The Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, visited a number of distinctive buildings and places in Melbourne, Australia, today (September 23) to learn about the city's heritage conservation and waterfront management work, as well as the latest green building technology.
After attending a plenary session of the World Sustainable Building Conference 2008 in the early morning, Mrs Lam visited the Council House 2 (CH2), an office building of the Melbourne City Council.
Completed in late 2006, CH2 is a visionary building leading the way in ecologically sustainable design and facilities management. The building has incorporated the latest sustainable technologies, such as a water-mining plant in the basement, automatic night-purge windows, and a facade of louvres that track the sun, to conserve energy and water.
In the afternoon, Mrs Lam toured the Melbourne General Post Office to understand how this historic building, constructed between 1859 and 1867, was successfully converted and revitalised to become a popular shopping complex.
Mrs Lam then visited the Docklands, which is a $12 billion waterfront development in the heart of Melbourne. The Docklands, occupying an area of 200 hectares, is turning unused government land into an integrated community of residents, workers, investors and visitors. The Docklands is being developed in stages and will be fully completed by around 2020.
During today's visit, Mrs Lam also had a meeting with officials of the Building Commission of the Victoria Government and VicUrban, the Government's urban development agency, to exchange views on building control and urban development issues.
Mrs Lam will depart for Sydney in the evening.
Ends/Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:27
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