World Green Building Leaders Join Forces to Support Hong Kong’s First “Advancing Net Zero” Ideas Competition for Carbon Neutrality

Chair of the WorldGBC, Mr William McDonough, Ms Meaghan Lloyd of Gehry Partners and Professor Jiang Yi from Tsinghua University will be on the Jury Panel to offer professional insights to the contestants

HONG KONG
SAR – Media
OutReach – 26 March 2021 – The Hong Kong Green Building
Council (HKGBC), a non-profit organisation dedicated to transforming the
city into a greener built environment, announced today the launch of Hong
Kong’s first “Advancing Net Zero” Ideas Competition along with Swire Properties (1972.HK) as Principal Partner of the project.

 

The Competition invites international industry stakeholders, designers,
academia, and technology experts to contribute ideas on how to move Hong Kong’s
building sector towards carbon neutrality – a net-zero position – for a sustainable
future. Winners and shortlisted
candidates will be eligible for a total of HK$1.2 million in prize money.

 

Some world-renowned names are sitting on the influential Jury Panel which
include
Ms
Tanya Cox, Chair of the World
Green Building Council; Professor Jiang Yi, Director of the Building
Energy Research Centre of Tsinghua University; Mr William McDonough, architect
and globally recognised leader in sustainable development and design, and
founding partner of William McDonough + Partners;
and Ms Meaghan Lloyd, Partner at Gehry Partners, the acclaimed firm
founded by Pritzker Prize Laureate Frank Gehry.  

 

The effects of global warming are
already stressing our ecosystem, so combating climate change, and reducing our carbon
footprint has become a vitally important mission for the entire global community.
A special report published by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) in 2018, stated that total man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions need
to halve by 2030 and reach a “net-zero” position by around
2050 in order to limit global warming to less than 1.5 degrees and avoid a
climate catastrophe for our planet.

 

According to the World Green
Building Council (WorldGBC), buildings currently account for 39% of energy-related
carbon emissions globally. In densely populated Hong Kong, however, more than
60% of carbon emissions are ascribed to buildings, and 15% to 20% of the
lifecycle carbon footprint of buildings is attributable to construction.
Reducing these figures through green building practices is therefore critical.

 

“Advancing Net Zero” (ANZ) is a
worldwide initiative launched by the WorldGBC to promote net-zero carbon
buildings. This is in line with the Hong Kong Government’s environmental target
to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

 

The ANZ Ideas Competition consists
of two categories: (i) Future Building and (ii) Existing Building. Ar.
Ada Fung, Chairperson of the Organising Committee of the ANZ Ideas Competition
said, “The overall aim is to stimulate innovative and valuable carbon reduction
insights from multi-disciplinary professionals, raise public awareness, generate
new ideas and solutions, enhance learning and knowledge sharing on Advancing
Net Zero, and to push the boundaries to design future-ready buildings and
retrofit existing building stock to advance net zero emissions economy by 2050.
The Competition also aims to accelerate the building industry to adopt and
develop low/zero carbon design and technologies, and to stimulate the reviews
of current regulations and code of practices to facilitate the development of eco-technology
where appropriate.”

Mr Cheung Hau-wai, Chairman of the Hong Kong Green Building Council said, “Hong Kong is one of the world’s top
tier metropolises and is famous for its high-rise architecture. Its subtropical
climate with immense building density means it is crucial for us to implement
low carbon strategies and generate energy-efficient design solutions for
buildings. We look forward to interacting and exchanging ideas with
multi-talented experts around the world in the hope of creating a low carbon
future for our community.”

Mrs Elizabeth Kok, Director and Senior Advisor of Swire
Properties Limited said, “As part of Swire
Properties’ long-term commitment to sustainable development, we’re excited to
be supporting the first ANZ Ideas Competition, which can inspire our industry
to take action and bring positive change to the built environment and beyond.
As Principal Partner, we’re supporting this unique initiative by offering
extensive data harnessed from two of our advanced buildings at Taikoo Place;
this will help facilitate in-depth analysis of real cases, and foster original
solutions that can advance to net zero buildings in a high-density city like
Hong Kong.”

 

Leading industry influencers as Jury Panel

The “Advancing Net Zero” Ideas Competition has been well received by local and international
industry leaders who also sit on the Jury Panel. Ms Tanya
Cox, Chair of the World Green Building Council said, “Accelerating a net zero built environment is one of the surest
ways to combat climate change. To unlock the 1.5 degrees ambition of the Paris
Agreement, we need to encourage and incentivise net zero solutions. HKGBC’s
“Advancing Net Zero” Ideas Competition provides the motivation we need to bring
these ambitious ideas and innovation to life.”

About the HKGBC “Advancing Net Zero” Ideas Competition: https://anzideascompetition.hkgbc.org.hk

About the HKGBC: www.hkgbc.org.hk.

About Swire Properties and its SD efforts: www.swireproperties.com.