HONG KONG, June 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy and Environmental Policy Research Unit of City University of Hong Kong (EEPRU), World Green Organisation (WGO) and the Chinachem Group (the Group) announced on World Environment Day, the development of an electricity consumption benchmarking model, to facilitate energy saving in Hong Kong. According to the preliminary results of the initial data collected, the annual electricity consumption of office tenants of the Group is 8 kWh per square feet, which is 25 % less than the average of overall office tenants in Hong Kong.
Since April 2014, the research team formed by WGO and EEPRU of CityU, has invited all the office tenants of the 16 commercial buildings managed by the Chinachem Group to participate in an electricity consumption survey. Out of the 60 tenants who had responded, 28 have allowed both organisations to conduct site visits in May. The total floor area and the average electricity consumption of the 28 offices are 96,000 square feet and 8 kWh per square feet respectively.
Dr. William Chung, the principal researcher of the survey and the Director of the EEPRU of CityU, found out that when compared with the annual electricity consumption of all office tenants in Hong Kong, the 28 tenants consume 4 kWh less per square feet per year on average.
"Hong Kong could save 280 million kWh of electricity per year, which is equivalent to 196,000 tonne of Carbon Dioxide or 40% of local rail services' annual consumption , if all the local Grade A offices are able to consume 4 kWh less per square feet annually." Dr. Chung said.
According to Dr. Chung, there are a number of factors affecting the electricity consumption of offices, such as number of staff and the weekly operating hours. Amongst all of these, the setup of a server room plays a vital role in affecting the electricity consumption of an office.
The electricity consumption survey is still ongoing. The organisations will continue to invite the office tenants to participate. Having received electricity consumption data from other tenants, Dr. Chung will develop an electricity consumption benchmarking model for commercial buildings' offices. The prime objective of the model is to assist the tenants to better understand their own electricity consumption performance.
Tenants only need to input basic data online to the benchmarking model, such as the floor area and the annual electricity consumption, the online tool will then rank their electricity consumption performance from grade A to E. If the result is grade A, it indicates that their performance in electricity consumption by floor area is better than that of the 90% of the sampled offices in the research. In other words, the tool provides a "medical check" for the tenants who may consider further improving its electricity performance.
The constructive and effective engagement with the office tenants facilitated by Chinachem is vital for the success of the survey. Mr. Howard Kung, Senior Manager of the Real Estate Management of Chinachem Group said, "The Group has placed corporate social responsibility a very high priority and considered energy saving a crucial factor in environmental protection. This is why we support this survey."
"We are very proud of the achievement of this survey through the contribution of our tenants. Chinachem Group will keep engaging its tenants to join hands together to protect the environment through their active participation in energy saving. " He added.
Mr. Kung said that the benchmarking model for the office tenants will be made available online for all the office tenants in Hong Kong to use with the aim to invite more local tenants to take part in energy saving.
Dr. William Yu, Chief Executive Officer of World Green Organisation, said "It is getting common for local office buildings or developers to pay attention to energy consumption, especially after the mandatory implementation of building energy codes. However, it is not usual for local property developers or landlord to directly engage their tenants to participate in an energy saving initiative, not to mention providing tools for tenants to understand their electricity consumption performance and make improvements. In this regard, the Group has set a good example. "
"The tenants' need in terms of energy performance improvement is equally important as their landlord's, if they can both collaborate, the effects of energy saving can be even greater." Dr. Yu added.
Dr. Yu suggested that the government should encourage energy saving in buildings by adopting Demand Side Management measures, especially in providing assistance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to save electricity in offices. For example, the government should set up an energy saving fund to subsidize the SMEs to upgrade their lighting systems so as to consume less electricity. The government may also develop a guideline to aid local companies to opt for energy saving servers and promoting energy efficient data centers in order to promote centralized energy saving.
For e-calculator of Electricity Consumption Performance, please browse: https://www.welovegreenhk.com/main.php?lang=en
