Hong Kong non-profits nudge city's builders to go green with new assessment criteria

Two non-profit groups instrumental to promoting green building practices in the city have unveiled new criteria to entice existing buildings to go green in line with a ground-breaking government blueprint on the matter.

The Hong Kong Green Building Council, in partnership with BEAM Society, announced today that a new ‘management’ category has been added to the existing six performance areas used to assess and promote green practices and management.

The changes will take effect from January next year.

So Kai-ming, vice chairperson of the society, said green habits needed to be better incentivized. “For example, are landlords or developers willing to choose eco-friendly materials when planning renovation works?” he asked. “Are they willing to reduce air or noise pollution?”

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At present, extra gross floor area is granted to new buildings carrying out a green building assessment. Few incentives exist for existing buildings to be retrofitted to ‘go green’, apart from tenants enjoying a lower electricity bill and owners being seen as environmentally responsible.

So added, “It is also important to encourage tenants to adopt green habits like recycling.”