Retrofitting Hong Kong Buildings with Efficient Air Conditioning and Treatment: a Feasibility Study - Essay Example

SYNOPSIS OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT 1.0 INTRODUCTION Many buildings in Hong Kong are inefficient in their air conditioning, resulting in poor cooling at very high costs. In addition the air quality is poor in such buildings. The people occupying these buildings, if they are occupied, suffer in heat and in poor air quality. There may even be some sick building syndrome. Those buildings which remain unoccupied by businesses may become low standard housing units unless businesses are enticed to develop them.

During the SARS epidemic, some poor plumbing and ducting was responsible for deaths in one building. With old type air conditioning the businesses will not be eager to move in. This study is aimed at discovering the best way to retrofit these buildings, so that they can be improved and become a productive part of the Hong Kong business scene. 2.0 BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT Hong Kong’s real estate market has suffered record inflation and the building trade boomed as developers hurried to take advantage of this.

Inflation has pushed Hong Kong housing into high prices and development costs are part of this mix. Since businesses are not interested in losing money on high maintenance it is important to tackle some of these problems. Therefore research supporting the retrofitting of these buildings to make their cooling systems efficient while increasing the air quality will be invaluable for developing these properties. 3.0 AIMS AND BROAD OBJECTIVES The aims of this research is to identify the best methods for retrofitting these buildings and find out if the benefits will justify the cost.

If the cost is more than the saleable value of the buildings, the government might consider offering incentives for developers to handle them. It is important for Hong Kong to decrease its energy use, and the cost of energy is hurting businesses and making Hong Kong less of an attractive place for international companies. By retrofitting existing buildings with low energy consuming air conditioning systems it can be done 3.1 FURTHER DETAILS: A Review of the Literature “A simple calculation shows that new construction adds less than 2% per annum to the built environment stock in Hong Kong.

Yet greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) in Hong Kong are nearing 50 million tonnes (CO2-equivalent) per annum and rising (http://www.epd.gov.hk/). Expressed in terms of emissions per square metre, Hong Kong is considered to be the largest producer of GGE in the world (The Standard, 2007). So it will take perhaps up to a century before the energy efficient strategies of new building construction can make any significant difference to the greenhouse gas reduction targets of the Hong Kong Government.

Energy efficient design should therefore be focused on retrofit of existing buildings rather than demolition and new construction. We must better look after what we have (Ball, 1999).” (Langston & Shen, 2007) Martin and Maze (0RW1S34RfeSDcfkexd09rT2Building retrofit ) list a number of options to analyze first before doing extensive retrofitting and going to