The effectiveness of sustainable measures in public rental housing : a case study of Shui Chuen O Estate

Abstract

The impetus for sustainable housing comes from a focus on the concept of environmental protection in recent decades. The building is green as it minimizes the impact to the nature. As the largest housing supplier for almost half of the population in Hong Kong, the Housing Authority has been actively implemented sustainable measures into its own public subsidized housings through planning, construction, and property management. The Housing Authority believed that housing is an important media to strengthen residents’ environmental awareness and encourage their participation in environmental protection work. To achieve this target, maintaining a green community for the residents is essential. However, due to the lack of statutory requirements and the concern on construction cost, private sector in Hong Kong has shown low interest in environmentally sustainable housing. As a result, being a public sector, the Housing Authority has to bear the responsibility of the promotion and implementation of green buildings. This study firstly attempts to analyze the effectiveness of the measures implemented by the Housing Authority starting from the objective and qualitative measures in green building and sustainable development adopted, and then the changing of residents due to these measures. This dissertation used Shui Chuen O Estate, a newly completed public rental housing for case studying. By the means of site visit and reviewing literature, the actualization of green components in Shui Chuen O Estate is analyzed, thus a representative picture of practical examples implemented in the public housing provided by the Housing Authority can be outlined. The contributions in creating a more sustainable community are also studied to evaluate the sufficiency of these green features. In addition, to investigate that whether the residents’ values and behaviours have been changed to a more environmentally friendly cared way, a questionnaire survey is adopted because associated secondary data are not available. The result of survey is indeed analyzed and suggestions are thus made accordingly.