Energy Saving and Green Buildings
Being an international financial and commercial centre, the majority of Hong Kong citizens’ daily activities take place in skyscrapers. The resulting use of air-conditioners, lifts, lighting and various electrical appliances consumes a large amount of energy. Buildings account for about 90% of Hong Kong’s total electricity consumption, and over 50% of our carbon emissions is attributable to generating electricity for our buildings. Achieving net-zero electricity generation requires enormous amount of capital and resources, and will increase the cost of electricity generation. Various sectors of the community and members of the public will inevitably have to share the cost. Through regulation as well as promotion and public education in energy saving, we can reduce the overall electricity consumption of buildings, and hence lower the cost of adopting new zero-carbon energy. This is conducive to maintaining Hong Kong’s overall competitiveness in the global arena, in turn benefitting enterprises and citizens. The benefits will be even more significant if the amount of energy conserved exceeds the increase in the cost of achieving net-zero electricity generation.
