Hong Kong's cityscape is world famous, but did you know that our countryside – just a short distance from urban areas – features a stunning variety of landscapes, including a unique, UNESCO-listed geopark where you can trace how the Earth was formed over millions of years? And did you know that the Mai Po Inner Deep Bay Ramsar Site in rural Hong Kong is a vital transit spot for migratory birds?
In fact, about 70 per cent of Hong Kong's total land area of 1 100 square kilometres is green, and much of this is protected for conservation and recreation. Hong Kong is also home to a splendid variety of flora and fauna, including rare endemic species.
We treasure trees. Fung Shui groves have long been a feature of our villages. The Government have also planted hundreds of thousands trees, shrubs and annuals per year, making a combined total of about 100 million.
We are also greening and cooling urban buildings with roof, podium and vertical greening and eco-friendly engineering. A range of measures to improve air quality is also making Hong Kong a cleaner, greener metropolis.
This is Our Hong Kong. Why not make it Yours?
“A building that adds up to zero”
Hong Kong's first Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) is a solid statement on the city's commitment to combating climate change. The building aims to showcase state-of-the art eco-friendly design and technologies to the local and international construction industry and raise community awareness of low-carbon living in Hong Kong.
The first project completed under the Energizing Kowloon East initiative, ZCB comprises a three-storey building set amidst landscaped surroundings in the heart of Kowloon Bay. The complex deploys over 80 different green building technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Austria-based Energy Globe Foundation awarded the building the National Energy Globe Award 2015, a prestigious international recognition.
ZCB generates renewable energy on site in two ways. Photovoltaic panels which transform sunlight into electricity and a tri-generation system, powered by biofuel made of waste cooking oil, combines cooling, heating and power generation.
The energy generated by ZCB in these eco-friendly ways is more than enough for its operations. In other words, it generates a surplus.
The building can constantly monitor itself through more than 2 800 sensing points and optimise the building's environmental performance.
Four microclimate stations, linked to the building management system and the Hong Kong Observatory, monitor how the building interacts with its surroundings.
A total of 220 native trees of over 40 species and various native shrubs have been planted in the landscaped area of the ZCB. When they flourish, the area will become the first urban native woodland in Hong Kong. This ecosystem will remove air pollutants, benefitting people and the small wildlife for which this place will eventually provide a sanctuary.
Eco-Workplace & Eco-Home
ZCB showcases an eco-workplace and an eco-home to promote innovations in sustainable design and construction and to show how we can live and work in better environments featuring low-carbon design and systems.
A collaboration between the Construction Industry Council and the Hong Kong SAR Government, ZCB is designed to register zero net energy consumption and zero carbon emissions over its life cycle. It showcases our state-of-the-art eco-building design and know-how and embodies our commitment to quality living, energy saving, carbon reduction and innovation.
“We actively promote green building technology not only to save energy but also to help save the planet for future generations,” said Conrad Wong, chairman of the Hong Kong Green Building Council. “We have made significant progress.”