Overview

The Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) comprises only 21 member economies, but this body accounts for an astounding 60% of the world’s energy consumption. Owing to their rapidly developing economies and increasing urbanisation rates, APEC’s member economies have taken it upon themselves to combat climate change and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

With this goal in mind, APEC established the Energy Working Group (EWG) with a simple but significant goal in mind: to make the energy sector more sustainable. Since its inception in 1990, the EWG has been responsible for major innovations in energy policy, and it continues to strategise on ways to strengthen the region’s energy security. It also assists in furthering APEC’s goals of facilitating energy trade and investment, all of which play a part in contributing to economic growth, social well-being, and sustainability within the APEC region.

The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) of the HKSAR Government is Hong Kong’s official representative in the group. It spearheads and coordinates the Government’s efforts to promote energy efficiency and conservation, as well as renewable energy usage. EMSD not only develops standards and programmes for the city’s energy sector, it also raises the community’s awareness of energy reduction target and the importance of tackling climate change as a united front.

APEC’s energy intensity reduction goal and Hong Kong’s target

In 2007, APEC’s leaders agreed to a regional aspirational goal of reducing energy intensity by at least 25% from 2005 levels by 2030.

However, given the ever-increasing energy demands across the APEC region, the group decided to revise their original target and instated a 45% reduction of regional aggregate energy intensity by 2035.

A decade on, each member city has made substantial reductions in their energy intensity. But Hong Kong’s model has proven to be exemplary against other APEC member economies.

Under the Energy Saving Plan for the Built Environment 2015~2025+, Hong Kong has set itself an even more ambitious target: to reduce energy intensity by 40% ten years ahead of its original target.

By 2018, Hong Kong has already achieved a reduction of over 30% by using cleaner fuels and more renewable energy solutions, tightening energy efficiency standards, and promoting green building development.

Hong Kong’s APEC-funded project on energy intensity reduction in the APEC regions' urbanised cities

In 2019, EMSD applied for APEC’s funding to conduct a study on the energy intensity reduction performance in APEC’s more urbanised cities.

The project — which is Hong Kong’s first-ever APEC-funded endeavour — aimed to identify the most effective pathways to achieving substantial energy intensity reduction and promoting the development of sustainable communities.

The study analysed leading energy intensity reduction performance strategies in seven selected cities: Beijing, Sydney, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo.

By analysing effective building energy policies and successful approaches and identifying emerging energy efficiency and conservation (EE&C) opportunities in these cities, the study has provided valuable guidance for the policy-makers of APEC to make proactive decisions and stimulate positive moves towards enhancing overall energy efficiency.

The study was carried out in two stages. The first stage was a conceptual study, under which the shortlisted cities were chosen. The energy intensity reduction trends were analysed against the building-related policies to provide preliminary gap analysis and identified the key drivers for successful building energy reduction. The availability of relevant data was critical for achieving the objective of identifying key drivers.

In the second and final stage, detailed investigations were carried out to project the aggregated energy intensity reduction with suggested enhancements, such as policy changes and emerging innovation and technology.

Historical events, policies, GDP, and energy end-use data of the shortlisted cities were then reviewed for identifying the effectiveness of their EE&C policies and the related measures that have contributed changes in building energy use. The potential innovation and technology (I&T) application opportunities that drive the success of aggregated energy intensity reduction were also analysed.

Key drivers for the selected cities in energy intensity reduction

The following cities — excluding Hong Kong — were chosen for their outstanding performance in energy intensity reduction. Below is a summary of the key drivers for each of the cities.

City of Sydney

The New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment initiates and manages the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS). The energy ratings are independently based on actual energy data and buildings’ environmental performance. The rating tools can be applied to various types of buildings, including office buildings and tenancies, shopping centres, apartment buildings, hospitals, hotels and data centres.

