100430REDA

HOT, STACKED, AND CROWDEDImproving the Livability of Hong Kong’s Urban EnvironmentOne Building at a Time . . .?

April 2010Christine Loh Mike Kilburn Jonas Chau

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis paper was born out of a response* submi2ed in October 2009 to the Council for Sustainable Development’s consulta?on “Building Design to Foster a Quality and Sustainable Built Environment” prepared by a team consisted of:

CK Lau & Associates

Civic Exchange

Knight Frank

Masterplan Limited

Wong and Ouyang (HK) Limited

Civic Exchange thanks the Real Estate Developers Associa?on of Hong Kong for enabling this summary and update to be prepared. We are also grateful to Ian Brownlee for his advice on the technical details. * The response document can be downloaded at: http://www.civic-exchange.org/eng/upload/files/200910REDA.pdf

http://www.civic-exchange.org/eng/upload/files/200910REDA.pdf

INTRODUCTIONIn recent years there has been growing concern about the diminishing livability of Hong Kong’s urban environment. Public concern has focused on air pollu?on, especially from diesel vehicles on our congested roads, limited open space for public interac?on, and the “wall effect” and “street canyon effect”, caused by tall and bulky buildings blocking natural airflows and preven?ng dispersal of air pollu?on and the cooling of hot urban areas.

Hong Kong is beginning to respond to the challenges of climate change, yet ou r bu i l d i n g s , coo l ed by a i r condi?oning, accessed by escalators and elevators, and filled with energy hungry appliances, ligh?ng and equipment consume about 90% of our electricity, and are responsible for some 50-‐60% of Hong Kong ’s greenhouse gas emissions.

These impacts are serious:

• Vehicular emissions cause serious health problems.

• The Hong Kong Observatory es?mates that due to the urban heat island effect (UHIE) urban areas can be up to 4°C warmer than rura l a reas , i nc reas ing a i r-‐c o n d i ? o n i n g d em a n d a n d worsening air pollu?on.

• Hong Kong’s provision of urban open space is amongst the lowest in the world.

• Hong Kong is contribu?ng a d i s p r o p o r ? o n a t e l e v e l o f greenhouse gas emissions for its size.

These issues may seem unavoidable in a ver?cal city where seven million people live and work in just 250 square kilometres. However, there is a growing percep?on that the problems are made worse by gran?ng property d e v e l o p e r s a d d i ? o n a l G FA1 concessions that make their buildings taller and bulkier than they would be otherwise, while building energy efficiency is only now being discussed more seriously.

Hot, Stacked and Crowded 4April 2010

1 GFA – Gross Floor Area is the total developable and marketable area of a development

1 GFA – Gross Floor Area is the total developable and marketable area of a development2 Image: Dr. Janet Nichol, Department of Land Surveying and Geo-‐Informa?cs, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The Council for Sustainable Development recognized that the community is placing increasing importance on quality of life issues, and proposed a number of measures to increase the “sustainability” of buildings. The consulta?on document focused on reviewing how concessionary gross floor area is awarded in private developments, and whether this was leading to buildings that were both too tall and too bulky.

It also raised ques?ons on building energy efficiency. The Invita?on for Response Document sought responses on the following ques?ons:

1. What are the characteris?cs of a sustainable built environment?

2. What are your views on the proposed sustainable building guidelines?

3. What are your views on exis?ng GFA policies and prac?ces?

4. How should greater building energy efficiency be encouraged?

5. What is your willingness to pay for building features conducive to a2aining a quality and sustainable built environment?

6. Given these considera?ons, how should the Government proceed:

a. Maintain the status quo

b. Introduce moderate change to GFA concessions

c. Introduce major change with ?ghter controls on GFA concessions and mandatory energy efficiency guidelines

The consulta?on document can be downloaded from the consulta?on website at: h2p://www.susdev.org.hk/en/irdoc/index.html

COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC CONSULTATION: “BUILDING DESIGN TO FOSTER A QUALITY AND SUSTAINABLE LIVING ENVIRONMENT”

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http://www.susdev.org.hk/en/irdoc/index.html

http://www.susdev.org.hk/en/irdoc/index.html

Two ini?a?ves have been proposed to address these issues:

1. In July 2009 the Sustainable Development Council began a public consulta?on: “Building Design to Foster a Quality and S u s t a i n a b l e L i v i n g Environment” (see box), which invited the public comment on a review of GFA concessions on tall buildings.

2. In December 2009 the “Building Energy Efficiency Bill” (see box) was proposed to the Legisla?ve Council.

Both of these approaches focus principally on the design of individual new buildings. Hong Kong has about 50,000 exis?ng buildings, and builds just 1,000 new buildings per year. This means that any new policies arising from these ini?a?ves will, at best, cover just 2% of the building stock, leaving the vast majority of buildings, and the corresponding problems, unaffected.

Furthermore, if the focus were to remain on individual buildings the benefits of planning on a wider scale, and thereby op?mizing the impacts of i nd i v i dua l bu i l d i ng s w i th in a neighbourhood, would be lost.

