Role of Government in Sustainable Construction
Mr. C.H. Yue, JP
Director of Architectural Services
Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to share with you today the current policies and strategies adopted by the
Architectural Services Department, one of the Works Department under the HKSAR
Government, in seeking sustainability in construction.
The content of my presentation covers the following sections. First, I would like to describe
the current sustainability challenges we face in Hong Kong and the long term vision set by
the HKSAR Government in response to these challenges. Next, I shall deal with the question
of ‘what part do we play as the Government Architect responsible for the procurement and
maintenance of all community facilities?’ I shall illustrate this by describing the works we’ve
done throughout the different stages of construction. And finally I shall talk about our way
forward, the approach that we’ll adopt to achieve continuous improvement in sustaining a
prosperous, healthy and environmentally friendly development for Hong Kong.
Challenges: Long Term Goals
The phenomenal economic and financial growth in the past decades has brought considerable
environmental challenges such as the scarcity of habitable land, air and noise pollution, and
waste disposal problems. In recent years, there has been a growing appreciation by the
community that treating the symptoms rather than the causes of problems is simply not
sufficient. In 1999, The Chief Executive’s Policy Address noted that ‘in order for Hong
Kong to become one of the world’s great cities, there is the need to integrate sustainability
considerations into every government policy and practice’.
Construction is one of the major pillars of Hong Kong’s economy and approximately 9% of
our workforce is employed by the construction industry. There are, however, numerous
shortcomings in the industry. Construction activities are dangerous and polluting, and the...