Green milestone: Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau launches the first guidelines for conducting carbon audits on buildings.

The Environment Bureau has launched the first guidelines for conducting carbon audits on buildings.

Speaking at the Green Hong Kong event today, Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau said building users and managers could use the carbon audits to calculate the amount of greenhouse gas emitted from their building operations.

Mr Yau added reducing the electricity consumed for buildings operation is crucial to reducing greenhouse emissions as buildings have taken up 89% of the total electricity consumed in Hong Kong.

More than 100 buildings, including more than 10 government ones, will carry out carbon audits this year, while 37 organisations from the property-development and management sectors, universities and non-profit organisations have undertaken to conduct carbon audits on their buildings, and to initiate reduction programmes, in the next two years. 

The Government has prepared guidelines to help building users and managers account for and report on greenhouse gas emissions and removals for buildings. For details, click here.