launch of the tool, HKGBC initiated pilot-testing assessments to test the new tool on real projects and to recalibrate the tool. Three projects participated in the pilot-testing assessment and achieved the Platinum rating. They are:

  • Subsidised Sale Flats Development at Fat Tseung Street West of Hong Kong Housing Authority;
  • Transformation of EMSD Headquarters into a Green Building of Electrical and Mechanical Services Department; and
  • West Kowloon Cultural District of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority.

A new qualification, BEAM Professionals (Neighbourhood) is introduced along with the launch of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood. HKGBC and BEAM Society Limited would organise accreditation examinations and CPD trainings for industry practitioners to learn the technical skills and knowledge of the assessment tool.

Mr Paul Chan presented the Platinum certificate of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Pilot Version to Ms Ada Fung Yin-suen, Deputy Director of Housing (Development & Construction), Hong Kong Housing Authority for the Subsidised Sale Flats Development at Fat Tseung Street West.

Mr Paul Chan presented the Platinum certificate of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Pilot Version to Mr Chan Fan, Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services for Transformation of EMSD Headquarters into a Green Building.

Mr Paul Chan presented the Platinum certificate of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Pilot Version to Mr Duncan Pescod, Chief Executive Officer, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority for West Kowloon Cultural District.

The development of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Version 1.0 is wholly funded by the Construction Industry Council.

Record-High Number of Projects Achieving BEAM Plus Platinum Rating

Ms Christine Loh Kung-wai, Under Secretary for the Environment (sixth right); Mr CHAN Ka-kui, Chairman of Construction Industry Council (centre); Ir Cary Chan Wing-hong, Executive Director of the HKGBC (fifth right) and Prof. John Ng Cheuk-yee, Chairperson of BSL cum Chairman of Green Labelling Committee of the HKGBC (sixth left), together with Directors of HKGBC and BSL, and members of Labelling Promotion Task Force, congratulates the Platinum project teams for their outstanding achievements.

HKGBC and BEAM Society Limited (BSL) jointly organised the BEAM Plus Platinum Project Certification Ceremony on 13 December 2016 at Charles K. Kao Auditorium of the Hong Kong Science Park. The Guest-of-Honour Ms Christine Loh Kung-wai, Under Secretary for the Environment together with officiating guests Mr Chan Ka-kui, Chairman of the Construction Industry Council, Ir Cary Chan Wing-hong, Executive Director of HKGBC, and Prof. John Ng Cheuk-yee, Chairperson of BSL cum Chairman of Green Labelling Committee of the HKGBC, presented the certification to the 31 projects which achieved the Platinum rating in 2016. The record-high number of Platinum-rated projects indicated that green buildings are gaining support from the industry and the community as a whole.

A wide range of projects in the categories of New Buildings (NB), Existing Buildings (EB) and Interiors (BI) attained the Platinum rating this year. These projects included commercial buildings, residential buildings, infrastructure, educational and institutional buildings, as well as offices. Furthermore, the first Platinum project from the Mainland China was recognised during the ceremony, marking another new milestone for BEAM Plus in the region.

According to a recent research conducted by the HKGBC, BEAM Plus certified projects have contributed to a total of 700,000 square metres of green space, an area equivalent to 70 Hong Kong Stadiums. In terms of energy saving, these projects are expected to save more than 400 million kWh of electricity consumption annually, the total energy spending of more than 90,000 households in a year. As for water saving, BEAM Plus certified projects are expected to save more than a total of 6 billion liters of water, amounting to the total consumption of around 30,000 households. BEAM Plus Existing Buildings will be another focus in the new year. There are over 20 projects registered since the launch of the new version BEAM Plus EB V2.0.

As of 1 December 2016, about 900 projects have registered for BEAM Plus assessment. Among them, approximately 41% are residential buildings. Around 17% are commercial projects and 16% are commercial and government, institution and community projects.

2016 BEAM Plus Platinum Projects

(Click here for details of some of the following projects)

Swire Properties and Hang Seng Management College both have three projects attaining the Platinum rating in 2016.

Existing Buildings

Final Platinum Projects
  1. Kwai Shing West Estate
  2. Towngas Headquarters
  3. Standard Chartered Bank Building
  4. Electrical and Mechanical Services Department Headquarters
  5. Sunlight Tower
Provisional Platinum Projects
  1. Lee Garden One Offices

New Buildings

Final Platinum Projects
  1. Jade Grove
  2. Building 16W Hong Kong Science Park Phase 3
  3. Hang Seng Management College Block B - Sports and Amenities Centre
  4. Building 12W Hong Kong Science Park Phase 3
  5. Provision of Interception Facilities at Jordan Valley Box Culvert - Pumping Station
  6. Hang Seng Management College Block D - Lee Quo Wei Academic Building
  7. Greenview Villa
  8. AREZZO
  9. Whitesands
  10. HSMC Jockey Club Residential Colleges
Provisional Platinum Projects
  1. Tin Shui Wai Hospital
  2. Proposed Development for URA Project H18 (Site B) at Peel Street / Graham Street, Central
  3. Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Substation
  4. Development Project at 48 Caine Road, Hong Kong
  5. Shek Chung Au Sewage Pumping Station
  6. Proposed Commercial Redevelopment at 704-730 King’s Road & 201-227 Tsat Tsz Mui Road, Hong Kong
  7. Tsang Tsui Columbarium & Garden of Remembrance
  8. Jockey Club Postgraduate Halls 2 & 3, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  9. Kwun Tong Town Centre (KTTC) Redevelopment – Main Site (Development Area 2 & 3)

