Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Jun 09, 2023

Hong Kong’s old buildings still have green potential

Hong Kong’s old buildings still have green potential

Building green isn’t nearly as sustainable as adapting the city’s thousands of existing high-rises. Property developers must focus on making these buildings more energy efficient, and, better yet, readily adaptable to future energy-saving technology.

While there was plenty of fanfare around COP27’s historic agreement to set up a loss and damage fund, I would have liked to see more coverage on the progress being made in other key areas, such as policies focused on the built environment.

That said, it’s not just about government action. The private sector should similarly set ambitious energy targets and work towards them through a range of strategies.

Hong Kong is well-known for its built environment of high-rise urban areas, set adjacent to subtropical hilly and even mountainous terrain. For decades, the city has been one of the world’s most densely populated places, with most of its 7 million residents living and working in skyscrapers.

New buildings in Hong Kong are often portrayed as a symbol of success. But in a sustainability-focused world, should we be so quick to demolish and rebuild?

Properties globally are some of the biggest energy consumers in the world, accounting for one-quarter to one-third of all energy use, and a similar amount of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a paper in ScienceDirect. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu noted in his maiden policy address that more than 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s carbon emissions are attributable to generating electricity for buildings.

Developers and landlords have recognised for years that they have a responsibility to reduce emissions. Back in 1995, Hong Kong developers came together to establish the BEAM building standard, especially for construction in subtropical climates. In 2007, the Asia Business Council published a book called Building Energy Efficiency: Why Green Buildings Are Key to Asia’s Future.

The book references a McKinsey Global Institute study which found that improvements to existing buildings are four of the five most cost-effective measures that can be taken to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions (the fifth was improving energy efficiency in commercial vehicles).


A residential building under construction in Hong Kong on October 11. More than 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s carbon emissions are attributable to generating electricity for buildings.

This is because new buildings have what is called “embodied carbon” – the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the construction of a building. Put simply, embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of a building before it becomes operational. It is distinct from “operational carbon”, the carbon dioxide that comes from energy, heat and lighting.

It’s no wonder, then, that the saying goes: “The greenest building is the one that is already built”. As such, despite the continual clang of cement mixers and drilling that has become white noise in Hong Kong, much of the building work taking place is done behind the scenes, as developers refit current buildings with energy-efficient components.

Leading developers in Hong Kong spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to retrofit existing assets to drive energy efficiency.

Today’s property owners need to have a great deal of imagination. On the one hand, we have to continuously be on the lookout for new property technology to increase the energy efficiency of our buildings.

On the other, we need to ensure existing technology can be easily upgraded or adapted to support new ideas that have yet to be invented. It’s a more difficult path to follow than constructing a new building, but it is worth the effort.

An example of imagination at play is the so-called blue economy, the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth. The idea of the blue economy was only conceived in 2012 at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Yet, more than 90 years ago, building owners in Hong Kong began to use seawater for cooling systems. It was a huge, imaginative step forward.

The real estate industry in Hong Kong has really stepped up when it comes to reducing its carbon footprint, as demonstrated by the sector leading the way for science-based target commitments.

Four out of the 10 companies in Hong Kong which have their 1.5 degrees Celsius-aligned greenhouse gas emissions targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) are property developers. While we are delighted that developers are aspiring to LEED and BEAM certification for new buildings, we know that reinvesting in existing buildings is disproportionately important for achieving a net-zero carbon future.

That’s why property owners are introducing smart technologies to create digital management systems that reduce energy consumption and waste production.

To be truly efficient, developers need to install a central monitoring system which integrates the management of buildings with device sensors, security cameras, AI technologies and mobile apps to provide centralised oversight.

Efforts in the real estate industry to retrofit and reuse are not only underpinned by the need to perform well environmentally, but are necessary to meet changing user expectations. Tenants are becoming more discerning about the buildings they occupy and consider landlords’ green credentials when moving to a new building.

The drive to retrofit has gathered momentum over recent years. Repositioning and refurbishing existing buildings to meet the evolving needs of society and the economy allows us to reuse building materials and avoid the need for new site work, which can reduce emissions significantly when compared with a new building.

