Mark Hinnells

Opinion | Hong Kong needs to start decarbonising its buildings. Here’s how

The EU’s net-zero plan for buildings is a good model. For a start, Hong Kong needs a mandatory energy label for buildings as a basis, and a combination of information, incentives and regulation to succeed

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A view of buildings in Sham Shui Po last year. In Hong Kong, buildings account for over 60 per cent of carbon emissions, much higher than the global average. Photo: May Tse

Mark Hinnells

Published: 9:30am, 19 May 2024Updated: 12:42pm, 19 May 2024

It has been over five months since more than 110 countries at the Cop28 UN climate change conference agreed to double their energy efficiency improvements to an annual rate of 4 per cent as part of a deal towards meeting the Paris Agreement. What has Hong Kong done since?

In many areas of environmental policy, Hong Kong has followed international practice. It recently adopted a taxonomy for sustainable finance, seeking consistency with guidelines issued by the Chinese government and European Union. This covers lending for building refurbishment and includes standards for listed companies reporting their climate change impact and risks.

Back in 2009, Hong Kong introduced a mandatory energy efficiency labelling scheme for household electrical appliances similar to the EU standard (which I was involved in developing in the early 1990s). The city has a long history of harmonisation on environmental issues. But not yet in buildings. And this is where the urgent action to meet Cop28 targets could be taken.

The EU introduced its energy performance certificate (EPC) system for sold or leased buildings in 2002, with A being the best and G the worst. Larger public buildings, which are never sold or leased, must carry a display energy certificate (DEC) to show what they actually use.

There is an important point here. A rating on a building (modelled under idealised circumstances) can be very different from its actual use when occupied. Arguably, both EPCs and DECs are needed, especially for larger buildings. Buildings are all too often over-cooled and over-lit, with lights frequently left on in empty rooms.

Recently, the EU decided to revise its Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, requiring all new buildings to be net zero by 2030 and setting out a timescale for decarbonising existing buildings. Is it time for Hong Kong to follow suit?