Green buildings: public-private partnerships and technology key for slashing carbon footprints, sustainability experts say
- Hong Kong’s buildings account for 90 per cent of electricity used in the city, generating over 60 per cent of the carbon emissions
- Making buildings green is a focus area as the city aims to halve its emissions before 2035 from the 2005 levels, and further reduce them to zero by 2050
Greater private-public collaboration will be necessary if innovations in low-carbon and recycled building materials are to be implemented for decarbonising Hong Kong’s buildings, according to speakers at a sustainability forum, who also emphasised the need for greater deployment of digital solutions.
Hong Kong’s buildings account for 90 per cent of electricity used in the city, generating over 60 per cent of the carbon emissions. This is a focus area as the city aims to halve its emissions before 2035 from the 2005 levels, and further reduce them to zero by 2050.
Globally, buildings alone contribute roughly a fifth of the total energy and industrial-related carbon-dioxide emissions. The production and supply of construction materials adds another 19 per cent, the International Finance Corporation said in a report last month.
Hong Kong’s building laws, which ban combustible materials, pose a challenge for the use of sustainable construction materials such as timber harvested from sustainable forests and recycled plastics, in place of carbon-intensive steel and concrete, said Tony Ip, director of Tony Ip Green Architects.
“At the policy level, we have a very good [decarbonisation] road map, but when we try to adopt new materials, like engineered timber from sustainable forests and recycled plastic for building facades, they are not allowed under existing building regulations,” he told a conference organised by property developer New World Development on Monday.
