Customization of GBTool in Hong Kong

Abstract

In Hong Kong, there has been increasing public demand for developers to pay greater attention to the development of sustainable buildings. A creditable assessment scheme that provides targets and methods and recognition of the efforts that are made in this direction is considered to be an effective way to achieve the goal of construction sustainability. GBTool is by far the most comprehensive building environmental assessment framework and has been developed over the past 6 years through the efforts of 21 national teams. This study aims to address the customization of GBTool as a scheme to assist in the development of more sustainable buildings in Hong Kong. The general principle of triangulation is adopted in the customization process and the initiatives of the Hong Kong government and of voluntary bodies are reviewed. The gaps between the Hong Kong situation and the philosophy of GBTool are identified and a questionnaire survey and a series of in-depth interviews to elicit the attitudes of the parties involved toward the inclusion of additional issues into the customized scheme are conducted. The correlation of several major issues and the weightings across issues and criteria are identified. The results form a good basis for the development of a building sustainability assessment scheme for Hong Kong.