Green Building Award 2016 plus Hong Kong Green Building Council celebrates its seventh anniversary

Winners of the Green Building Award (GBA) 2016 were announced at the award presentation ceremony at JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong on Tuesday, 22 November 2016. Co-organised by the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) and the Professional Green Building Council (PGBC), this biennale award recognises the concerted effort and commitment of the industry in achieving a sustainable built environment in Hong Kong. The award dinner also celebrated the seventh anniversary of HKGBC.

The event was attended by 500 distinguished guests, which included developers; construction companies; consultants; as well as representatives from educational and professional institutions. Paul Chan Mo-po (GBS, MH, JP, secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government cum honorary advisor of the GBA 2016 jury panel) was the guest-of-honour.

A jury panel comprising academic and technical experts selected 12 grand awards, 21 merits and 37 finalists from entries submitted by both private and public sectors (www.gba.org.hk/awardwinners.aspx). In addition, six projects were accredited with special citations.

Themed Driving for Green Lifestyle – Excellence in Sustainable Built Environment, GBA 2016 received great participation that saw 70 finalists competing in the following categories: New Buildings; Existing Buildings; Research & Planning; Building Products & Technologies; and the newlyadded Green Building Leadership. The new category seeks to honour pioneering corporates and organisations that uphold the principles of sustainability in their business goals for long-term development.

Ir Prof Choy Kin-kuen, chairman of GBA 2016 organising committee, congratulated the winners and remarked, “My heartfelt thanks goes to the fellow members of GBA 2016 jury panel, organising committee, scientific sub-committee and our sponsors for making the award such a great success.”

Ivan Ho, chairman of the PGBC, commented, “GBA 2016 provides a valuable platform for professionals to share knowledge and showcase the best practices. We are deeply impressed by their dedication and we hope [that] such ripple effects will continue with [an] even stronger momentum.”

Sr Wong Bay, chairman of the HKGBC, observed, “Riding on the joint efforts of all our partners, we have laid a good foundation over the past several years. The participation of BEAM Plus since its first launch in 2010 has been substantial, and the impact is significant. For example, for projects that have undergone assessment, the potential annual electricity saving reaches around 450 million kWh. This equals to the average electricity consumption of about 94,000 local households each year.”

Moving forward, the HKGBC will play an even stronger role at the international level. Sr Wong continued, “Climate change is a major challenge for the earth, and the Green building movement is recognised as a solution to its mitigation. On our side, it’s time to let our actions speak louder than words. The HKGBC and the Construction Industry Council are now preparing the co-organisation of the World Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2017 in June next year.”