News & Events

Hong Kong，10 October 2018 - The Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) welcomes the Government’s initiatives on energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste management and green finance as proposed in The Chief Executive’s 2018 Policy Address released today. The HKGBC shall continue to work in tandem with the Government and all the stakeholders to further the commitment for a greener and more sustainable built environment:

As electricity use in buildings accounts for about 90% of the total electricity consumption in Hong Kong, reducing carbon emissions of buildings and building related activities is pivotal. HKGBC appreciates the Government to lead by example, enhance energy efficiency of existing government buildings and conduct retro-commissioning progressively in suitable major government buildings. Being a professional body and partner to the Government, the Council launched the ACT-Shop programme in 2016 by advocating retro-commissioning practices in over 42,000 existing buildings within the private sector, assisting building owners to enhance the energy performance of individual buildings while complementing the Government on the energy saving targets. HKGBC will strengthen the collaboration with the Government and other Mainland professional bodies and academic institutions in order to propel retro-commissioning works under ‘ACT-Shop’. We look forward to seeing more bureaux and departments to apply BEAM Plus certifications for buildings under their management to yield the low-carbon and low-emission results.

The Government introduced Feed-in Tariff for the private sector, providing incentives for individuals and non-government bodies to invest in renewable energy. HKGBC welcomes further support and facilitation provided to the private sector, including suitably relaxing the restrictions on installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on the rooftops of “village houses”, and making appropriate relaxations for other private buildings such as the low-rise ones, forging energy savings in the community. In addition, HKGBC is pleased with the Government’s initiatives on leading large-scale renewable energy projects while assisting schools and NGOs in installing small-scale renewable energy systems. We anticipate collective efforts among various stakeholders in building a green community.

In view of the launching of the Municipal Solid Waste charging scheme, the recurrent resources from the Government to support waste reduction and recycling will become financial incentives for industry players and stakeholders. HKGBC will promote waste reduction at source and clean recycling to over 600 members through its Hong Kong Green Shop Alliance, a platform to foster a greener shopping environment in town, by forging consensus among all stakeholders and advocating industry players to go green, along with the Government’s implementation of Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022. In addition, HKGBC’s BEAM Plus echoes the overall waste reduction strategy of the Government in terms of the construction waste reduction, mobilising a sustainable development in Hong Kong.

To promote the development of green finance in Hong Kong, HKGBC anticipates the launch of the Government Green Bond Programme with a borrowing ceiling of $100 billion, facilitating the development of green infrastructure. We shall carry out regular and collaborative communications with different industry players, promote the standards and developments of sustainable buildings, including the BEAM Plus rating tool – the leading initiative to offer independent assessments of building sustainability performance, for green building projects under green bond.

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The Hong Kong Green Building Council Limited (HKGBC) is a non-profit, member led organisation established in 2009 with the vision to help save the planet and improve the wellbeing of the people of Hong Kong by transforming the city into a greener built environment. The Founding Members of the HKGBC include the Construction Industry Council (CIC), the Business Environment Council (BEC), the BEAM Society Limited (BSL) and the Professional Green Building Council (PGBC). Its mission is to lead market transformation by advocating green policies to the Government; introducing green building practices to all stakeholders; setting design, construction and management standards for the building profession; and promoting green living to the people of Hong Kong.