News & Events

Hong Kong, 6 December 2016 – The Launching Ceremony of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Version 1.0 Assessment Tool was held today at The Hong Kong Maritime Museum in Central, with Mr Chan Mo-po, GBS, MH, JP, Secretary for Development, Government of the HKSAR, as the officiating guest. Experts, leaders and stakeholders of the building profession were present to witness the historical moment.
 
Mr Paul Chan congratulated the launch of the tool and acknowledged the role of HKGBC and BSL in driving the market transformation towards a more sustainable built environment in Hong Kong, he added that “The Paris Agreement in response to climate change signed by around 200 nations in the UN Climate Change Conference late last year came into effect last month. It is indeed good timing for the HKGBC to launch the BEAM Plus Neighbourhood now so as to show Hong Kong's resolve in abating climate change by spearheading the advancement of the green building movement.”
 
The Hong Kong Green Building Coucil (HKGBC) initiated the development of the assessment tool in 2012 with the goal to encourage environmental sustainability and the design for public realm to be incorporated in the master planning stage of a development project. In formulating the tool, the HKGBC has made reference to leading international assessment tools, experts’ opinion and input from stakeholders. The unique circumstances of Hong Kong have also been taken into consideration during the four years in developing the tool. As a result, seven perfomance aspects are created for the tool, namely Site, Materials and Waste, Energy, Water, Outdoor Environmental Quality, Innnovation and Additions, as well as Community, to emphasise the importance of socio-economic elements.
 
The Chairman of HKGBC, Sr Wong Bay expressed, ‘With the launch of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood, we now have a complete set of tools covering the full building lifecycle, from the planning stage, to the design and construction stage, further to the operation and maintenance stage, and finally, the interior fitting-out stage. Now, we will see the sustainability principles are ingrained in the DNA of a development, which will guide the subsequent stages of development.”
 
The Chairperson of BEAM Society Limited (BSL) cum Chairman of Green Labelling Committee of the HKGBC, Prof. John Ng also added the contribution of the tool, “In a compact city like Hong Kong, having sufficient and quality public space can sometimes be a challenge. It is the vision of both BEAM Society Limited and Hong Kong Green Building Council to drive this change, not only for more and better green buildings in Hong Kong, but also for more sustainable neighbourhoods.”
 
The assessment ratings are determined by the percentage of applicable credits gained under each performance aspect, and its weighting factors. There are four rating: plantinum, gold, silver and bronze. Consider the novel nature of the tool, HKGBC has initiated pilot-testing assessment prior to the formal launch of the tool, to test the new tool on real projects and to recalibrate the tool before its official roll-out. Three projects have participated in the pilot-testing assessment, they are:

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

The assessment tool has the following features:

• Emphasis on “Space between Buildings” - to enable the ‘public realm’ planning and design are taken into account in the master planning stage of the development process.
• Embrace Socio-economic Elements - to encourage a holistic view in a development project, including community engagement, sustainable lifestyle, placemaking...etc.; and
• Be a “Good Neighbour” - to encourage a project development to bring positive impacts to its own occupants as well as its neighbouring community, and to consider the integration with the surrounding areas and nature.

The development of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Version 1.0 is wholly funded by the Construction Industry Council.
 
To enable the building industry and the general public to have a thorough understanding of the mission and background of the assessment tool, four free seminars were conducted in 2016 November. All seminars were well–received with particpation from the relevant stakeholders. To raise the awareness of public space, an urban experiment collaborated with Hong Kong Public Space Initiative was carried out in Kwun Tong in August 2016 to test out different ideas on placemaking.
 
A new qualification, BEAM Professionals (Neighbourhood) is introduced along with the launch of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood. HKGBC and BSL would organise accreditation examination and CPD training series for industry practitioners to learn the technical skills and knowledge of the assessment tool.

Photo 1:
(From left to right) The official launching ceremony was officiated by Ir CS HO, General Manager of the BSL, Prof. John NG, Chairperson of the BSL cum Chairman of Green Labelling Committee of the HKGBC, Mr Paul CHAN Mo-po, GBS, MH, JP, Secretary for Development, Government of the HKSAR, 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.

Photo 2:
Mr Paul CHAN Mo-po, presented the Platinum certificate of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Pilot Version to Ms FUNG Yin Suen, Ada, BBS, JP, Deputy Director of Housing (Development & Construction), Hong Kong Housing Authority for the Subsidised Sale Flats Development at Fat Tseung Street West.

Photo 3:
Mr Paul CHAN Mo-po, presented the Platinum certificate of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Pilot Version to Mr CHAN Fan, JP, Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services for Transformation of EMSD HQ into a Green Building.

Photo 4:
Mr Paul CHAN Mo-po, presented the Platinum certificate of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood Pilot Version to Mr Duncan PESCOD, GBS, JP, Chief Executive Officer, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority for West Kowloon Cultural District.

–END–

About the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC)
 
The Hong Kong Green Building Council Limited (HKGBC) is a non-profit, member led organisation established in 2009 with the vision to aspire for quality and sustainability at every stage of the building life cycle and embrace these principles as a mark of excellence. The Founding Members of HKGBC include the Construction Industry Council (CIC), Business Environment Council (BEC), the BEAM Society Limited (BSL) and the Professional Green Building Council (PGBC). Its mission is to lead the market transformation to a sustainable built environment in Hong Kong by guiding the development of industry standards, best practices, education, and research in green building.
 
To learn more about the HKGBC, please visit www.hkgbc.org.hk.

About the BEAM Society Limited (BSL)
 
BEAM Society Limited (BSL), owner of Building Environmental Assessment Method (BEAM), is a non-profit organisation committed to developing and implementing the BEAM assessment tools (HK-BEAM & BEAM Plus), assessing green buildings and training BEAM Professionals (BEAM Pro) and BEAM Affiliates. BEAM assessment tools have certified green building developments encompassing over 18.6 million square metres of space. On a per capita basis, BEAM is one of the most widely used voluntary green building labelling schemes of its kind in the world.
 
BEAM Society Limited continuously strives to improve the overall quality of the built environment in Hong Kong. BEAM Plus assessment tools, including BEAM Plus Neighbourhood , BEAM Plus New Buildings, BEAM Plus Existing Buildings and BEAM Plus Interiors, are currently applicable to the stages of masterplanning, building design, construction on site and operational life, fit-out and operation.
 
To learn more about BSL, please visit www.beamsociety.org.hk.