The Director of Buildings, the Directors of Lands, and the Director of Planning have jointly issued the following new Joint Practice Note (JPN), and you may wish to view/download the document vide the attached link :

• New Joint Practice Note No.6 "Sustainable Building Design Guidelines: Building Separation and Building Setback"

https://www.bd.gov.hk/doc/en/resources/codes-and-references/practice-notes-and-circular-letters/joint/JPN06.pdf

This new JPN promulgates the streamlined measures to be adopted by the Buildings Department, Lands Department and Planning Department for checking compliance with the building separation and building setback requirements under the Sustainable Building Design Guidelines.

2. Frequent visits to the BD's homepage at http://www.bd.gov.hk will keep you abreast of the BA's latest announcements.

The theme of International Women’s Day this year is #PressforProgress, a nod to the growing global movement of advocacy, activism and support surrounding gender parity and sexism. Our Past President Jenny Yeung attended #TRChangeMaker Summit organized by Thomson Reuter in Grand Hyatt Hong Kong on March 6, 2018. There were around 100 attendees from different industries with a common vision towards Diversity and Inclusion. Following a welcome remarks from Sanjeev Chatrath of Thomson Reuter, the exciting event was kicked off by Susan Martin Taylor - “From Conversation to Action, Become a Change Maker” and keynote from Jenny Cermak - “Lessons from Australian Companies Leading the Way”, then a discussion panel featuring “Driving Accountability to Develop a Diverse Pipeline”. After a nice networking break with a touch of light refreshment and rich coffee, we were much impassioned by the powerful keynote speaker, the Honorable Mrs. Anson Chan GBM, GCMG, CBE, JP, Former Chief Secretary for Administration HKSAR, on her topic “Blazing a Trial for Women”. The summit ended with another discussion panel - “Breaking the Glass and Bamboo Ceilings”, then a closing note from Kimberley Cole.

Organization bias still exists. It will take another 217 years to achieve gender parity. Let’s join hands now to promote diversity, cultivate trust, give care to people around us and make the change.

Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap 610)
Technical Circular No. 2/2016
Launch of Technical Guidelines on Building Energy Code 2015

Purpose
This Technical Circular launches the “Technical Guidelines on Code of Practice for Energy Efficiency of Building Services Installation, 2015 Edition”. TG-BEC 2015 in short, which serves to assist Registered Energy Assessors (REAs) in understanding the technical requirements of the Code of Practice for Energy Efficiency of Building Services installation, 2015 Edition (BEC 2015) against the legislative background of the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap 610) (BEEO). The TG-BEC 2015 has been uploaded to the web-site of the BEEO (http://www.beeo.emsd.gov.hk).

Effective Date
2.     This Circular takes immediate effect.

Effect on Existing Circular
3.     There is no effect on existing circulars.

Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap 610)
Technical Circular No. 1/2016
Launch of Technical Forms for BEC 2015 and EAC 2015

Purpose
This Technical Circular promulgates the issuance of revised specified form EE-SU (Rev. 06/16), and technical forms, namely Form EE-LG 2015, Form EE-EL 2015, Form EE-AC 2015 & Form EE-LE 2015 for BEC 2015 amd Form EE-EAes 2015 for EAC 2015 which have been uploaded to the website of the Ordiance (http://www.beeo.emsd.gov.hk) for submissions under the two new Codes.

Effective Date
2. The revised Form EE-SU (Rev. 06/16) takes effect on 24 June 2016 while the aforesaid technical forms take effect in accordance with the effective dates of BEC 2015 and EAC 2015 as stipulated under Technical Circular No. 2/2015 - Launch of BEC 2015 and EAC 2015 issued on 11 December 2015.

Effect on Existing Circular
3. There is no effect on existing circulars.

Background
4. To suit the new requirements of BEC 2015 and EAC 2015, specified form EE-SU and part of the technical forms are updated for submissions following the new Codes by the developer and Registered Energy Assessor.