Interiors

Platinum Projects
  1. BeeXergy Consulting Limited - A Natural and Harmonized Workshop
  2. Office of the Printing Division, Government Logistics Department
  3. Swire Properties Management Limited (Cityplaza Management Office)
  4. REC Shanghai Office Renovation Works
  5. BEAM Society Limited Office Renovation
  6. CaSO Sky

Better Places for People: Global Campaign

A report on Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices: The Next Chapter for Green Building was published by WorldGBC in 2014 to present overwhelming evidence that office design significantly impacts the health, wellbeing and productivity of staff. The report set out a framework for organisations to measure how their building impacts on their most valuable asset and raised awareness of different sectors globally. To build on the foundation provided by the report, WorldGBC launched a 2-year Better Places for People – Global Campaign in 2015 to ensure that these principles can be taken forward beyond just the office sector.

The HKGBC is aware of the importance of health, wellbeing and productivity of occupants in the building and construction sectors, and is therefore actively involved in the aforementioned publication and campaign for providing input and advice to the project. The WorldGBC had launched the “Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Retail: The Impact of Green Buildings on People and Profit” on 1 February 2016. This report builds on a number of pieces of research from around the world on the health and wellbeing benefits of green buildings, including three retail case studies from Hong Kong (Langham Place, Hysan Place and Pacific Place) being published in the report. The third report on green office business case was published in October 2016, with outstanding local office case studies featuring in the "Spotlight: Hong Kong" section to showcase our achievement.

Green Tenancy Driver Training Toolkit: Tools for being a Green Shop

To promote green building concepts and sustainable practices to the retail industry and shoppers, the Council launched the Hong Kong Green Shop Alliance in June 2016 to encourage shops to adopt the Six Green Areas, namely better use of energy, better use of water, municipal solid waste reduction, material reuse and recycling, green procurement and social green behaviour, so as to incorporate green measures into their daily operations. Alliance members will have an opportunity to identify room for improvement to save operational resources, set a role model of corporate social responsibility and enhance their green image. More than 40 shops have already joined the Alliance and pledged to implement a variety of green measures.

Click here to learn more about the Alliance and a list of participating shops

The establishment of the Alliance is a way to encourage landlord-tenant collaboration and to create a sustainable business environment. To encourage tenants and frontline staff of property management companies to take the first step and go green, the Council developed the Green Tenancy Driver Training Toolkit, which contains the necessary materials for industry practitioners to implement green measures. The Training Toolkit comprises four key aspects, namely energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction and paper reduction. It contains a variety of materials such as posters, leaflets, green stickers, green measures checklists, environmental performance monitoring forms, and so on. It is hoped that the Training Toolkit will help tenants implement green measures so as to foster green business development.

Click here to learn more about the Training Toolkit and purchase arrangements

The Council established the Hong Kong Green Shop Alliance.

The Training Toolkit provides materials for industry practitioners to implement green measures.

“My Green Space” Green Building Competition for Schools 2016

Students from Primary Divisions interact with BEAM Pro.

Students from Primary Divisions visit ZCB.

Students listen attentively to the elaboration of the green features in ZCB.

“My Green Space” Green Building Competition for Schools 2016 is officially launched in October 2016. The competition has again received overwhelming response this year, with 355 students registered for the five divisions (Junior Primary Division, Senior Primary Division, Junior Secondary Division, Senior Secondary Division and Public Division) to showcase their ideal green “home”.

For students to know more about the concept and practices of green buildings, we have arranged two Green Building Tours cum Training Workshops in December 2016. Through interacting with BEAM Professionals and visiting BEAM Plus Platinum projects in town, students are all ready to show their talent by building their green space.

Students from Secondary Divisions visit Hang Seng Management College (HSMC).

BEAM Pro shares green building knowledge to the students.

Students visits the roof of the HSMC Jockey Club Residential Colleges.

Latest Update on the Board

Effective from 4 November 2016, Sr WONG Bay was appointed as Chairman of the HKGBC succeeding Mr CHEUNG Hau-wai to lead the Board of Directors.