Beijing

In addition to the Five-Year Plan, the Government of mainland China revised their targets and methodology for reducing building energy use. Apart from various codes and technical guidelines, the Government provides funding, feasibility assessments, and technical support to building owners as means of incentivising them to achieve certain energy reduction targets.

Tokyo

Tokyo Cap-and-Trade Program is critical as a top-level certification system. The programme’s documentation provides a detailed checklist indicating how building owners can achieve the prescribed energy savings/CO₂ emissions reduction targets. This certification system is important for building owners who wish to have their buildings certified as top-level structures.

In 2018, Tokyo recorded a 27% reduction of its CO₂ emissions reduction goal with 2005 as the base year. This trend indicates that the total energy consumption in the business and industrial sectors across Japan is gradually decreasing, and the CO₂ emissions from certain industries have decreased as a result of the Cap-and-Trade Program.

Seoul

Energy efficiency product labelling has already been fully implemented in Seoul. The mandatory e-Standby Program was launched in 1999 to reduce the standby power of electronic appliances and office equipment. The e-Standby Program is unique among similar product labelling programmes. From 2003 to 2011, 45% less standby power was achieved.

Singapore

In Singapore, the Green Mark certification scheme is closely linked with the Code for Environmental Sustainability of Buildings. It is mandatory for buildings to achieve minimum scores under the Green Mark. Singapore is also offering attractive financial incentives to accelerate national energy reduction. Green Mark Incentive Schemes have been instrumental in helping building owners overcome the high initial costs for building retrofitting.

New York

The Greener, Greater Buildings Plan involves a comprehensive set of building efficiency laws applicable to all new residential and commercial buildings, as well as renovations for existing buildings in New York. Nearly all existing buildings in New York City are required to be retrofitted to fulfil the city’s energy intensity reduction roadmap. It is also legally required that the city of New York oversees the legal mandating of professional energy auditing and retro commissioning of large buildings, as well as the benchmarking and reporting of energy consumption data.

(The final report of the study will be published on the APEC website: https://www.apec.org/Publications later this year)

The APEC Workshop

The APEC Workshop on Energy Intensity Reduction in the APEC Regions' Urbanised Cities was held in Hong Kong via video conferencing on 23 March 2021. The workshop was part of the APEC-funded project proposed by Hong Kong.

Ir Pang Yiu-hung, Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services delivering closing remarks at the workshop

More than 100 experts and delegates from 12 APEC member economies attended the workshop to exchange views on energy efficiency and conservation policies, regulations, implementation, and innovative technologies in the region.

APEC projects are a vital activity of APEC that help translate policy directions of APEC Economic Leaders and Ministers into action, which ultimately create tangible benefits for people living in the Asia-Pacific region.

EMSD shared its energy efficiency and conservation initiatives for Hong Kong, including the Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme (MEELS), the Building Energy Efficiency Ordinance (BEEO), and retro-commissioning (RCx).

Speakers from the United States, Australia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, China and Japan were invited to share their economy's energy efficiency and conservation policies, regulations, implementation, and innovative technologies

Hong Kong’s green policies

Of the seven cities being studied, Hong Kong has achieved an energy intensity reduction of more than 30%, the lowest energy end-use per capita. Even with an astronomical GDP increase of about 88% from 2005 to 2017, total energy consumption has remained steady. In fact, it only rose by a mere 2% during the same period.

Since buildings account for 90% of Hong Kong’s electricity usage, EMSD has been pushing for more energy efficient fittings on both new and existing buildings. EMSD has also been encouraging companies, institutions, and residents to make energy efficient choices, and promote energy saving practices in their day-to-day living.

The Government has spent 20 years building a foundation for Hong Kong to achieve higher energy savings. The key drivers credited to Hong Kong’s outstanding energy intensity reductions are its innovative sustainable energy developments and stringent energy efficiency-related policies.

Its pivotal energy efficiency policies and developments — which were highlighted in the study — are as follows.