5. The existing technical forms, namely Form EE-LG(V.0), Form EE-EL(V.1), Form EE-AC(V.0), Form EE-LE(V.0) & Form EE-PB(V.0), are still valid for submissions following previous BEC editions including, BEC 2012 and BEC 2015 (Rev. 1). Similarly, Form EE-EA(V.1) & Form EE-EAes(V.1) are still valid for energy audit completed in respect of EAC 2012. Please refer to Paragragh 7, 8 and 9 under Technical Circular No. 2/2015 for the applicability of previous editions of BEC and EAC.

The Property Management Services Bill was passed in the legislative Council on Thursday, May 26, 2016. The passing of the bill will have a big impact to the property and facilities management industry. For the content of the Property Management Services Bill, please click HERE for details.

Attached is a report drafted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that was just released. The report, titled: "Federal Green Building; Federal Efforts and Third-Party Certification Help Agencies Implement Key Requirements, but Challenges Remain", reviews building practices, codes and rating systems within the federal inventory. In addition it also provides recommendations on how to achieve further savings or efficiencies. Public sectors facilities council.

The Quality Building Award (QBA) is a biennial award giving public recognition to buildings of outstanding quality that demonstrate outstanding teamwork. The provision of quality buildings is an essential ingredient of a prosperous and modern society and the Quality Building Award aims to promote a collective commitment by the building industry to maintain the highest standards of professionalism and competitiveness. 

QBA 2016 is jointly organized by nine professional organizations in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA, The Hong Kong Construction Association, The Hong Kong Institute of Construction Managers, The Hong Kong Institute of Architects, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, The Hong Kong Institute of Housing, The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, The Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency and The Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong.

Quality Building Award (QBA) 2016 is open for nominations under the following six categories:

1. Hong Kong Residential (Single Building)
2. Hong Kong Residential (Multiple Buildings)
3. Hong Kong Non-Residential (New Building)
4. Hong Kong Building (Renovation / Revitalization)
5. Building Outside Hong Kong (Residential)
6. Building Outside Hong Kong (Non-Residential)

* Nominated buildings should be practically completed in the period between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2015, supported by the document certified by client on completion.

For details, please refer to http://www.qba.com.hk/en/index.html, for enquiries related to normination, please contact Ms Jocelyn Kwok at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Kindly please be informed that Addendum No. EAC01 to EAC 2012 of the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance have been released by the Energy Efficiency Office of Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.

The Addendum is to clarify the technical criteria under which exemption from the energy audit requirement of the Ordinance may be granted for the composite buildings. For detail , please refer to the following email from EMSD.

Please also be reminded that the first batch of buildings (Completed on or after 1988) that require energy audit is due to be completed on or before 20 September 2013.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please be informed that Addendum No. EAC01 to the Code of Practice for Building Energy Audit (Energy Audit Code, EAC) 2012 Edition under the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap. 610) has been promulgated in Government Notice No. G.N. 4659 published in the Gazette on 9 August 2013 (copy attached: GN4659_Chi_Addendum EAC01.pdf and GN4659_Eng_Addendum EAC01.pdf) pursuant to section 40 of the Ordinance. The relevant Addendum is also attached herewith for perusal (copy attached: EAC_addendum no. 1.pdf and EAC_addendum no. 1(Chi).pdf). It takes effect on 9 August 2013.

The Addendum is to clarify the technical criteria under which exemption from the energy audit requirement of the Ordinance may be granted for the composite buildings. To suit this Addendum to the EAC, another Addendum No. TG-EAC01 to the Technical Guidelines on Code of Practice for Building Energy Audit (TG-EAC) 2012 Edition has also been issued at the meantime (copy attached: TG-EAC_addendum no. 1.pdf) to give further technical elaboration. Please note that the criteria mentioned in the Addenda do not apply to commercial buildings.

The two Addenda, the EAC 2012 (Rev. 1) with the Addendum No. EAC01 incorporated and the TG-EAC 2012 (Rev. 1) with the Addendum No. TG-EAC01 incorporated and the relevant FAQ (where a standard application form for the said exemption can be downloaded) have been uploaded to the website of the Ordinance (http://www.beeo.emsd.gov.hk/).

Grateful if you could disseminate the above message to your members and/or clients.

Regards,

Osman LAU
Energy Efficiency Office
Electrical and Mechanical Services Department

The Government enacted the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap 610) which is to come into full operation from September 21, 2012 onward. Facility Managers and Facility Engineers shall remind the owners of buildings under their management that the first batch of energy audit report shall be submitted on or before September 20, 2013.

