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The University of Hong Kong (HKU) will conduct a research aiming to develop a framework for labelling the carbon emitted by construction materials for use in the Hong Kong construction industry.

The research project is funded by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and is led by Dr. Thomas Ng, Associate Professor of HKU Department of Civil Engineering.

An agreement signing ceremony was held at HKU today (October 26) officiated by HKU Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research) Professor Paul K.H. TAM and Chairman of CIC Mr LEE Shing-see.

"Environment" has been a strategic research area of HKU. The establishment of a comprehensive carbon labelling framework by the University's research team will help the territory achieve a green living environment and is critical for our construction industry to combat climate change.

As Hong Kong aims to be a sustainable low carbon economy city, the construction industry has a critical role to play. Apart from the energy consumed by running assets, the embodied carbon impacts of a construction project associated with the extraction, manufacture, transport, assembly and even decomposition of construction materials would result in significant environmental consequences. Minimising the output of carbon emission in the construction field through prudent selection of construction materials is therefore highly desirable. By developing a universally recognized measurement unit, carbon emissions generated by construction materials and the site fabrication processes could help the various industry stakeholders determine which options are more environmentally friendly to them.

This research project marks a milestone in collaboration between the industry and academia for the promotion of sustainability in construction. It is hopeful that the carbon labelling framework for construction materials, once developed, will help achieve the target of emission reduction as proposed by the government. The findings should also put Hong Kong at the forefront of sustainable development as well as accreditation service and carbon auditing.

For the speech of Professor Paul Tam, please visit: http://www.hku.hk/cpaoesite/press/101026speech-e.doc  

For media enquiries, please contact: Ms Trinni Choy (Assistant Director (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2606 email: pychoy@hku.hk or Ms Melanie Wan (Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2600 email: melwkwan@hku.hk; or Ms. Esther Lai of CIC at tel 3571 8718 email: estherlai@hkcic.org.