Mandatory certification under the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance

The Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (BEEO) was enacted in September 2012 and made it mandatory to comply with the building energy codes (BECs) in the manner set out below. The BECs are regularly updated and stipulate the minimum energy performance standards for the following four building services installations: (i) air-conditioning; (ii) lighting; (iii) lifts and escalators; and (iv) electrical installations. As of March 2024, the latest edition of the BEC is the 2021 edition.

• In respect of new buildings, developers or owners of one or more of 13 types of prescribed new buildings must ensure that their building's four key types of building services installations comply with the design standards of the BECs. Accordingly, the developers or owners must apply for a "Certificate of Compliance Registration" upon completion of the building. The certificate must be renewed every 10 years, which means that the building's compliance with the BECs must be recertified every 10 years. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) keeps a register of buildings with this certificate, and the register is publicly available online.
• In respect of existing buildings, the responsible persons (i.e., owners, tenants or occupiers, etc.) must ensure that the building's services installations comply with the BECs when undertaking "major retrofitting works" (i.e., work involving an area over 500 square meters). As such, the owner, tenant or occupier must obtain a "Form of Compliance" after the completion of works.
• The owners of commercial buildings must also carry out an energy audit in respect of the four key types of building services installations in accordance with the Energy Audit Code every 10 years. The results of the audit must be displayed at the building for public inspection.

As of March 2024, the government is discussing the proposal to amend the BEEO, which amendment includes widening the scope of prescribed buildings, mandating disclosure of technical information in energy audit reports and shortening the interval of energy audits to five years with the target of commencing legislative work within 2024.

Voluntary certification under the Energy Efficiency Registration Scheme for Buildings

The Energy Efficiency Registration Scheme for Buildings (EERSB) was launched in 1998 to promote compliance with the first set of BECs published in 1998. With the implementation of the BEEO in 2012, which made compliance with BECs mandatory, buildings built in recent years have already fulfilled the minimum energy efficiency requirements under the BECs. To continue to encourage and promote the enhancement of energy efficiency of buildings in Hong Kong, the EERSB was reviewed in 2017 so that buildings/premises achieving a better energy performance beyond the statutory requirements could be recognized and commended by the scheme. With effect from 1 January 2018, all types of new and existing buildings/premises outperforming the minimum statutory requirements under the BEEO, evidenced by the BEAM Plus certification (or another internationally recognized assessment system certification), can apply to join the EERSB.

The EMSD maintains a publicly available list of buildings successfully certified under the scheme. If a building is registered, the scheme's "Energy Efficient Building" logo may be used on marketing documents to publicize its energy efficiency.

As of March 2024, there have been more than 4,000 registrations under the EERSB (including registrations prior to 2018).