News & Events

HONG KONG, 17 September 2025 - The Hong Kong Green Building Council (the Council) welcomes the Chief Executive’s 2025 Policy Address released today. Centred on the theme "Deepen Reforms, Committed to People's Livelihood, Leverage Strengths, and Co-create the Future", the Policy Address sets a clear direction for Hong Kong's development. The Council will continue to work closely with the Government and various sectors, leveraging its role as a pioneer in promoting green building and as the certification body for BEAM Plus. The Council remains committed to advancing sustainable built environments both locally and beyond Hong Kong, contributing to a greener future for all.

Advancing the Internationalisation of BEAM Plus to Support Green Development among Belt and Road Regions

The Council welcomes the Government's active support for the national initiative to foster green collaboration under the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative. This includes promoting green co-operation with B&R countries through measures such as jointly setting up a B&R Green Development Co-operation Platform in Hong Kong with the B&R Initiative International Green Development Coalition, and supporting the Council in promoting the BEAM Plus green building assessment tool among B&R countries, thereby deepening international exchanges and co-operation, and promoting sustainability, environmental protection, green building, and low-carbon development to the world.

Promoting green building development has always been a core mission of the Council. Since launching the BEAM Plus Global Version last year, the Council has expanded its application to projects beyond Hong Kong to include Belt and Road countries. To date, nine new and existing buildings in Mainland China have participated in pilot assessments under BEAM Plus. Notably, the "Special Promotion Complex Project" in Djibouti, East Africa, has become the first project to be officially certified under the BEAM Plus Global Version. This milestone successfully demonstrated the tool’s adaptability in B&R regions.

In addition, the "CIC Green Product Certification Scheme" owned by the Construction Industry Council and operated by the Council, launched its Version 2.0 in May 2025. This updated version accepts services from third-party certification bodies in Mainland China, facilitating the certification of Mainland green products in Hong Kong. The certification criteria are aligned with BEAM Plus assessment standards, creating synergies that support promotion across B&R regions.

In support of the "B&R Sustainable Green Development Training Centre" to be established by the Environmental Protection Department next year, which will offer training courses in Hong Kong for personnel from B&R regions, the Council will continue to provide green building standards and related professional training services to support the Centre's efforts in positioning Hong Kong as a key hub for exporting green building expertise.

The Council is committed to supporting Hong Kong's role of "bringing in and going out" by exploring the potential and needs of green buildings in B&R countries, advancing the internationalisation of BEAM Plus, and enhancing its global recognition.

Developing Hong Kong into a Demonstration Base for Green Technology and Accelerating Carbon Reduction in Existing Buildings

The Council is pleased to see the Government’s continued efforts to driving the market to accelerate carbon reduction in existing buildings, promoting the commercialisation of green I&T outcomes, supporting the market development of technologies for battery-swapping EVs and automated battery-swapping stations, and encouraging the construction of district cooling systems by non-government entities

Currently, there are over 42,000 existing buildings in the private sector in Hong Kong. Accelerating carbon reduction in these buildings requires retrofitting, retro-commissioning, and the adoption of innovative operational strategies. In recent years, the Council has launched several new initiatives, including the "HKGBC Retrofitting Hub", which features different successful case studies to promote building energy efficiency retrofits. Additionally, the HKGBC Retrofitting Guidebook (Version 2) provides industry professionals with a range of retrofit strategies to help reduce energy consumption in existing buildings.

Accelerating the Development of the Northern Metropolis and Incorporating Green Building Principles

The Council welcomes the Government’s establishment of the Committee on Development of the Northern Metropolis, chaired by the Chief Executive, along with the formation of various task forces to expedite the area's development. To attract investment from various sectors, the Council anticipates that green building elements will be incorporated into planning, engineering, land use, transportation, and environmental strategies. For example:

The Council is pleased to see the Government’s commitment to removing unnecessary barriers and restrictions through the introduction of the Fast Track Processing System. The Council supports the adoption of superior construction methods from different regions, integrating successful construction technologies, materials and equipment from the Mainland China and overseas to reduce construction costs and time. The Council will also continue to enhance the standards of BEAM Plus to improve the environmental performance of buildings.

Promoting Green Finance and Transforming Energy-Saving Achievements into Carbon Credits

With the launch of Core Climate, an international carbon trading platform and the only voluntary carbon credit trading platform in the world offering settlement in Hong Kong dollars and RMB, future efforts will focus on strengthening pilot collaborations with the Greater Bay Area carbon market. This includes exploring cross-border transaction and settlement pathways to jointly build a regional carbon market ecosystem. The Council supports the Government in working with relevant regulatory authorities and institutions in Mainland China to study the nation’s participation in the international carbon market, such as establishing standards and methodologies for voluntary carbon credits, as well as systems for the registration, trading, and settlement of emission reductions.

The Council envisions that tangible energy-saving and carbon-reduction outcomes can be further converted into marketable carbon credits. The Council encourages financial institutions to actively participate, providing additional funding support for green building projects. This initiative not only fosters green investment but also reinforces Hong Kong’s position as a leading international green finance hub.

BEAM Plus, the green building rating scheme operated by the Council, along with the Zero-Carbon-Ready Building Certification Scheme, has been incorporated into the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance. This enables industry stakeholders to define energy performance benchmarks, set carbon neutrality objectives, and justify projects for green financing, thereby accelerating the decarbonisation across Hong Kong's entire built environment. Besides, the Council has launched the "Green Taxonomy Alignment Report Service" to assist banks and industry stakeholders in determining whether projects meet the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s green finance standards. In collaboration with the Hong Kong Green Finance Association, the Council has developed the "Operationalising the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance: A Guide for the Building and Construction Sector" to promote green financing.

Building an Elderly-friendly Society

In response to the Government's establishment of a Working Group on Ageing Society Strategies under the steer of the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration to co-ordinate the efforts of various bureaux in formulating strategy responses, covering areas such as elderly care, healthcare, housing, culture and leisure, and gerontechnology, as well as the further development of the silver economy.

The Council has recently launched the BEAM Plus "Age-Friendly Building" certification scheme, specifically designed for elderly facilities. The Council envisions the Working Group will consider promoting barrier-free design, safety features, and community integration in building design, in order to meet society’s growing demand for inclusive and sustainable design.

To summarise, the Council is pleased to see the Government's continued support for green development and the implementation of various carbon reduction measures. As of August this year, there have been over 2,800 projects registered under BEAM Plus, involving more than 8,800 buildings and covering over 99 million square metres of areas. The Council will continue to serve as a vital bridge between the public, industry, and government, and will further promote sustainability, environmental protection, green buildings, and low-carbon development to the world, contributing to the national goal of achieving "dual carbon" targets.
 

 

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About the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC)
The Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) is a non-profit, member-led organisation established in 2009 and has become a public body under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance since 2016. The HKGBC strives to promote the standard and development of sustainable buildings in Hong Kong. The HKGBC also aims to raise green building awareness by engaging the government, the industry and the public, and to develop practical solutions for Hong Kong’s unique, subtropical built environment of high-rise, high density urban area, leading Hong Kong to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and to become a world’s exemplar of green building development. 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). 

To learn more about the HKGBC, please visit www.hkgbc.org.hk.