Improving the environmental performance of building facilities through a green building product labelling scheme

Abstract

The environmental impacts caused by the prodigious demand for building facilities around the world should not be underestimated as construction projects consume a great deal of natural resources, water and energy. To help save the ecosystems and achieve the global vision of sustainable development, the construction industry has an indispensable role to play. Of various approaches to reduce the environmental burdens of construction facilities, the use of green building materials is considered a crucial aspect. Yet, it is not easy for construction stakeholders to select the most suitable green building materials for a construction project. What is needed is a transparent and credible scheme to evaluate and compare the greenness of building products. In Hong Kong, a green building product labelling scheme has just been launched by the Hong Kong Green Building Council. A major characteristic of this green building labelling scheme is that it enables construction stakeholders to differentiate the level of greenness of building materials and products based on various environmental impact categories. By integrating the green building product labelling scheme with the building environmental assessment schemes such as LEED, the overall environmental performance of a building can be easily delineated. In this paper, the salient features of the green building product labelling scheme in Hong Kong are presented and the way to capitalise on the scheme to enhance the environmental performance of building facilities in the city is discussed.