These are just part of our efforts to decarbonise Hong Kong’s property market and are a positive step towards achieving net-zero by 2050. The private sector can take more initiative in collaborating with governments and NGOs to achieve a common climate change goal.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
Close
0:00
0:00
The Fed fixing the economy
Corporations standing up for “LGDP-LGT-LBG-LGBTQ2+ kids” during ‘Pride Month’ be like:
A Major Ukrainian Hydroelectric Dam BLOWN UP
US and European Intelligence Agencies Uncover Evidence of Ukrainian Role in Terror Attack on Nord Stream Pipeline
Photos and videos of Hunter Biden with underage minors have been released.
The driver has been described by authorities as a 21-year-old woman from Tallahassee
Joe Biden falls at the Air Force Graduation
America's Got Talent…
Elon Musk has been showered with praise by the Chinese public during his trip to China
Nvidia Joins Tech Giants as First Chipmaker to Reach $1 Trillion Valuation
Drone Attack on Moscow's Wealthiest Neighborhoods Suspected to be Launched by Ukraine
AI ‘extinction’ should be same priority as nuclear war – experts
Chinese fighter jet buzzes U.S. Air Force spy plane over South China Sea
Prominent Hacker Forum RaidForums Suffers Substantial Data Breach
Nvidia CEO Huang says firms, individuals without AI expertise will be left behind
WPP Revolutionizes Advertising with NVIDIA's AI Powerhouse
Two US Employees Fired For Chasing Robbers Out Of Store As They Broke ''Company Policy''
Pfizer, the EU, and disappearing ink - Smoke, Mirrors, and the Billion-Dose Pfizer Vaccine Deal: EU's 'Open Secret
The Sussexes' Royal Rebound: Could Harry and Meghan Markle Return to the UK?
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
Neuralink Receives FDA Approval for First-in-Human Clinical Study
Ukrainian Intelligence Official Admits to Assassination Attempts on Putin
WATCH THIS: democracy in Russia is so bad!
Ed Davey: It is possible for a woman to have a penis
Bernard Arnault Loses $11.2 Billion in One Day as Investors Fear Slowdown in US Growth Will Reduce Demand for Luxury Products
Russian’s Wagner Group leader: “I am not a chef, I am a butcher. Russia is in danger of a revolution like in 1917.”
TikTok Sues Montana Over Law Banning the App
Ron DeSantis Jumps Into 2024 Presidential Race, Setting Up Showdown With Trump
Steve Jobs introducing Apple's iPhone, exactly 16 years ago.
Banking Behemoth vs Ex-Boss: The PMorgan-Epstein Entanglement
China overtakes Japan as world's top car exporter
Talks between US House Republicans and President Biden's Democratic administration on raising the federal government's $31.4tn debt ceiling have paused
Biden Administration Eyeing High-Profile Visits to China: The Biden Administration is heating things up by looking into setting up a series of top-level visits to Beijing by top officials in the coming months
New evidence in special counsel probe may undercut Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified
A French court of appeals confirmed former President Nicolas Sarkozy's three-year jail term for corruption and influence peddling
Debt Ceiling Crises Have Unleashed Political Chaos
Weibao Wang, a former software engineer at Apple, was charged with stealing trade secrets related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars
Mobile phone giant Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as new boss says its performance not good enough
Elon Musk compares George Soros to Magneto, the supervillain from the Marvel Comics series.
Warren Buffett Sells TSMC Shares Over Concerns About Taiwan's Stability
New Study Finds That Secondary Bacterial Pneumonia Is a Major Cause of Death in COVID-19 Patients Who Require Ventilator Assistance
The official tapes of Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll battery (rape) and defamation case have been released.
King Charles III being crowned.
Newly released video of Donald Trump’s rape trial deposition:
Video: Ukraine MP Punches Russian Representative At Global Meet
El Paso mayor has declared a state of emergency
Russia accused Ukraine of attacking the Kremlin with drones in an attempt to kill Putin
Dutch court orders man who fathered 550 kids to stop donating sperm
Kim Kardashian Lookalike Christina Ashten Dies Of Cardiac Arrest, Hours After Plastic Surgery
Samsung has banned employees from using generative AI services such as ChatGPT
×