Knowledge Portal
What is Climate Change?
Climate change refers to a long term shift in the Earth's global or regional climate, measured by long term changes in the weather conditions, such as temperature, precipitation and wind pattern. With increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea levels, the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report concludes that global warming is unequivocal and accelerating.
Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
Although climate change is a natural phenomenon, the warming trend since the mid-20th century is very likely due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuel and deforestation which increase concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs). As human-induced GHGs such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) act like a blanket which traps heat in the atmosphere, the surge of GHG concentrations after the Industrial Revolution has resulted in an enhanced greenhouse effect, making the Earth get hotter and hotter.
The IPCC projected that there would be more frequent and intense extreme weather events due to global warming. We must not allow temperatures to rise more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels if we wish to avoid catastrophic impacts of climate change.
What has been done to engage the Public on Issues Relating to Climate Change and Built Environment?
The Council for Sustainable Development conducted a public engagement exercise on Building Design to Foster a Quality and Sustainable Built Environment in 2009 and has made over 50 recommendations on the core issues set out for the public engagement.
The Environment Bureau of the HKSAR Government launched a public consultation in September 2010 to gauge the public and stakeholders' views on Hong Kong's climate change strategy and action agenda for the coming decade. The public consultation document proposed an overall target to reduce Hong Kong's carbon intensity by 50-60% in 2020 as compared with the 2005 level.
Hong Kong's Climate Change Strategy and Action Agenda – Public Consultation Document
What Are Government Doing to Maximize Energy Efficiency in Building and Achieve Carbon Emission Reduction?
Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (BEE Ordinance), Building Energy Code (BEC) and Energy Audit Code (EAC)
The BEE Ordinance was enacted in 2010. It requires (1) the 4 major building services installations including lighting, electrical, air conditioning and lift & escalator installations of 13 categories of prescribed buildings to comply with the BEC and; (2) commercial buildings or commercial portion of composite buildings to conduct energy audit in accordance with EAC.
Energy Efficiency (Labelling of Products) Ordinance
The Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme (MEELS) requires energy labels to be displayed on prescribed products (including refrigerating appliances, room air conditioners, compact fluorescent lamps, washing machines and dehumidifiers) before being supplied in Hong Kong to facilitate consumers in choosing energy-efficient appliances.
Energy Efficiency (Labelling of Products) Ordinance
Voluntary Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme (EELS)
The EELS covers 19 types of household appliances and office equipment, 11 types of which are electrical appliances including refrigerators (Voluntary Scheme), washing machines (Voluntary Scheme), non-integrated type compact fluorescent lamps, dehumidifiers (Voluntary Scheme), electric clothes dryers, room coolers (Voluntary Scheme), electric storage water heaters, television sets, electric rice-cookers, electronic ballasts and LED Lamp (effective from 14 June 2011). The other 7 types of office equipment include photocopiers, fax machines, multifunction devices, laser printers, LCD monitors, computers and hot / cold bottled water dispensers. There is 1 type of gas appliance for domestic gas instantaneous water heaters.
Voluntary Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme
Building (Energy Efficiency) Regulation
The Government is reviewing the overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) standard of buildings, and the Buildings Department has recently revised the Practice Notes for Authorized Persons, Registered Structural Engineers and Registered Geotechnical Engineers (PNAP) No. APP-67 in January 2011 and tightened the OTTV standards for building tower and podium by 20%. It is anticipated that such revision can save 2.4 to 4.4% of energy subject to floor layout and types of air conditioning system.
Buildings Energy Efficiency Funding Schemes
Buildings Energy Efficiency Funding Schemes (BEEFS) were formally launched in April 2009 with the allocation of $450 million from the Environment and Conservation Fund to provide financial support to building owners to implement energy-cum-carbon audit and energy improvement projects.
Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence
First introduced in 2008, the Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE) was led by the Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) alongside the Environmental Protection Department and in conjunction with nine organizations. In 2011, a total of four award schemes will be offered, namely, "Environmental Labels", "Carbon"Less" Certificates", "Green Innovations Awards" and "Sectoral Awards".
Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence
"Green Hong Kong ‧ Carbon Audit" campaign
The Environment Bureau launched the campaign in July 2008. Organisations from different sectors are invited to join the "Green Hong Kong．Carbon Audit" Campaign by signing the Carbon Reduction Charter and undertaking to conduct carbon audits and carry out activities in support of carbon reduction in their buildings. So far, more than 250 organisations (as of end August 2011) have taken the lead and signed up to the Charter to become "Carbon Audi．Green Partners".
"Green Hong Kong ‧ Carbon Audit" campaign
Have You Heard About These?
Energy Audit
Energy audit is a framework that combines both qualitative and quantitative techniques for energy management. No matter a walk-through or detailed audit is adopted, the energy consumption data is in general collected and compared against a predetermined benchmarking value to calculate the individual and overall variance. The variances are then used for determining and formulating the necessary energy saving measures for implementation and further evaluation.
"Guidelines on Energy Audit" published by the EMSD
Carbon Audit
Carbon audit is a systematic procedure for measuring, evaluating, reporting and verifying the greenhouse gases (GHGs) directly and indirectly emitted or removed by an entity, such as a person, household, building, facility, organisation and corporation; or by a geographical body such as a country, state or region.
Carbon audit provides the reported entity with a baseline to derive a pragmatic approach to reduce GHG emissions and allows evaluation of the effectiveness of the carbon reduction measures and policies introduced, which can lead to potential cost savings. It is a holistic measurement that looks at GHG emissions of an entity and tracks all emissions producing activities using a set of standard reporting protocols.
Some commonly used protocols and international reporting initiatives as shown below:
| International protocol or standards / Reporting initiatives | Description |
|---|---|
| Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (2004) |
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BEAM Plus
Today Hong Kong has the BEAM Plus certification system to rate the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings types.
The BEAM Plus certification covers various assessment criteria in respect of the environmental sustainability of buildings. A total of five key areas are assessed namely (1) Site Aspects; (2) Materials Aspects; (3) Energy Use; (4) Water Use; and (5) Indoor Environmental Quality. In order to facilitate the promotion of sustainable buildings, bonus credits will be awarded for innovative techniques and performance enhancement. Subject to the overall assessment grade, the certification will fall into one of four categories. These include platinum, gold, silver as well as bronze. Each certification period has a validity of up to 5 years.
With effect from 1 April 2011, BEAM Plus certification has become one of the pre-requisites for the granting of gross floor area (GFA) concessions in a development. Despite this, green building certification and relevant rating standards are not yet widely applied in Hong Kong.
Informative Bill
Informative billing is a cost effective means to encourage energy-saving. More information could be provided on the electricity bills to encourage energy-saving. Such additional information may include the following and smart meters can help provide some of them –
- Current actual prices and actual consumption of energy;
- Energy consumption pattern over the year;
- Comparisons of the customer's final current energy consumption with consumption for the same period in the previous year, preferably in graphic form;
- Wherever possible, comparisons with an average normalized or benchmarked user of energy in the same user category;
- A breakdown of how consumption is distributed between end-uses in a flat unit;
- Contact information for consumers' organisations, energy agencies or similar bodies, including website addresses, from which information may be obtained on available energy efficiency improvement measures, comparative end-user profiles and/or objective technical specifications for energy-using equipment.