For further information, please contact Mr. Brian LEUNG of EMSD at Tel.: 3757 6156. 

With warm regards,

Jenny Yeung CFM, CFMJ, CEnv

President The Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA
Tel: 2512 0111
Fax: 2512 0555
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.ifma.org.hk 

IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for facility management professionals, supporting 22,655 members in 78 countries. The association’s members, represented in 129 chapters and 16 councils worldwide, manage more than 37 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than US$100 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies facility managers, conducts research, provides educational programs, recognizes facility management certificate programs and produces World Workplace, the world's largest facility management conference and exposition. To reach out to the local community, the Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA has established in 1992. For more information, visit the IFMA press room, www.ifma.org or www.ifma.org.hk. 

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Pursuant to the timetable in the Schedule 5 of the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (BEEO), the owners (or Incorporated Owners if any) of the commercial buildings and the commercial portions (e.g. shopping center under residential storeys) of composite buildings with Occupant Permits issued on or after 1 January 1988 should carry out the first energy audit for the central building services installations in the commercial buildings and the commercial portions of composite buildings on or before 20 September 2013. However, up to the moment of writing, the copies of the Energy Audit Forms and the energy audit reports of a certain number of the aforesaid buildings have not yet been submitted to this office as stipulated in section 22 of the BEEO. Pursuant to sections 22 and 23 of the BEEO, the owners of the aforesaid buildings who contravene the relevant requirements are liable on conviction to a fine at level 5 (equivalent to HK$50,000). 

To remind the concerned building owners of the aforesaid deadline, we are successively issuing advisory letters as friendly reminders to the owners of the relevant buildings we know so far. However, we do not guarantee having known all the relevant buildings. The issuance of advisory letters is indeed not a legal requirement. Thus, please note that no matter whether the relevant building owners receive the advisory letters or no matter when they receive these letters, they should consciously perform the relevant statutory obligation on time. 

Besides, we would also like to take this opportunity to clarify that the central building services installations small in scale will not be regarded as a reasonable "technical or operational reason" for exemption from the energy audit requirements since the scale of central building services installations does not affect the technical feasibility of energy audit. In other words, pursuant to the BEEO, the energy audit requirements must be observed irrespective of the scale of central building services installations unless there are other reasonable justifications. Indeed, the objective of the relevant requirements is to promote the culture of energy audit in order to let all the relevant building owners know the status of energy consumption of their buildings and hence adopt the appropriate energy management opportunities to enhance the energy efficiency of their buildings and save their energy bills. 

While the deadline of the first batch of energy audit is approaching, we would like to appeal to you and/or the members of your organisations to assist to remind the owners of the relevant buildings served/managed by you to complete the energy audit as soon as possible before the deadline if not yet. 

For the detailed information about the energy audit requirements, please visit the website of the BEEO (http://www.beeo.emsd.gov.hk).

Should you have any further enquiry, please feel free to contact this office at tel. 37576156 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

Most grateful if you could disseminate this message to the members of your organisations if applicable. 

Regards

Brian Leung
Energy Efficiency Office
Electrical & Mechanical Services Department

EcoPark, Hong Kong’s first recycling-business park, has been operating since 2007. Situated in Lung Mun Road, Tuen Mun, with a site area of 20 hectares, it provides a total of 14 hectares of rentable land to the environmental and recycling industry at affordable costs with a view to encouraging investment in advanced and value-added recycling technologies. A capital cost of HK$319 million has been injected by the Government to the construction of the EcoPark infrastructures. Photos showing the layout, infrastructure and facilities of the EcoPark are enclosed in Annex 1.

At present, a total of 14 lots have been leased to the recycling industry and community organizations for recycling waste cooking oil, waste metals, waste wood, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), waste plastics, waste batteries, waste construction materials/ waste glass, waste rubber tyres and food waste. For more information about the EcoPark, please visit http://www.ecopark.com.hk.

