BEAM PLUS CERTIFICATION CEREMONY 2021 HONOURING EXCELLENCE TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

To foster the development of green buildings in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) and BEAM Society Limited (BSL) co-organised the BEAM Plus Certification Ceremony 2021 on 16 December 2021, recognising the success of BEAM Plus projects in the past year. The number of projects has reached a record high of more than 150. Besides, we welcome the first BEAM Plus New Buildings V2.0 certified project, which embodies BEAM Plus moving into a new era.

S ince its launch in 2010, BEAM Plus is Hong Kong’s widely use green building assessment tool, offering independent assessments of building sustainability performance in the building life cycle. The sustainability performance of many certified projects exceeds the basic requirements set by the rating tool. Some of them have even adopted innovative designs. It is encouraging to see buildings are getting more low-carbon and having more emphasis on health and wellbeing.

To act in concert with the Advancing Net Zero global project initiated by the World Green Building Council, which aims to advocate for all buildings to be net zero carbon by 2050, new awards have been added in the Ceremony this year, in recognition of buildings with great achievement in energy reductions. The objective is also in alignment with Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050, which outlines the strategies and targets for combating climate change and achieving carbon neutrality.

In the wake of the technological advancement, HKGBC and BSL are committed to advancing BEAM Plus rating tools and making them more relevant to the needs of the industry. It is the first time we have projects assessed by the new rating tool - BEAM Plus New Buildings V2.0. The updated version includes new criteria related to healthy and active living, biophilic design and BIM integration etc. The rating tool leads to a series of best

practices that lower adverse impacts to the environment and increase the satisfaction of building users.

Besides new projects, existing buildings are going green as well. HKGBC and BSL are committed to motivating over 42,000 existing buildings in Hong Kong to participate in BEAM Plus assessment. To encourage property and facility management to go green, BEAM Plus Existing Buildings Volume Certification scheme provides a streamlined assessment process to facilitate applicants to conduct assessment of multiple existing buildings in a faster and more economic manner. Since the implementation of the BEAM Plus Existing Buildings Volume Certification scheme, 224 real estate properties and 11 property management companies have participated.

There are over 1,900 registered BEAM Plus projects, covering a total gross floor area (GFA) of over 64,000,000 m2, equivalent to the size of nearly 6,600 times the pitch area of the Hong Kong Stadiums. Since 2014, the annual percentage of private development projects joining BEAM Plus has reached nearly 50%. The government is also a keen supporter of BEAM Plus as major new government building projects are required to achieve BEAM Plus Gold rating or above. In 2021, it is delightful to see that green mortgage programmes begin to emerge in Hong Kong and they all have adopted BEAM Plus as the green building criterion. Both HKGBC and BSL stand ready to cooperate with various industry sectors to make contributions towards the goal of building a greener Hong Kong and a more sustainable world at large.

For the list and details of BEAM Plus certified projects, please visit: beamplusceremony2021.hkgbc.org.hk