An Energy Model for the Commercial Building Sector in Hong Kong

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengyuan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Energy Model ◽  
Commercial Building ◽  
Building Sector

Criteria and barriers for the application of green building features in Hong Kong

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 251-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayantha Wadu Mesthrige ◽  
Ho Yuk Kwong
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Barriers To Implementation ◽  
Multi Method Approach ◽  
Method Approach

Purpose An understanding about the criteria determining the successful application of green features, and the barriers to implementation is essential in order to promote and enhance green building development. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, the criteria determining the success of GBFs; and second, the barriers to implementing GBFs in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach A multi-method approach comprising a comprehensive questionnaire survey and a semi-structured group discussion with construction professionals, along with three case studies was adopted to address these two issues. Findings Findings suggest that although environmental performance is the most significant criterion, the living quality of occupants and the costs of green features play a crucial role in determining the success of their application. However, the environmental aspects of buildings are not sufficient for rating or determining the greenness level of a building. As for barriers, the green cost implications; the structural unsuitability of the current stock of old buildings; and the lack of financial incentives were found to be crucial barriers preventing the application of green features in the Hong Kong building sector. Originality/value GBFs have received extensive attentions by the academia and industry. This paper used a mix method approach by exploring success criteria and barriers to implementing green features in the building sector in Hong Kong. As green building development is still a contemporary subject of discussion, this study would be beneficial to decision makers as it identifies the criteria determining the success of green building adoption and barriers to implementation of such features. Hence, relevant stakeholders will have better understanding of the factors affecting the adoption of GBFs.

Novel use of climate model data for deriving future flood risk underwriting and risk selection data – A Hong Kong Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Alexandre ◽  
Iain Willis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
Flood Frequency ◽  
Commercial Building ◽  
Model Data ◽  
Change Factors

<p>The re/insurance, banking and mortgage sectors play an essential role in facilitating economic stability. As climate change-related financial risks increase, there has long been a need for tools that contribute to the global industry’s current and future flood risk resiliency. Recognising this gap, JBA Risk Management has pioneered use of climate model data for rapidly deriving future flood risk metrics to support risk-reflective pricing strategies and mortgage analysis for Hong Kong.</p><p>JBA’s established method uses daily temporal resolution precipitation and surface air temperature Regional Climate Model (RCM) data from the Earth System Grid Federation’s CORDEX experiment. Historical and future period RCM data were processed for Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 2.6 and 8.6, and time horizons 2046-2050 and 2070-2080 and used to develop fluvial and pluvial hydrological model change factors for Hong Kong. These change factors were applied to baseline fluvial and pluvial flood depths and extents, extracted from JBA’s high resolution 30m Hong Kong Flood Map. From these, potential changes in flood event frequency and severity for each RCP and time horizon combination were estimated.</p><p>The unique flood frequency and severity profiles for each flood type were then analysed with customised vulnerability functions, linking water depth to expected damage over time for residential and commercial building risks. This resulted in quantitative fluvial and pluvial flood risk metrics for Hong Kong.</p><p>Newly released, Hong Kong Climate Change Pricing Data is already in use by financial institutions. When combined with property total sum insured data, this dataset provides the annualised cost of flood damage for a range of future climate scenarios. For the first time, our industry has a tool to quantify baseline and future flood risk and set risk-reflective pricing for Hong Kong portfolios.</p><p>JBA’s method is adaptable for global use and underwriting tools are already available for the UK and Australia with the aim of improving future financial flood risk mitigation and management. This presentation will outline the method, provide a comparison of baseline and climate change flood impacts for Hong Kong and discuss the wider implications for our scientific and financial industries.</p>

Adequacy of Safe Egress Design Codes for Supertall Buildings

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 568-580
Author(s):  
Edgar C. L. Pang ◽  
◽  
Wan-Ki Chow
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Fire Safety ◽  
Safety Management ◽  
Tall Buildings ◽  
Emergency Evacuation ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Commercial Building ◽  
Evacuation Time ◽  
Normal Heights ◽  
Evacuation Routes

Emergency evacuation for supertall buildings with heights over 200 m require a very long time for occupants to travel down the buildings. Occupants might jam into protected lobbies and staircases, extending the waiting time. There is not yet any code requirement specifically for emergency evacuation in supertall buildings, which are criticized for using the same codes for buildings with normal heights. Further, the evacuation design for several existing supertall buildings does not even follow prescriptive fire-safety codes. The underlying problems have not yet been addressed by thorough studies. Evacuation in such tall buildings in Hong Kong will be studied in this paper. The assumptions made in the local prescriptive codes for safe egress will be justified. Three buildings with evacuation design complying with the local codes are considered as examples. A commercial building, a hotel, and a residential block in Hong Kong are taken as examples. The key design parameters in the local codes are for 40 people evacuating with a flow rate of 1.1 person/s through the staircase between typical floors. The evacuation time from each floor to the protected lobby is assumed to be within 5 min. The evacuation times in different scenarios with these assumptions are calculated. Such assumptions do not hold under a high occupant load. The total evacuation time would be extended significantly when the travelling flows of occupants are blocked in any of the evacuation routes. Different fire-safety management schemes with staged evacuation, such as assigning higher priorities to evacuate lower or upper floors first, are evaluated. The results observed for safe egress are then discussed.

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