Following is the speech by the Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, at the International Conference on Intelligent Systems, Structures and Facilities 2008 today (January 22):
Professor Andrew Leung, Mr Peter Ma, conference participants, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to be present here today to join you in the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Intelligent Systems, Structures and Facilities 2008.
I understand this is the seventh conference organised by AIIB on this very important topic, so I wish to congratulate the Asian Institute of Intelligent Buildings for hosting such a meaningful event in Hong Kong. I am sure the Conference will provide an excellent platform and opportunity for experts and practitioners from various disciplines to discuss and share experience in the latest developments in building design both locally, in the mainland and overseas.
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is committed to promoting a more sustainable living environment here in Hong Kong. About three months ago, the Chief Executive delivered his Policy Address for 2007-08, and if you remember, he has put "Quality City, Quality Life" as one of the very important themes for this term of the SAR Government. Echoing the theme of today's Conference, the adoption of intelligent, energy efficient and sustainable building design is one of the ingenious ways to achieve this particular objective. Just by way of introduction, within the structure and organisation of the HKSAR Government when it comes to intelligent, sustainable building and energy efficient buildings, I, as the Secretary for Development, actually share this responsibility with the Secretary for Environment in achieving this particular objective. Creating a conducive platform to facilitate innovative and flexible building design sits very high on Development Bureau's agenda.
With the advancement of building technologies, there is a parallel increase in demand for intelligent, energy efficient and sustainable buildings. Apart from enhancement in sophistication, usability and technology content, building users expect modern buildings to be environmentally friendly and sustainable for our future generations. The building industry in Hong Kong, in response to user demands, has been pioneering the use of innovative and high-technology design and construction methods. In order to provide a flexible platform to allow building professionals to manifest and realise their ideas and designs, the Government has been correspondingly reviewing and modernising our building regulatory regime.
Under the existing Buildings Ordinance, regulatory control over the planning, design and construction of buildings is, to a large extent, stipulated in the form of prescriptive standards. Such standards worked well in the past when building design and construction were more conventional. However, with the advent of the innovative building era, such control mechanism may not be able to fully meet the needs of the modern society. Both overseas and local experience reveals that a "performance-based" regulatory system not only enhances flexibility and creativity in building design, but also catalyses building professionals to adopt more advanced and innovative technologies for the creation of modern buildings. Such performance-based regulatory regime can better accommodate advances in technologies and also building innovations. And I am sure, also better meet the aspirations of building professionals, including architects, surveyors and structural engineers etc. To this end, the Buildings Department, which of course is one of the nine departments under Development Bureau, is actively reviewing the regulatory standards in the Buildings Ordinance with a view to formulating these performance-based control requirements.
The areas under dedicated and detailed examination and review currently done by the Buildings Department include drainage systems, building construction, lighting, ventilation and fire safety requirements. I am pleased to learn from what Professor Leung has just said, some of these topics are included in today's conference proceedings. We have been working very closely with the building industry when taking forward these reviews. Codes of practice concerning building structures and foundation matters and a practice note on performance-based lighting and ventilation requirements have already been promulgated. The Buildings Department will continue its review on other subject areas with a view to developing a performance-based regulatory regime to promote modern and innovative building design and construction practices. We look forward to continuing close collaboration with the industry and the professionals concerned to develop the systems that will best suit the society's needs.
Intelligent buildings bring about higher productivity, comfort and convenience to the buildings users. Such buildings also aim to optimise energy efficiency, environmental friendliness and sustainability. Promoting environmentally friendly and sustainable building design has long been one of our important work areas and we have implemented a series of measures on this front. Encouraging, for example, the provision of green features, such as sky gardens, balconies, utility platforms and prefabricated external walls in new buildings. Since the issuance of the Joint Practice Note on "Green and Innovative Buildings" by the Lands Department, Planning Department and the Buildings Department, we note that more and more building developments have incorporated environmentally friendly design features for the enjoyment of building owners and users. Such features are highly valued by the public. Of course, the provision of these green features is made possible through incentives we are providing to the developers, through GFA exemptions and so on.
To take the lead in adopting sustainable building design, the Government has incorporated the principles of sustainability in many new public building projects. For example, in the new headquarters of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department in Kowloon Bay, we have adopted a number of sustainable building features including photovoltaic panels, ammonia chillers, ventilated double-layered glass walls, motion and daylight sensors, as well as grey water recycling facilities. All these facilities contribute positively to sustainability of the building and its environment by reducing energy consumption and promoting economic use of natural resources. We hope that through similar actions, the Government could act as a role model in fostering a culture of sustainable building development in Hong Kong. We will continue to take the lead to adopt such building design practices where appropriate in future Government projects. In fact, the recently awarded Tamar Government Headquarters project has also incorporated most of these design features.
I mentioned about my sharing responsibility with the Secretary for Environment in promoting energy efficiency in buildings. Many of you may have heard that the Government launched on 28 December 2007 a three-month public consultation on a proposal to introduce on mandatory basis, implementation of Building Energy Codes (BECs) for new and existing buildings, in order to improve energy efficiency of buildings, to alleviate global warming and combat air pollution. I encourage every one of you in the audience to participate in the public consultation and give us support to take forth this mandatory system, as the voluntary system has proven to be not very effective over the years.
This particular consultation document contains three proposals in the main:
First is new commercial buildings and the communal areas of new residential and industrial buildings in both the public and private sectors as well as major retro-fitting works in existing buildings should, in future under this legislation, comply with the BECs promulgated by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD). Certificates of Compliance will be issued to buildings complying with the BECs. The list of buildings with these Certificates of Compliance issued will be made available for public inspection;
Secondly, to enhance energy efficiency, energy audits are required for certain buildings once every 10 years. The results of these audits will also be made available to occupants for their reference; and
Thirdly, to complement the proposed legislative scheme, buildings that have exceeded the minimum building energy efficiency standards by a prescribed percentage will be recognized by an energy mark through a voluntary administrative system so as to give them added recognition.
Over the years, the AIIB has spared no efforts in promoting the development of intelligent, energy efficient and sustainable buildings in Hong Kong. Today's Conference is another good avenue to enable creative minds to meet to generate further new ideas. I hope that through the work of the Institute and the support of all the stakeholders and practitioners, we will be able to see more intelligent buildings in Hong Kong.
May I take this opportunity to wish today's Conference a big success, and all of you a most prosperous 2008. Thank you.
Ends