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2.3.1 The Market Drivers
Pursuing disclosure –
The crucial role of benchmarking
Building energy benchmarking is the hinge
point on the roadmap. Firstly, many of the
initiatives in stage one are geared towards
the implementation of benchmarking
– the refinement of building codes, the
preparation of assessment methodology in
BEAM Plus, etc.
Secondly, a significant part of stage two also
requires a robust benchmarking system to
succeed – the identification of enhancement
works in retro-commissioning and
retrofitting, the construction of a consistent
financial framework in GFA incentives,
ESCOs (Energy Service Companies – i.e.
energy savings performance contracts) and
carbon markets.
Currently, HKGBC has put into action
two initiatives towards the successful
implementation of benchmarking – a tool
targeting commercial tenants, and another
one focusing on the landlord building
management. The full action plan highlights
the synchronisation of these tools with the
roadmap [3].
Tackling the significant impact of existing
buildings head-on
Greater portion of the energy reduction
will come from upgrading our existing
buildings. 58% of building electricity demand
in the year 2030 will come from existing
commercial buildings that have already
been built. On average, these buildings will
need to reduce their energy use intensity by
50%, as compared to the intensity level of an
average commercial building in 2005.
To enact such a level of energy reduction,
a number of sequential steps must be
pursued. The process starts by enlisting a
significant portion of the existing building
stock into a program of reporting, the data
gained can then be used for consistent
benchmarking, which in turn drives the low-
hanging fruit retro-commissioning process
in bringing the building stock up to defined
performance standard, and finally the
adoption of retrofitting of energy efficient
systems to bring the energy consumption
down to the required level. The roadmap is
in a large part driven by the sequence and
scheduling of these steps.