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1.2 A Quantitative Approach
To understand the current building energy
consumption in detail, buildings are first
categorised into two main segments:
residential and commercial, as the two
types have significantly different energy
consumption intensities and patterns.
Furthermore, commercial buildings are
divided into several subcategories to
highlight particular characteristics (e.g.
existing office buildings, new office
buildings, existing retail buildings etc.).
The potential for energy reduction in each
building category and sub-category is
estimated through energy modelling. To
ensure the models are of appropriate levels
of accuracy, they are calibrated against
measured data in actual operation. The
overall reduction potential is thus built
through bottom-up approach, by analysing
the energy saving measures for each type
of building, and assessing their cumulative
effects on the entire building stock.
There are obviously many different ways
of achieving HK3030 target, and in the
executive summary, we look at a particular
scenario in achieving the target to illustrate
the market drivers and critical initiatives
required. The objective of the executive
summary is definitely not to lay down in
stone the route to HK3030, but to spur
discussion. Readers who are interested in
details of market drivers, initiatives and
overall HK3030 scenarios are strongly
encouraged to refer to the report on
“Research on Market Dr i vers for the
Transformation of Green Buildings in Hong
A quantitative approach – The importance and scarcity of facts