Benefits for Office Building
• Promote better indoor air quality for
building occupants by using green
building materials in construction
• Lower the energy consumption
and greenhouse gas emissions
from extraction, transportation
and manufacturing by using green
building material
• Lower expenditure on shipping and
transport of building materials by
using regional materials
Benefits for Office Unit
• Promote heath and the well-being
of staff by using green building
materials
• With better indoor air quality there
will be less discomfort caused by
indoor air. This can boost morale
and increase productivity to a large
extent
Green Strategies for Office Unit
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Use recycled content
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Use material with reduced
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Use rapidly renewable materials
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Use low-emitting materials
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Use regional materials
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Use certified wood products
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Use durable, recyclable mate-
rials, such as metal to replace
timber used in formwork
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Purchase products with high
recycled content
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Use low-emitting material
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Use rapidly renewablematerials,
e.g. FSC wood
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Us e s y s t em f u r n i t u r e
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Refer to HK G-PASS for green
building materials
Green Building Materials
DESIGN STAGE
3.1.10 Green Building Materials
Overview
When selecting materials for office
buildings and office areas, owners and
tenants should consider aesthetics,
function, maintenance and financial
issues. However, environmentally friendly
materials selection is also important as
this contributes to occupants’ health, a
building’s sustainability, as well as the
sustainability of the enviroment.
Design for easy disassembling by using fewer
parts and avoiding glues can make it easier for
a product to be repaired, upgraded and reused.
How the product can be disassembled is the key
factor to its afterlife.
BEAM Plus BI V1.0 MA 5
At least 50% of the newly installed elements in
the project should be easily disassembled
elements.
• Help the community and gain a
good reputation
• Increase the variety of styles
used hence enhancing building
marketability
Green Strategies for Office Building
Bamboo is usually considered as a sustainable resource for its
renewability and
Bamboo grows significantly faster than hardwood trees,
reaching over 60 feet in just a few months. Although they are
fast growing, they are very strong and flexible compared with
other timber building materials. So they are very cost-effective,
attractive and unique.
Every acre of bamboo can embed up to 40 tons of CO
2
,
making it a very effective solution to global warming.
Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant in the world. It is a
renewable resource and is more resistant to water and heat
because of its engineered structure.
The FSC label and
HK G-PASS provide
credible links between
responsible production
and consumption of
forest products, enabling
purchasing decisions that
benefit people and the
environment as well as
providing ongoing business
value.
The decorative panels are acoustically effective as a
wall covering in conference rooms.
The permeable structure of the product is beneficial
to the regulation of the indoor climate and it is
recommended for ecological building designs for its
recyclable content.
Cork is an inherently sustainable
resource, being both
biodegradable and renewable.
As a raw material, cork is mainly
small microscopic pockets of air
encapsulated by the cork fiber
lignin. This cellular structure
gives cork products tremendous
thermal and acoustic properties,
as the air acts as “insulation”.
Laser-cut cork panels can be a
feature on the wall.
Office
UNIT
DESIGN STAGE
3.1.10 Green Building Materials
Figure 3.1.29 Bamboo
(Source: Hong Kong Green Building Council)
Figure 3.1.30 Cork Feature Wall of Hong Kong Green Building Council Office
(Source: Hong Kong Green Building Council)
Figure 3.1.31 FSC plywood
(Source: Hong Kong Green Building Council)
Figure 3.1.32 Acoustic effective panel
(Source: Hong Kong Gren Building Council)
Office
UNIT
Office
BUILDING
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HKGBC Green Product Accreditation and Standards (HK
G-PASS) (since Jan 2015); the Scheme provides a prac-
tical and recognised green building products standard
promoting green business opportunities and use of
green building products to the industry practitioners and
end users.
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Eco-Product Directory
(since Jul 2013); the service
provides a user-friendly online platform to link manu-
facturers and suppliers of green building products to
building professionals
)
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Green Specifications Database (since 2000) – devel-
oped by the Environmental Protection Department,
is a tool to help you select goods and services that
are better for the environment compared with
conventional products. You can search the green
specifications of 150 procurement items with the
item filter or keyword search function.
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