2
“I started visiting construction sites with my father
when I was eight and since my family was in the
business, the choice to study civil engineering was
quite natural,” explains Conrad. “From the moment
I entered this field, building and engineering have
always been an integral part of my life. However, it
was my daughter’s ‘wake-up call’ that truly inspired
me to pursue a greener future for the building
industry. We need to do it for our children’s sake!”
Conrad’s daughter has not followed in his footsteps
of studying construction, but her recent school
project on green buildings was so impressive that
her teamwon a prize in Korea.
“The girls didn’t want any advice from any adults.
I was so proud of them,” he says. “They quite rightly
insisted that they needed to complete this project by themselves. The chairman of the
HKGBC made no exceptions!”
Bringing a Vision to Life
Conrad deeply believes this is a historic moment, both for mankind and the building
industry. “We are very fortunate to be at the right time and the right place, in Hong Kong
at the beginning of the 21
st
century,” he says. “I believe we, the building industry, have an
unprecedented opportunity to make a difference.”
Thankfully for Hong Kong, Conrad is both a thinker and a doer, a rare combination since
the two qualities often do not mix well. “I find such tremendous satisfaction in thinking
how to build a better and greener future,” he adds. “If you just give me a piece of paper
and a pen, I can spend an entire day on my own without saying a single word.”
While ingenious strategies and plans require a copious amount of
time and effort to structure and formulate, their success also depends
on strong leadership skills and the ability to gather and efficiently
use resources.
With this in mind, Conrad and a board of directors initiated the
HK3030 campaign, which targets to reduce the absolute electricity
consumption of buildings in Hong Kong by 30% of the 2005 level
by the year 2030. To achieve this goal, a reduction of about 60% per
square meter on average is needed across all buildings in Hong Kong.
HK3030 Target:
To reduce electricity consumption
of buildings in Hong Kong
30
%
Year
2005 2030
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