Clearly, an alterna?ve approach is required. There is certainly value in reviewing GFA concessions and energy efficiency in new buildings. This paper outlines the broader influences on Hong Kong’s built environment, and makes policy recommenda?ons that will address exis?ng buildings, and place these proposals within the wider framework of land and energy policy, and a broad framework for sustainable development.


BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY BILLIn early 2010, the Government tabled the Buildings Energy Efficiency Bill (BEEB). Buildings use about 90% of the electricity consumed in Hong Kong. This bill is important because it will set the rate at which Hong Kong addresses its energy consump?on and CO2 emissions reduc?ons for the foreseeable future.

This bill makes mandatory the requirements of the current voluntary energy efficiency codes and aims to:

1. Mandate certain levels of energy efficiency in the design of new buildings;

2. Set standards for renova?ng public and communal areas of buildings over 500m2; and

3. Create guidelines for voluntary energy audits.

The bill can be downloaded from the Legisla?ve Council website at: h2p://www.legco.gov.hk/yr09-‐10/english/bills/b200912041.pdf

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http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr09-10/english/bills/b200912041.pdf

http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr09-10/english/bills/b200912041.pdf

THE KEY ISSUES: GOVERNMENT LAND POLICYAND THE BEEB


5. Review of the Building Energy Efficiency BillIn its current form, the BEEB addresses neither commissioning nor management of new buildings. Buildings are rarely commissioned, and very oqen state-‐of-‐the art facili?es are not managed according to their design inten?on. Energy service companies believe – even before retrofirng measures are considered – that savings of up to 30% can rou?nely be realized through ensuring the building begins opera?ng, and con?nues to operate according to the design specifica?ons.

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1. Maximising revenues through high plot ratios

Government land policy has focused very ?ghtly on revenue genera?on from land sales by offering high plots ra?os and requiring developers to make full u?liza?on of the plot ra?os on every site.

2. Maximising the number of developable lots with concessionary GFA

Developers are oqen required to incorporate Government, Ins?tu?onal and Community (GIC) facili?es and public transport facili?es into private developments. Private developers are compensated with concessionary GFA, which adds further to the height and bulk of developments.

3. Provision ofopen space

Hong Kong ’s standards for provision of open space have not been updated for 40 years and are among the lowest in the world. Even set at only 2m2 per person in the “Hong Kong P l a n n i n g S t a n d a r d s a n d Guidelines”, this low level is not being met in many older, heavily overbuilt neighbourhoods.

4. Negative impacts onlivability

As a result, there are fewer low-‐rise plots with GIC facili?es (e.g. community centres) and open spaces. Podium structures have expanded and buildings have grown taller as buildings have been re-‐built to permi2ed high plot ra?os, and concessionary GFA has been awarded. All of these lead to greater intensifica?on of the canyon and wa l l effec t s , d im in i sh ing opportuni?es for natural cooling and dispersion of pollutants because ven?la?on has become blocked or constricted.

More densely developed, poorly ven?lated neighbourhoods with insufficient open space and blocked ven?la?on corridors absorb more heat, which intensifies the UHIE. This leads to greater need for air condi?oning, resul?ng in more electricity consump?on and emissions of hot air, both of which further increase urban temperatures.

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POLICY RECOMMENDATIONSSince the proposed approach of focusing on the design of new developments will not have sufficient impact on the key issues of reducing the Urban Heat Island Effect, roadside pollu?on and energy inefficient buildings within a meaningful ?meframe, it is clear that an alterna?ve approach is required:


3. Expand the scope of the Building Energy Efficiency Bill

The BEEB should be expanded in scope to take into account the energy performance of exis?ng buildings as well as new buildings. Exis?ng buildings will always account for the vast majority of the building stock. Compulsory measures to improve their energy performance could provide a key driver for Hong Kong to meet its responsibili?es to improve energy efficiency and, because the great majority of Hong Kong’s power is derived from fossil fuels, to reduce its CO2 emissions.

1. Review priorities: Include land planning and policywithin a framework for sustainable development

Hong Kong has long been in need of a framework for sustainable development. Properly managed, such a framework would ensure that social and environmental aspects of livability of the urban environment are given greater considera?on. This would help to rebalance the single-‐minded approach to land policy that is dominated by genera?on of revenue. It would lead to co-‐ordinated mul?ple approaches to solving problems such as air pollu?on in street canyons, rather than relying on a piecemeal approach.

2. Zoom Out: Consider neighbourhoodsrather than buildings

Plans to improve ven?la?on and open space need to be made at the district level, and should take into account prevailing wind direc?ons, ingress points for sea breezes into heavily built-‐up areas, and strategic planning and provision of open space to meet these needs. This would likely require:

• Reduced plot ra?os, especially in older districts, to improve ven?la?on; and

• Iden?fica?on of vacant plots for provision of more open space, especially at strategic points for ensuring or crea?ng adequate ven?la?on.

