Use of Energy and Fuel

To support the Government's initiative of reducing electricity consumption in Government premises by 1.5 % annually, we integrated energy saving technology and installations into the building design for public buildings and facilities, e.g. using water-cooled central air-conditioning, using CO2 sensors to adjust fresh air intake, installing energy efficient lighting system and building integrated photovoltaic system. Owing to the recent reduction in large-scale projects, the savings over the past two years have reduced. However, the savings have already been beneficial in view of their accumulative effect.

Saving due to Energy Efficient Initiatives

Note: The energy saved was estimated based on our professional evaluation on different energy saving installations. The CO2 conversion factor used is 1MWh = 0.7 tonne and was deduced from the section of Energy Conservation in "Environment Hong Kong 2007" published by the Environmental Protection Department, HKSAR.

Hong Kong Energy Efficiency Registration Scheme for Buildings: Energy Efficient Buildings Register
In 2006, 178 new works and 23 maintenance and improvement works were issued with certificates of Energy Efficient Buildings Register under the Energy Efficiency Registration Scheme for Buildings launched by the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department, HKSAR Government. Amongst the four Building Energy Codes (BEC) covering lighting, air conditioning, electrical and lift & escalator installations, performance of our project buildings satisfied one or more of these BEC standards. The following charts display the number of certificates received in previous years.

Certificates Received under Energy Efficient Buildings Register of Hong Kong Energy Efficiency Registration Scheme for Buildings

HK-BEAM
In 2006, one of the ArchSD project, New Territories South (NTS) Police Headquarters, received the highest rating - Platinum certificate at HK-BEAM in 2006. Our excellent environmental performance in planning, design, construction, commissioning, operation and management of NTS Police Headquarters was benchmarked and recognised.

In 2007, we plan to select a few projects to undertake an internationally recognised standard (e.g. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) to benchmark our projects for building sustainability.

Green Housekeeping

Internally, in 2006, we have set up a team of 71 Energy Wardens in our offices to better manage the energy use on lighting, air-conditioning, electrical office equipment, desktop computers and associated equipment. ArchSD General Circular No. 5/2006 – Measures for Green Housekeeping has also been revised to include the duty of Energy Wardens and additional energy saving measures.

The steady and gradual decrease of electricity consumption in recent years demonstrates our successful implementation of energy saving measures. With support from staff in on-going fuel conservation initiatives, such as efficient use and regular maintenance of departmental vehicles, fuel saving increased significantly in 2006.

Equivalent Carbon Dioxide Emission due to Electricity Consumption of ArchSD’s Internal Operations (QGO and APB Centre)

Note: The energy saved was estimated based on our professional evaluation on different energy saving installations. The CO2 conversion factor used is 1MWh = 0.7 tonne and was deduced from the section of Energy Conservation in "Environment Hong Kong 2007" published by the Environmental Protection Department, HKSAR.

In the coming year, one of our new energy saving initiatives is to require all new joint user buildings to adopt Building Energy Management (BEM) System, so as to calculate the energy charges for individual client departments. Moreover, we are proposing that energy efficient lighting like T5 fluorescent light for lift car illumination will be used for the passenger lift in not less than 60% of new projects in 2007. Occupancy sensors and photo sensors will also be installed in QGO headquarters and APB Centre to reduce energy consumption.