WWF and the Department of Management Sciences, City University of Hong Kong have teamed up to study the energy efficiency of offices buildings in Hong Kong. Data were collected from 104 samples. In the study, the energy efficiency of single-owner Grade A office buildings is the worst, with energy consumption per square meter being up to 582 kW/h per year, which is the double of that of Grade C office space. In other words, for every 10 square meters (about 107 sq. feet) of Grade A office building with single-owner, its annual energy consumption is equivalent to a three member family’s annual energy consumption.

The survey also found that public spaces of Grade A and Grade B office buildings consume more electricity than the tenant units. WWF believes that the improvement in energy efficiency is the first priority of addressing climate change. Dr. William Yu, Head of Climate Programme, WWF-Hong Kong said, "The study clearly showed there is still a lot of room for improving the energy efficiency of office buildings. To address climate change, priority should be given to demand side management (DSM); the government should implement greater energy efficiency measures to achieve emissions reduction targets, instead of increasing the proportion of nuclear power which was suggested on the recent Climate Change Consultation Study."

Dr. William Chung, Associate Professor, Department of Management Sciences, City University of Hong Kong said it was kind of striking that Grade A buildings with single-owner tend to belong to large firms, which should normally have the ability to improve energy efficiency, but this study found the energy efficiency of Grade A office space is the worst among all types of office buildings.

In the research, the effect of variance (normalized) between the factors such as the duration of the office operation, building age and number of employees.

Dr William Chung estimated that, in the Grade A office space with single-owner, these firms occupy the entire buildings, and hire management agents to manage of their buildings. Energy efficiency may not be the main concern of the building management agents. Meanwhile, the employees in this grade office building do not have incentive to save energy. As for Grade C, with no central air-conditioning provided and tenants paying their own utility bills, users will be more conscious to save energy.

The survey also found that the energy consumption of the public area of Grade A and Grade B office space is double that of the tenant units. Energy consumption of the public area means central air-conditioning systems, elevators, escalators, lighting of lift lobbies and corridors, etc. Dr Chung added that to reduce carbon emissions, government should also take the public area into account, he urges the Government to speed up the implementation of the Building Energy Code.

WWF and Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong have jointly released the carbon reduction roadmap 2020 for Hong Kong. The study shows that Hong Kong has the ability to achieve 61% reduction in carbon intensity by 2020 (2005 base level) without increasing the nuclear power in the energy mix (or equivalent to 25% reduction in absolute carbon emissions by 2020 (1990 base level)). The key is to implement energy efficiency measures in all areas, including offices, buildings, transportation and personal behaviour.

The Climate Policy Forum cum Workshops organized by WWF, Arup and HK Green Building Council, will be held on 30 September, 2010 (Thursday). It is the first climate policy forum to be held in response to the HK Government’s recently released Hong Kong’s Climate Change Strategy and Action Agenda. It is hoped that through this platform, a bottom- up “low-carbon Hong Kong” climate policy can be created. (Please refer the rundown as attached.)