(25 September 2015 Hong Kong) – BEAM Society Limited (BSL) hosted its 5th anniversary conference at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today (25/9) with an aim to facilitate discussion on sustainable development of existing buildings in Hong Kong. Over 400 experts from the government, academia and environmental advocates from local and abroad joined the conference.
BSL is honoured to have invited Mr. Wong Kam-sing, JP, Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR Government, to join as the Guest of Honor and also to participate at the launch ceremony of BEAM Plus Existing Buildings Assessment Tool v2.0.
Prof. John Ng, Chairman of BEAM Society Limited, commented, “Green building is inevitably a development trend. BSL has been promoting BEAM Plus assessment tools over the past five years and has achieved encouraging results. We have contributed much to the continual improvement of our built environment and also to the advancement of Hong Kong as a whole. Celebrating our five years of success, as an assessment body, BSL will further invest in promoting our assessment tools to different stakeholders. We have brought together expert speakers from Hong Kong and overseas today at our 5th Anniversary Conference to benefit our audience with knowledge sharing and to bring forth positive impact to overall sustainable development, which will in turn ensure more convenient, healthy and comfortable living quality at large.”
BEAM Plus New Buildings has been better received by the industry since the launch of BEAM Plus Assessment Tools. Thus, BSL’s target is to further invest into promoting BEAM Plus Existing Buildings. Today, BSL also launched BEAM Plus Existing Buildings Assessment Tool v2.0, in support of the newly announced “Energy Saving Plan for Hong Kong’s Built Environment” by the Government. Version 2.0 is an extended version of the previous Comprehensive Scheme A with the newly added Comprehensive Scheme B and Selective Scheme The new version allows greater flexibility for participants.
Mr. Wong Kam-sing, JP, Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR Government, said, “The Environment Bureau will announce a report on climate change before year end which will propose a series of measures on emission reduction and adaptation on climate change so as to enhance the sustainable development of Hong Kong. Buildings take up 90% of the energy consumption in Hong Kong, in accounts for about 60% greenhouse gas emission. The sustainable building design guidelines together with BEAM Plus assessment tool set a framework for the building industry, paving the way for a green living.”
With a clear mission to enhance healthy development of society and economy of Hong Kong through the promotion of BEAM Plus Assessment Tools, BSL aims to create a sustainable and eco-friendly built environment for all. In the past five years, BSL has helped reduce energy use by 30% with the adoption of BEAM Plus Assessment Tools. This represents a major step forward in the course against climate change. By the end of 2013, BEAM Plus v1.2 certified buildings altogether saved 140 million MW annually for Hong Kong (equals to 95,000tones of CO2 emission). This marked another milestone of BEAM Plus Assessment Tools’ contribution to the environment and to the sustainable development of Hong Kong