Benefits for Office Building
An office building with a good energy
index has a better reputation for the
owner.
The benefits of monitoring and
benchmarking are as below:
• Improvement of overall operational
efficiency.
• Achieve long-term sustainability.
Benefits for Office Unit
Reduce utility costs.
z
Compare the utility usage with
historical data and benchmark-
ing
z
Regular maintenance of office
equipment
Monitoring and Benchmarking
Overview
Sufficient metering provisions are required to facilitate continuous
monitoring of the energy consumption for office buildings. Nowadays,
the electronic/smart metering devices are less expensive and an owner
can set up an automatic monitoring platform to record the energy use
pattern of the office.
To further identify energy saving opportunities, energy consumption
for the office can be compared with the energy index from a local
database, such as Hong Kong Green Building Council’s Benchmarking and
Energy Saving Tool – Office Occupants (HK BESTOO) or EMSD’s Energy
Consumption Indicators and Benchmarking Tools.
Green Strategies for Office Building
Green Strategies for Office Unit
z
Proper preventive maintenance
of equipment to avoid loss of
operating efficiency
z
Compare the system efficiency
with historical data and bench-
marking
Office
UNIT
Office
BUILDING
Figure 4.1.31 Intelligent Building
Management System
(Source: Business Environment Council)
Figure 4.1.32 Benchmarking
with energy index
(Source: Electrical and Mechanical
Services Department)
OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT STAGE
4.1.8 Monitoring and Benchmarking
Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Phase 3:
Tenant metering and sub-metering
• Sub-meters compile tenants’ lighting, HVAC and small power usage (down
to 1 minute intervals if needed)
• Tenants can access their energy data via a dedicated web-portal and
mobile app
• Tenants’ energy data is also shared with the landlord to monitor whole-
building energy performance
• ”Pay-per-use” air conditioning for tenants with dedicated
(via thermal / flow meters)
Building performance monitoring and dissemination
Building performance displayed at the entrance lobby of each building, with
information including:
• Overall energy consumption during the last 12 months (actual versus target
and EMSD indicators in kWh/m
2
/yr)
• Annual savings in energy expenditure (HK$) and associated CO2 emissions
(in terms of kg and equivalent number of trees)
• “Saving Star” Tenants in the previous month (energy use by the best
performing R&D, laboratory and SME Tenants, in kWh/m
2
)
• Photovoltaic, LED lighting, ultra-efficient HVAC & lift destination control
savings (in kWh & HK$ during the year and since opening)
• Thermal storage, hybrid ventilation and rainwater harvesting data (e.g. m
3
water and HK$ water savings during the year and since opening)
Smart Metering
24powermetershavebeeninstalled
to track the power consumption of
air-conditioning, lighting and small
power, as well as plumbing and
drainage systems. They enable the
building manager to take prompt
and targeted actions to improve
the energy efficiency of specific
facilities. Chilled water meters have
also been installed in areas used
by other building users in order to
evaluate their respective amounts
of energy consumption associated
with central air-conditioning.
Swire Properties Limited:
Data Management System
Swire Properties Limited (SPL) has established an extensive
data management system. More than 20,000,000 items of
operating data and 70,000 energy data items are captured,
standardised and stored per day. In addition, a robust waste
management framework has been developed since 2002,
with data being collected for over 20 types of waste at present.
VAV (Variable Air Volume) Fault Detection System
Since 2008, SPL has funded and collaborated intensively
with Tsinghua and Hunan University on in-depth research
studies, with their commercial buildings being used as living
laboratories for testing pilot initiatives in energy efficiency
improvement. The VAV fault detection system is one of the
advance systems invented by Hunan University and SPL,
and has now been patented. The system can automatically
identify malfunctioning VAV boxes in SPL’s buildings with
details so that rectification work can be arranged accordingly
in order to maintain good building performance.
Figure 4.1.34 Office Buildings in Hong Kong
(Source: Swire Properties Limited)
OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT STAGE
4.1.8 Monitoring and Benchmarking
Figure 4.1.33 Smart Metering
(Source: Business Environment Council)
Business Environment Council:
122
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