The tools already exist to iden?fy the warmest and worst-‐polluted neighbourhoods, and the REDA-‐commissioned report has iden?fied a number of plots that should be removed from the list and re-‐zoned as open space. Broad considera?on of these issues should also consider the impacts of air and noise pollu?on on public health, mental health, and the community and economic benefits of increasing planned open space.

TOOLS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICY


1. Improved district-level consultations

Hong Kong lags far behind other developed ci?es in involving the public in district level planning and decision-‐making. Be2er understanding of specific public concerns will provide important insights into the value that communi?es place on open space.

2. Different approaches for different areas: neighbourhood-level planning

Different approaches will be required for different parts of the city. Generally there is more space in new towns and New Development Areas (NDAs) for open space and wider thoroughfares. In addi?on, the lessons learned from over-‐building in the older neighbourhoods can be applied as new buildings are added to New Towns and NDAs.

However the basic tool, sustainable master planning, is the same for both. Sustainable master planning allows environmental factors affec?ng whole districts, containing hundreds of buildings to be considered simultaneously. Relevant environmental factors include provision of open space, energy efficiency, greening, traffic flow, and ven?la?on.

Aerial images: maps.google.com


3. Air ventilation assessmentsDistrict-‐level air ven?la?on assessments can iden?fy natural ven?la?on pa2erns and how specific buildings or development pa2erns obstruct these. The most important of these are ingress points for sea breezes in coastal districts and the direc?on of prevailing winds (from the southwest in summer and the northeast in winter). It will be easier to plan for these on the clean slate of a New Town. However, increasing ven?la?on in older districts will be much more difficult.

4. Strategic provision of open spaceA number of neighbourhoods include undeveloped sites or obsolete Government facili?es, which, if removed from the List of Sites for Sale by Applica?on, could reduce the severe shortage of green open space (especially on the harbourfront) and ensure that natural ven?la?on corridors and are protected or established, and would prevent further hea?ng of already hot areas. An assessment conducted by REDA’s consultants in October 2009 has iden?fied 16 of the 26 urban sites on the Land Sale Program as appropriate for removal from the list.

5. Mandatory energy audits and energy labeling The BEEB should require the energy performance of all buildings (commercial, retail and residen?al) to be audited, and energy labeling should be applied. A number of approaches to energy labeling are in use elsewhere. These include the NABERS scheme in Australia, Energy Star in the United States and Green Mark in Singapore.

This would serve as a powerful driver for building owners to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings, providing both the “s?ck” in the form of the mandatory audit and labeling, and a “carrot” in the form of reduced energy bills and improved marketability of the most energy-‐efficient buildings.

Energy audit and labeling will also s?mulate the development of the energy services and property management sectors as providers of “Green Jobs”, by increasing the demand for high quality commissioning and energy audi?ng, and by encouraging property management companies to improve their ability to offer higher levels of energy management as a key compe??ve advantage.

http://www.landsd.gov.hk/en/landsale/application_list.htm

http://www.landsd.gov.hk/en/landsale/application_list.htm

AND FINALLY . . . MEASURES FOR INDIVIDUAL BUILDINGSREVIEW OF GFA CONCESSIONSOnce the framework outlined above is established it will be much easier to assess whether specific GFA concessions are genuinely in the public interest, and should be incen?vised, whether they should be voluntary, or required by legisla?on.

There are three types of concessions which, when combined together in a single building, can add substan?ally to the height and/or bulk of a building, and it is these that are the principal focus of the consulta?on:

Bonus GFA compensates developers for ac?ons in the public interest.

A good example is the incorpora?on of a public escalator into a private development on Queen’s Road that allowed the pavement to be widened, improving airflow and reducing pedestrian conges?on. In return for the loss of retail space the developer was awarded addi?onal office space, increasing the height of the building by four floors. There is clear community benefit in preserving such a mechanism.

Disregarded GFA covers the necessary/required items, par?cularly car parks and essen?al features of buildings such as plant rooms of sufficient size to facilitate easy maintenance access. Since such features are either required by law or essen?al to the safe management of the building, many of them should be made mandatory.

Exempted GFA aims to incen?vise a diverse range of features ranging from sky gardens, acous?c fins and balconies to guard rooms, pipe ducts and voids over pres?gious entrances. Many of these features can con?nue to be assessed on a case-‐by-‐case basis.


Images: Council for Sustainable Development; “Building Design to Foster a Quality and Sustainable Living Environment”

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

The principal issue is to assess whether any proposed amendments to the current framework will facilitate and accelerate improvements in the urban environment, especially in improving ven?la?on and building energy efficiency. It is also important to consider what impact these measures will have on property rights, as measures which reduce property rights are unlikely to find widespread support and may be unworkable.


INCENTIVES

REGULATIO

N

Current GFA Concessions IMPLEMENTATION

✗

✓

Swifter

Slower

SUSTAINABILITY

✗

✓Greater

Less

Property Rights


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