Experimental Projects

The Energy Efficiency Office of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) installed occupancy sensors with dimmer controls in our headquarters on the 28/F of Southorn Centre, Wan Chai in March 2002. All offices, corridors, lavatories and common areas on this floor have been fitted with the sensors which deactivate office lights automatically when an area is not in use. Later in mid-2002, EMSD explored the feasibility of replacing the existing inlet guide vanes by variable speed drive (VSD) in the air-handling units of all EPD floors at Southorn Centre. To ensure an objective assessment, it was finally agreed that the VSD will run parallel with the existing system for six months from April to September to compare the performance in energy efficiency. A separate meter has been installed, together with the variable speed drive, for individual assessment.

Chart of Electricity consumption for office operations

Chart of Paper consumption for office operations

Chart of Use of recycled paper in the office

Added to these initiatives was a research project launched by the City University to evaluate the optical performance of a solar control film coating known as V-Kool. Field measurements of solar heat gain and daylight illumination in two air-conditioned offices (Room 2817 and Room 2803 on the 28/F of Southorn Centre) were conducted to identify the impacts of solar film coating on cooling energy requirements. Through such experimental projects, we hope more opportunities can be explored for achieving energy conservation in an office setting.

Working towards a Paper-less Office - Electronic Workflow

Riding on the success of the Administrative Daily Bulletin, in which circulars and general notices are issued to most staff by e-mail rather than by conventional hard-copy, more electronic workflow applications were put into place in 2002. These applications enable staff to reserve common meeting rooms and make procurements through our intranet in an efficient and paper-less manner. In 2002, the department used 15 736 reams of photocopy paper, down from 16 300 reams in 2001.

A slight increase in electricity consumption was seen in 2002. This was mainly due to an increase in workloads and longer operating hours for the air-conditioning equipment for our new computer servers.

Greener Transport

Motor vehicle transport is by its nature polluting. To reduce the impacts, we have introduced measures to control emissions and lower fuel consumption. All of our vehicles - mainly medium vans, saloons, and motorcycles - run on petrol or liquefied petroleum gas, rather than the more polluting diesel fuel. We have also initiated a non-idling policy for our vehicles in an effort to reduce air pollution.

Since 2001, the EPD's Administration Group has implemented an internal Vehicle Booking Information System to enable greater efficiency in organising car pools among all of our Groups and offices. All EPD offices are required to combine trips where possible and thereby maximise the use of departmental vehicles. The system logs the mileage and number of passengers for each car trip. This data will be used as a basis for devising a green transport action plan in 2003. As a result of these measures, we have reduced the number of government vehicles from a total of 61 to 56, by returning 4 motorcycles and 1 van to the Government Land Transport Agency.

Suppliers and Service Providers

For out-sourced services, we require our service providers to adopt green measures as much as possible. For example, where hard copies are unavoidable, consultants are required to submit reports that are environmentally friendly, i.e. double-sided printing, simple binding, no excessive use of plastics, etc. The same goes for the production of the education packs used by our Community Relations Unit. Publicity souvenirs such as clips and rulers must be manufactured from recycled plastics. The contractor for our mobile Environmental Resource Centre was required to install environmentally friendly features such as solar fans and energy-saving bulbs. The vehicle is also powered by less polluting liquefied petroleum gas.

To exert further influence on our contractors and suppliers, we began requiring them in 2000 to provide information on their environmental performance, such as whether they have obtained ISO 14001 certification, whether they avoid the use of hazardous materials in the manufacturing process and whether they will take back spent products such as batteries.