Critical evaluation of environmental and economic performance of green buildings in Hong Kong

Abstract

Due to the two key drivers, energy crisis and climate change, green buildings has become increasingly important around the world and many building environmental assessment methods have been developed to assess the performance of green buildings. However, it is sometimes criticized that the environmental performance of those certified green buildings may not be guaranteed in real situation. Some green technologies used in green buildings are found to be not cost effective. This study aims to critically evaluate the environmental and economic performance of green buildings, mainly focusing on the context of Hong Kong. The situations of green building development and the green building assessment methods used in the world and in Hong Kong are discussed. The environmental and economic problems faced by green buildings from the literature are then described. For critical analysis, different methods to assess the environmental and economic performance of green buildings are pointed out. This research also studies and compares three green building assessment methods used in Hong Kong, including Hong Kong BEAM Plus, U.S. LEED and China Green Building Label (GBL). After collecting opinions from general public, and interviewing green building related professionals, it is found that the deficiencies in the green building certification systems and split financial interests among different stakeholders are the key issues affecting the actual environmental and economic performance of green buildings in Hong Kong respectively. Finally, the recommendations to improve the environmental and economic performance of green buildings are suggested, such as continuous monitoring after getting green building certificates for 'new buildings' and adding life cycle assessment elements into green building assessment methods.