In addition, the tenure of six Directors elected by Institutional Members ended on 31 December 2016. An election was held on 30 November 2016 to elect new representatives to join the Board of HKGBC. The elected representatives of Institutional Members are:

Name Institutional Membership Group
Ir Antonio Chan Chi-ming Contractors, Sub-contractors, Construction Product Manufacturers, Suppliers or Distributors
Ir Cheung Po-chung Utility or Transportation Companies
Mr Wong Kwong-yiu Property Developers, Owners or Management Companies
Ir Dr Vincent Cheng Sai-yau Professional Services Companies or Consultants
Ir Colin Chung Chi-leong Professional Services Companies or Consultants
Ms Ada Fung Yin-suen Public Bodies

The elected representatives will serve the Board for a three-year term of office starting from 1 January 2017. Please click here for the full list of Board of Directors.

Art Connects: Kwun Tong – Connecting Art and Community

Ink Garden : Ink painting demonstration and experience sharing

Art exhibitions are not only available in galleries and museums, but also public parks in Kwun Tong. As part of the roll-out programme for the new rating tool BEAM Plus Neighbourhood (ND), HKGBC commissioned the Hong Kong Public Space Initiative (HKPSI) to conduct an urban experiment “Art Connects: Kwun Tong” at Kwun Tong Yuet Wah Street Playground from 13 to 28 August 2016 to explore the dynamics of public space. A Community Art Experience Day was held on the closing day to share the joy with local residents!

This was not a typical art exhibition. All the exhibited art pieces, including a series of exhibits and installations, were created by local residents and artists. The aims were to unleash the creative potential of Kwun Tong residents and infuse art into the public space. Art Connects: Kwun Tong was concluded with a public space party on the last day. Kwun Tong residents came over to enjoy ink painting, lawn sharing and screen making. The joyful afternoon came to a perfect ending with a sunset gig.

Through the urban experiment, detailed observation and interviews were carried out to understand the interaction between the art pieces, public space and community. The results would shed light on how do public, artists and stakeholders collaborate to create a lively public space and raise awareness of quality open space in Hong Kong.

Click here to know more about Art Connects: Kwun Tong

Creating sustainable communities: BEAM Plus Neighbourhood

HKGBC launched the new rating tool BEAM Plus Neighbourhood in December 2016. The tool assesses the sustainability performance of a project at the master planning stage. It introduced a new assessment criterion – Community Aspects (CA), which emphasises the socio-economic impacts of a development project on its neighbourhood, such as community engagement, cultural assets, design and quality of open spaces.

Take Your Own Lawn: Residents getting a piece of lawn in the lawn sharing session

Screen-Play: Making the screen for Kwun Tong together

Sunset GIG: Music performance by the local music band Fast4Wardhk

Hong Kong Projects Triumphed at the WorldGBC Asia Pacific Leadership in Green Building Awards 2016

The Asia Pacific Leadership in Green Building Awards, organised by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), are the only ones to recognise green building achievements across the whole of Asia Pacific Region. Two Hong Kong projects, Construction Industry Council – ZCB and Double Cove, stood out from nominations from 11 countries across the region and won the Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance Awards in institutional and commercial categories respectively. Let's give a big hand to the winning projects!

Click here to learn more about the winners

The winning projects: Construction Industry Council – ZCB (left) and Double Cove

Sign up for the Friends of Green Building and Stay Abreast of News on Green Building Education

The Council has established a new platform called Friends of Green Building to keep the public updated about the news and activities on green building education. Members of the public may subscribe to the platform for free by providing contact information, and the Council will release e-news to keep the subscribers updated about news and activities on green building such as seminars, visits, competitions, exhibitions and so on.

Click here to sign up for the Friends of Green Building

HK G-PASS and Eco-Product Directory Help Suppliers Expand Green Product Market and Foster Green Procurement

Recently, the Government of the HKSAR fosters green procurement in the community and has been taking the lead in adopting green procurement in various bureaux and departments. The Council launched the HKGBC Green Product Accreditation and Standards (HK G-PASS) and Eco-Product Directory respectively to assist industry practitioners and consumers with green procurement and contribute to environmental protection. Let’s learn more about the HK G-PASS and Eco-Product Directory at our website.

Eco Expo Asia: Showcasing Green Solutions for a Changing Climate

With the theme “Green Solutions for a Changing Climate” echoing the 2015 Paris Agreement, the 11th edition of Eco Expo Asia took place on 26-29 October 2016 at the AsiaWorld-Expo. A record number of 325 exhibitors from 19 countries and regions, and a total of 12 international pavilions and group participations exhibited at the Expo, attracting around 13,500 buyers from 107 countries and regions.

The Council was one of the supporting organisations of the Expo, and set up an informative booth to introduce our initiatives for the industry such as BEAM Plus and HK G-PASS, the upcoming World Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2017 Hong Kong (WSBE17 Hong Kong) and some award-winning green building projects to showcase the latest local green building development.

The Council sets up a booth in the Expo to promote industry tools such as BEAM Plus and HK G-PASS.

Directors of the Council Dr Benny Chow Ka-ming (third right) and Ir Colin Chung Chi-leong (second left) are invited as moderator and speaker respectively of the Eco Asia Conference to discuss latest green building trends with local and overseas experts.

[END]