URA

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY 40 In addition to green buildings of high environmental standard, the URA is incorporating “Smart Building” concepts into its development projects that cover five aspects, namely: “Design”, “Information”, “Environment”, “Convenience” and “Management”, for quality and vibrant living in line with the development of Hong Kong as “Smart City”. Smart features like home energy and water consumption systems, home health and wellness systems, smart display, home waste management systems, building information modelling (BIM), and building management systems have been incorporated into our projects at Peel Street/Graham Street Site A, Fuk Chak Street/Li Tak Street, Reclamation Street/ Shantung Street and Ma Tau Wai Road. The URA received its first-ever Hong Kong BIM award in 2017 for its Shanghai Street/Argyle Street project. The URA will continue to embrace Smart City initiatives not only in its projects but also through its district-based approach to urban renewal. The URA not only promotes new green buildings but also strives to improve the green elements of existing buildings through rehabilitation. The URA has introduced the Green Item Subsidy (GIS) (which won a Hong Kong Green Building Council Award in 2016) under the “Common Area Repair Works Subsidy” to encourage property owners to use environmentally- friendly building materials and to install energy-saving facilities when carrying out building maintenance and repair works. Up to 30 June 2018, the URA has approved GIS applications from the owners of about 200 building blocks (around 7,400 units) amounting to a total subsidy of around $10.5 million. Applying Green Innovative Technology To encourage research and development on green initiatives in Hong Kong, the URA has collaborated with universities and other institutions to study innovative measures that preserve the environment. In the past year, the URA partnered with The University of Hong Kong (HKU) to study a biofilter system to improve indoor air quality. A biofilter system was installed as a green wall at “H6 CONET” to improve the indoor air quality, after which there was a distinctive drop of pollutants (VOC, PM10 and CO2) in the air flow. With the biofilter system, visitors in “H6 CONET” can enjoy clean and fresh air indoors. The biofilter system installed as a green wall at H6 CONET improves indoor air quality. Pavegen’s energy flooring is another pilot green initiative that is scheduled to be installed at the Tung Man Street entrance of “H6 CONET” in Q3 2018. A versatile, custom-built system, Pavegen’s energy flooring generates electricity through electro- magnetic induction as pedestrians walk on it. This renewable energy would be accumulated for real time lighting displays used for interactive engagement and educational purposes. We will further explore other suitable applications of the system in our forthcoming projects.