Implementing building energy codes in Hong Kong: energy savings, environmental impacts and cost

A significant proportion of the total energy produced in Hong Kong is consumed by the building stocks, which account for nearly half of the total energy consumption. Due to expanding economy and substantial improvement in living standards over the past decade, the demand of electricity generation has remarkably increased. This rising trend of energy use will inevitably lead to increasing environmental problems. In this respect, a comprehensive set of codes of practice for energy efficiency in building services installation were drawn up by Energy Efficiency Office (EEO) in 1998 in Hong Kong. The codes represent a performance-based approach, which set maximum allowable energy consumption levels for various installations with statements of requirements and evaluation methods.