MOC in GBA – Introduction

【 Memorandum of Cooperation on Building Energy Saving Retrofit in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area 】

The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on Building Energy Saving Retrofit in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with various professional bodies, trade associations and academia in Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland on 3 November 2022 to jointly develop and promote building energy retrofit technologies with a view to enhance building energy efficiency. This is the second MoC on building energy saving that extends from the current MoC on Retro-commissioning (RCx) of Buildings in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area signed in 2018. On the same day, the EMSD also held the first plenary meeting with the MoC signatories to exchange insight on building energy saving retrofits and discuss on the cooperation details.

Hong Kong has always been proactive in tackling climate change. In 2021, the Government announced four major decarbonisation strategies, namely “Net-zero Electricity Generation”, “Energy Saving and Green Buildings”, “Green Transport” and “Waste Reduction”, aiming at achieving carbon neutrality before 2050. For “Energy Saving and Green Buildings”, EMSD would keep the building energy efficient requirements abreast of the times to ensure continuous decarbonisation of buildings. The latest 2021 edition of the Building Energy Code (BEC) has improved the overall building energy efficiency by over 23% as compared with the 2012 edition. It is expected the energy efficiency of the BEC could be further increased by 10% before 2035 which will help Hong Kong to reach the carbon neutrality goal.

The new MoC also offers a solid foundation for the signatories to build capacity through sharing of knowledge, experience and expertise, so as to deepen the professional knowledge of existing building energy saving retrofit practitioners and service providers in the Greater Bay Area and promote building energy retrofit to other cities in the Greater Bay Area. The signing of the new MoC marks the further collaboration between various organisations from Hong Kong, Macao, the Greater Bay Area and other Mainland cities to further improve building energy efficiency when undergoing building energy retrofit and RCx in order to strive towards carbon neutrality.

Signing Ceremony of Memorandum of Co-operation on Building Energy Saving Retrofit in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area