Page 60 - index

Zero Carbon Building Journal

Trade and Industry Tower, Kai Tak (TITKT) –

An Exemplar in Sustainability Design for

Government Buildings in Hong Kong

Mark Cameron, BEng, MCIBSE, MASHRAE, LEED AP, BEAM Pro
1 Senior Consultant, Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd, email: [email protected]

The new Trade and Industry Tower on the site of the former Kai Tak airport was developed with ‘integrated
sustainability’ at the core, thus architectural and engineering knowledge were used to provide a building which is
truly sustainable.

The sustainable nature of the building is showcased with extensive greenery which covers over 30% of the site
area. A green ‘ribbon’ which wraps around the main office tower becomes a focal point, whilst the green roof
covering the community hall, serves to insulate the building from solar gains, reducing the energy required for air
conditioning.

To reduce resource consumption in the construction of the building, a lifecycle analysis approach was adopted
whereby decisions were assessed on their carbon intensity. In operation, the building will consume less energy
and water than a equivalent baseline building and shall also produce less waste. To accomplish these goals a
number of approaches were integrated, including high performance facade materials with glazing and shading
devices for solar control on all elevations whilst allowing abundant natural daylighting. Two solar chimneys use
the buoyancy effect of warm air to naturally ventilate the car park and community hall, maintaining high air
quality, whilst reducing energy consumption. Rainwater is captured and recycled for irrigation. An Automatic
Refuse Collection System (ARCS) allows the sorting of materials for recycling at source, reducing the amount
of waste sent to landfill. Renewable energy is incorporated in the form of Photovoltaic (PV) panels, generating
around 46,970kWh of clean energy. Solar hot water panels provide all the hot water demand of the building and
regenerative lifts recover energy from braking to provide clean energy to the lifts.

The approaches outlined above have led to a successful project which is certified LEED® Platinum and BEAM Plus
(Provisional Platinum), and which has been awarded the 2014 Grand Award by the Hong Kong Green Building
Council for the efforts of the team.

Keywords: sustainability, lifecycle carbon assessment, energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste management.

Mr. Cameron is a senior consultant and team leader Introduction
within the building sustainability group of Arup Hong
Kong, with over 12 years of experience in delivering
high performance and low carbon building design across The new Trade and Industry Tower, Kai Tak (TITKT) is
the UK, Europe and East Asia. The principle focus of Mr.
Cameron’s current work is the design and operation the first development to be completed on the site of
of high performance high rise buildings, and the the old Kai Tak Airport concourse and will serve as the
development of distributed energy systems, including
micro energy grids. headquarters for the Trade and Industry department
which will relocate from their existing offices in Mong
Kok. TITKT comprises of a 20-storey tower containing a
double height entrance lobby, post office and offices,
linked to a single storey community hall. All facilities
are connected underground via a single level basement
carpark.

In response to the need to develop sustainable
buildings in Hong Kong, the project has been designed
and constructed as an exemplar in sustainable design
for government facilities. It was driven by the design
direction of the Architectural Services Department
(ASD) with Design and Build by Dragages Hong Kong,
and supported by Wong Tung, Arup, Urbis and Professor
Stephen Lau and Joyce Tai for architectural, engineering,
landscape, BEAM Plus and LEED consultancy respectively.

58 ZCB Journal 2015 • Volume 4