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Developing Hong Kong as an incubator of
innovative design
New buildings account for 20% of the
building electricity demand in Hong Kong
by 2030. Though the impact is relatively
smaller than that of existing buildings,
the flexibility in integrating green building
features into new buildings is much
greater, and often allows for a higher level
of energy performance. Perhaps equally
important, is that the innovative design of
new buildings captures the imagination
of both professionals and the public: an
exciting new building serve as a beacon for
demonstrating sustainable design practices,
new technology, and exemplary behaviour.
Hence, we must capture and maximise their
demonstration and education value.
Leading with regulatory drivers
The emphasis is placed on regulatory
initiatives. This has its origin in one of the
findings in the stakeholder engagement
consultation, which is to achieve the
aggressive energy reduction required, a
coherent set of regulatory measures are the
most important type of initiatives. Therefore,
the construction of this roadmap first
considers a number of regulatory policies
(reporting/benchmarking/energy codes),
and then subsequently seeks supportive
market-driven initiatives to support them
(voluntary initiatives/incentives/education).
While the majority of the stakeholders agree
with such a regulatory-driven approach,
it was unrealistic to expect a complete
consensus. Nevertheless, we hope that this
approach serves as a useful starting point in
our continued refinement to the Hong Kong
Green Building Roadmap.