Since 30 April 2007, a management contractor has been selected through open tender for provision of management services, which mainly cover maintenance of the EcoPark and its facilities such as weighbridge and berthing spaces, provision of assistance to the EcoPark tenants for development of their recycling business, implementation of various promotional and waste recovery activities, and operation of the Visitor Centre and a dedicated website, to the EcoPark and the tenants. Given that the 7-year management contract will be expired on 29 April 2014, I write to invite your company to express an interest in undertaking the following services:

(a) preparation of tender documents, which include but not limited to Notes of Tenderers, Form of Tender, Conditions of Tender, Conditions of Contract and Specification, for the new management contract of the EcoPark; or

(b) provision of the management services to the EcoPark upon completion of the existing contract on 29 April 2013.

The tenders for these two services will be invited in June and October 2013 respectively.

You are kindly reminded that any company which is awarded to prepare the tender documents for the new management contract, viz. item (a) mentioned above, ARE NOT ALLOWED to bid the new contract for provision of management services to the EcoPark, viz. item (b) mentioned above.

If you are interested in the above assignments, please express your interest by filling the reply slip enclosed in Annex 2 and returning the filled reply slip by email to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  ; or by fax to 2872 0389 by noon on 7 June 2013 (Friday).

Please note that the Government is not bound to invite tenders from any of the companies expressing an interest. Besides, the Government reserves the right to cancel this exercise for not having the necessary funds approved or for any other reason without any notice. The Government will also not be responsible for any reimbursement incurred by the cancellation of this exercise.

Should you have any inquiry, please contact the undersigned at 2872 1611 or Mr W.Y. Wong at 2872 1647.

Research Project on ‘Relationally Integrated Value Networks for Total Asset Management’ (RIVANS for TAM) - INVITATION to Respond

The above-captioned research project is being conducted by the Centre for Infrastructure and Construction Industry Development (CICID) of The University of Hong Kong, led by Prof. Mohan Kumaraswamy.  This project aims to: 1) to identify synergies and added value that can be achieved through well-structured and focused collaboration between those engaged in (a) built Infrastructure Project Management (IPM) and (b) built Infrastructure Asset Management (IAM); and 2) to develop concepts and working arrangements for ‘Relationally Integrated Value Networks’ (RIVANS) for Total Asset Management (TAM) - to achieve much higher overall value through well-integrated supply-chains with common goals.

Members of IFMA are requested to provide their valuable insights by completing a short questionnaire on this topic.

Please click on the link shown below to complete the questionnaire online.
www.surveymonkey.com/rtam

Secondly, the research team welcomes contact from interested IFMA members, who we could interview to discuss key issues, potential barriers and ways forward to boost Asset/Facilities Management, as well as the sustainability of the built assets, from this approach to developing front-end linkages to relevant Project Management teams. 

Participation in the survey and/or interview is voluntary. All information collected will be treated in strict confidence and only used for research purposes, while no individuals or organisations will be identified in the outputs.  Should you be interested in participating in an interview, or if you have any questions or suggestions related to this research project, please e-mail Mr. Kelwin Wong (Research Project Coordinator) at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The IFMA Foundation has presented US$100,000 in scholarships to 36 students pursuing degrees in facility management and related fields. The IFMA Foundation works for the public good to promote priority research and educational opportunities for the advancement of the facility management profession. The foundation has been awarding facility management scholarships to deserving students for more than two decades to ensure the quality of the built environment in a changing world.

Fifty-four graduate and undergraduate students representing 23 schools applied for the scholarships, which are awarded based on merit. The scholarships range from US$1,500 to US$5,000 per student, and the winners also received a free trip to World Workplace.

This year’s winners represent countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and hail from schools including Brigham Young, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Harvard, Texas A&M, and the University of Calgary.

“These scholarships demonstrate that practicing facility professionals care about the future leaders of their profession, and I am honored to be selected as a 2011 IFMA Foundation scholarship recipient,” said Angela Lewis, P.E., LEED AP, doctoral student in the University of Reading’s School of Construction Management and Engineering. “IFMA Foundation scholarship donors are investing in the development of tomorrow’s researchers, educators, and facility professionals. I thank them for their contributions.”

Scholarships are being provided by several IFMA chapters and councils, as well as by companies including Davies Office Refurbishing and Sodexo. Since the IFMA Foundation began awarding scholarships to students in 1991, it has provided a total of 346 scholarships worth US$954,750.