News & Events

Hong Kong，25 November 2020 - The Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) welcomes the Chief Executive’s 2020 Policy Address released today. The HKGBC shall continue to work in tandem with the Government and all the stakeholders on the following initiatives to further the commitment for a greener and more sustainable built environment:

The Council is delighted to see that the Government has set up a concrete decarbonisation target and will update the “Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan” in the middle of next year to set out more proactive strategies and measures for carbon emissions reduction. HKGBC has been working with the Government on reducing carbon emissions of Hong Kong for years. The Council has also been leading the “Advancing Net Zero” project with the World Green Building Council since 2019 to accelerate the decarbonisation of Hong Kong’s built environment.

The supplement of policy address indicates that the Government will collaborate with HKGBC to explore the development of a sustainability evaluation system to enhance the performance and sustainability of infrastructure projects, and to reinforce the international status of Hong Kong’s infrastructure development. The Council is supportive of developing a green assessment tool for civil engineering infrastructures and a guidebook for sustainable built environment.

The Council welcomes the Government to examine various means to reduce carbon emissions, such as enhancing the energy efficiency of both new and existing buildings. As a certification body of the BEAM Plus assessment tools, the Council continuously improves the tool for enhancing buildings’ energy performance. The Council is also pleased to see that the Government reveals to roll out various measures to enhance energy efficiency of Government buildings, including retro-commissioning (RCx) to inspect the energy performance of existing buildings timely to identify areas where energy saving can be optimised, and encouraging departments to seek green building certification for buildings under their management. HKGBC has been actively promoting RCx to the industry since last year. In the coming three years, the Council will further encourage 120 schools to implement RCx practices and transform more existing buildings to green. 

The Council is delighted to see that the Government has been developing green finance continuously to boost investments on carbon emissions reduction of local buildings, and to build a low-carbon economy which is more resilient to climate change. The Council suggests issuers to participate in BEAM Plus assessment for credible certifications on building projects’ or assets’ environmental performance, which would greatly enhance stakeholders’ confidence. Meanwhile, the Council strives to encourage more organisations to retrofit their buildings through green financing to improve buildings’ energy efficiency.
 

The Council supports the multiple measures for waste reduction to alleviate climate change by reducing carbon emissions. Meanwhile, with the “Hong Kong Green Shop Alliance”, the Council has been actively motivating local malls and shops to implement environmental protection and waste reduction measures. 

The policy address mentions the "Lantau Tomorrow Vision" within which includes developing a liveable and carbon-neutral community. Achieving net zero carbon emissions is the Council’s vision. The Council is pleased to see that the Government is pushing zero-carbon communities forward, cultivating the liveability of the city, and popularising green buildings.
 

The Government is committed to rally community’s support for public education and publicity on low-carbon lifestyle, moving towards the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The Council supports relevant measures of the Government and will continue to contribute to public education and publicity, including the annual event, "Hong Kong Green Building Week", to educate the public on how green buildings can alleviate climate change. The Council also organises “My Green Space” Student Competition" to instil green building knowledge to the younger generation and nurture them to be pioneers in promoting green buildings.

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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 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.