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Hong Kong environmental issues
CommentHong Kong
Matthew Potter
Matthew Potter

Opinion | For Hong Kong to reach net zero, rethink our air-conditioned glass boxes

  • The city’s buildings account for 90 per cent of all electricity used, and 60 per cent of carbon emissions
  • To reduce their carbon footprint, buildings should be designed to engage better with their environment through the warmer and cooler months

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The afternoon sun shines on commercial buildings in Admiralty on October 26, 2023. The incessant use of air conditioning, alongside a myriad of other energy uses, means that Hong Kong’s buildings account for 90 per cent of electricity used in the city. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
Matthew Potter

Anyone who has spent time in Hong Kong will be familiar with the bone-aching cold of air-conditioning units pumping out freezing air irrespective of the weather outside. In fact, so uncomfortable is the cold of some office spaces that workers wrap up in jumpers and huddle under blankets, regardless of whether the outside temperature is in the mid-30s or, as just recently, below 10 degrees Celsius.

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The incessant use of air conditioning, alongside a myriad of other energy uses including lighting which seems to be on perennially and lift journeys of only one or two floors, means that Hong Kong’s buildings account for 90 per cent of all electricity used in the city. More pertinently, that electricity accounts for 60 per cent of the city’s carbon emissions.
So, we should applaud the financial secretary for his announcement in the budget of a pilot scheme to explore photovoltaic technology applications for the facades of government buildings, following the funded installation of renewable energy in these buildings. After all, every step that helps reduce carbon emissions is critical on our path to net zero.

However, this welcome step must be urgently combined with an overall reduction of energy use. We cannot simply rely on new technology to reduce our current carbon emissions; the status quo is not sustainable, and we must find ways of reducing the baseline first.

More importantly, these technologies mask a fundamental fact: more than half of a building’s carbon footprint is to do with material production and transport, construction and “end of life” decommissioning.

01:13

Chinese mainland begins supplying Hong Kong with carbon-neutral liquefied natural gas

Chinese mainland begins supplying Hong Kong with carbon-neutral liquefied natural gas

Reducing the carbon footprint of Hong Kong’s buildings needs a radical rethink rather than just a sticking plaster and the breakthroughs needed to reach net zero can only happen if there is a mind shift among all stakeholders – legislators, developers, designers and tenants alike.

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