The Building Energy Code (BEC) and Building Energy Efficiency Ordinance (BEEO)

Hong Kong’s BEC began as a voluntary scheme in 2005 and oversaw the energy  efficiency levels of air-conditioning, lighting, electrical, lift and escalator installations within buildings.

In 2012, the Hong Kong Government saw fit to create the BEEO, which mandates its predecessor, the BEC. It is also referred to as, “Code of Practice for Energy Efficiency of Building Services Installation” and it is the code by which all major retrofitting projects in existing buildings and newly constructed buildings governed by BEEO must comply.

The BEC is revised every three years so that it accurately reflects current energy efficiency innovations. The current edition of the BEC has raised the energy efficiency standards and requirements of air-conditioning, lighting, electrical, and lift and escalator installations. This revision (ie BEC 2018) has resulted in an 18% improvement overall compared with the 2012 edition.

EMSD is now reviewing these two codes to be up-to-date with current technological advancements, as well as the development of international standards and practices on energy efficiency. The 2021 edition of BEC and EAC will be issued by the end of 2021.

BEEO illustration

Retro-commissioning

Retro-commissioning illustration

Although all buildings in Hong Kong are BEC-compliant, RCx is encouraged to be carried out periodically to improve building energy efficiency. Circumstances such as altered building operations and frequent modifications of a building services installation are often detrimental to a building’s energy efficiency capabilities.

Since RCx was promoted in 2017, this practice has identified a great number of energy saving opportunities in the buildings that were not meeting their full energy saving potential. Therefore, RCx has reduced not only energy intensity figures across Hong Kong, but also maintenance and operation costs for building owners.

The current RCx programme for government buildings was launched in 2019 and is due to conclude in 2026. So far, more than 200 major government buildings have been outfitted for RCx. It is hoped that through leading by example, RCx will encourage public participation, establish integral sharing platforms, encourage the creation of relevant training schemes, and provide incentives. These are the key drivers that will push RCx efforts across Hong Kong.

Training schemes are also essential to propagating these projects. In 2019, the Hong Kong Green Building Council launched the “RCx Training and Registration Scheme” to train operations and facilities professionals who would be critical to pushing RCx and, consequently, more sustainable buildings. EMSD has also been providing support to local professional institutions and such.

Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme (MEELS)

In a bid to raise consumer awareness of energy efficient products, the MEELS was created. By way of a simple label showing colour-coded grades of energy efficiency and annual energy consumption, consumers can make smarter choices when buying home appliances.

MEELS has been implemented by phases since 2009 and is now in its third phase, which regulates a total of eight types of household electrical appliances: room air-conditioners (with both cooling and heating functions), refrigerating appliances, compact fluorescent lamps (“CFLs”), washing machines, dehumidifiers, televisions, storage-type electric water heaters, and induction cookers. These household appliances account for about 70% of the annual residential electricity consumption in Hong Kong.

Currently, the products under MEELS are all electrical appliances. With a view to achieving greater potential energy savings, the Government is planning to implement Phase IV of MEELS. This phase will expand the scheme’s coverage to include gas cookers, gas instantaneous water heaters, and light emitting diode (“LED”) lamps.

Together with the existing prescribed products in the first three phases, MEELS’s total coverage of the residential sector’s combined energy consumption will increase from 49% to 80%.

MEELS illustration

Looking ahead to a post-pandemic world

In the time that EMSD disseminated its findings up until the present day, the global landscape has changed drastically. The global pandemic brought the world to an unprecedented standstill. As it begins to get back on its feet, it has allowed for pause and reflection.

The 2020 Policy Address stated that Hong Kong would strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050. To this end, the Government will update “Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan” in 2021 to set out more proactive strategies and measures to reduce carbon emissions.

Trends in sustainability, carbon neutrality, and the likes are being rethought, so the lessons learnt from 2020 onwards will play a valuable part in shaping a greener future. But whatever the case, it will require a collective effort by our leaders, our urbanised cities, and ourselves to achieve a net zero carbon future.