Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) and BEAM Society recently announced the launch of BEAM Plus Interiors, a new green assessment system for the interior occupied spaces of non-domestic buildings.
The new system is applicable to office and retail premises, hotel rooms and function rooms, restaurants, educational facilities and institutional facilities such as hospitals. Devised specifically for new and existing buildings within the local context, the assessment scheme has undergone several stages of refinement and is regularly enhanced to keep pace with evolving industry trends and regulations.
Since the introduction of BEAM Plus assessment scheme in April 2010, more than 400 projects registered under BEAM Plus New Buildings and Existing Buildings assessment schemes, the thriving number of project applications for BEAM Plus reveals that building green is the new industry norm.
According to Prof John Ng, market demand was a strong driver in the development of BEAM Plus Interiors. “There are about 40 million square metres of office space in Hong Kong, with renovation and fit-out projects representing the bulk of active projects each and every day. In response to robust market demand, we set about formulating BEAM Plus Interiors in consultation with leading industry experts and stakeholders. It took 12 months to develop and refine and it is with great pride that we present this exciting new system.”