Beam Plus Interior Launching Ceremony
Posted on: 24 September 2013
New Green Assessment Method for Building Interiors
BEAM Plus Interiors complements Existing System to promote Comprehensive and Holistic Design Approach
(24 September 2013) Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) and BEAM Society Limited today announced the launch of BEAM Plus Interiors, a new green assessment system for the interior occupied spaces of non-domestic buildings. The new system is applicable to office and retail premises, hotel rooms and function rooms, restaurants, educational facilities and institutional facilities such as hospitals.
The launch ceremony was officiated by Mr Wong Kam-sing, JP, Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR Government; Ir Conrad TC Wong, BBS, JP, Chairman of Hong Kong Green Building Council; Prof John Ng, Chairperson of BEAM Society Limited; and Mr John Herbert, Chairperson of BEAM Plus Interiors Steering Committee. Following the ceremony, Mr Herbert presented an informative seminar on the implementation of BEAM Plus Interiors as well as on emerging sustainable industry trends and regulations.
In his welcome address, Ir Conrad TC Wong emphasised the importance of promoting innovation and best practices in the construction and design industry amid worsening climate change and resource scarcity. "Our commitment to building a green city has to strengthen with the growing environmental challenges we face," Ir Wong explained. "BEAM Plus Interiors widens the coverage of existing BEAM Plus system to include fit-out, renovation and refurbishment projects of non-domestic, occupied spaces specifically for Hong Kong."
"In response to the Industry demand for years, we are now taking a further step to encourage construction companies and designers to adopt a holistic, whole-building strategy to achieve environmental, public health and safety as well as socioeconomic benefits," he added.
Devised specifically for new and existing buildings within the local context, the assessment scheme has undergone several stages of refinement and is regularly enhanced to keep pace with evolving industry trends and regulations. Since the introduction of BEAM Plus assessment scheme in April 2010, more than 400 projects registered under BEAM Plus New Buildings and Existing Buildings assessment schemes, the thriving number of project applications for BEAM Plus reveals that building green is the new industry norm. The launch of BEAM Plus Interiors marks the beginning of a new chapter for the method by expanding the scope of the existing tools to address considerably environmental and public health issues of interior space. These include, for example, indoor environmental quality, energy use and water use. Key aspects of building management, such as green cleaning practices are also covered. Page 2 of 4
According to Prof John Ng, market demand was a strong driver in the development of BEAM Plus Interiors. "There are about 40 million square metres of office space in Hong Kong, with renovation and fit-out projects representing the bulk of active projects each and every day. In response to robust market demand, we set about formulating BEAM Plus Interiors in consultation with leading industry experts and stakeholders. It took 12 months to develop and refine and it is with great pride that we present this exciting new system today."
Requiring only a one-stage assessment process at the end of the fit-out, renovation or refurbishment and associated testing and commissioning, BEAM Plus Interiors offers four certification levels, namely, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Eligible premises are evaluated on the following criteria: Green Building Attributes (GBA); Management (MAN), such as green cleaning and health and safety; Materials Aspects (MA), such as waste recycling facilities; Energy Use (EU); Water Use (WU); Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), such as indoor planting and air quality; and Innovations (IV).
New project registration of assessment is available since 14 August 2013. Over 200 BEAM Professionals (BEAM Pro) have completed the training for the new system by BEAM Society Limited and the updated BEAM Pro Directory is available at HKGBC’s website.
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About HKGBC: Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) is a non-profit, member led organisation established in 2009 with the vision to aspire for quality and sustainability at every stage of the building life cycle and embrace these principles as a mark of excellence. The Founding Members of HKGBC include the Construction Industry Council (CIC), Business Environment Council (BEC), BEAM Society Limited (BSL) and Professional Green Building Council (PGBC). Its mission is to lead the market transformation to a sustainable built environment in Hong Kong by guiding the development of industry standards, best practices, education, and research in green building.
About BSL: BSL, owner of Building Environmental Assessment Method, is a non-profit organisation committing to develop and implement BEAM assessment tools, assess green buildings and train BEAM Professionals. BEAM assessment tools have certified green building developments encompassing over 140 million square feet of space and over 50,000 residential units. On per capita basis, BEAM is one of the most widely used voluntary green building labelling schemes of its kind in the world. The latest version of BEAM assessment tools – BEAM Plus Version 1.2 for New Buildings and Existing Buildings addresses issues for passive design. Launching in August 2013, BEAM Plus Interiors will assess the environmental impacts made by tenants and occupants.