Purpose of this curriculum:
Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050 has set a pathway for achieving carbon neutrality before 2050. With over 90% of the city’s electricity supply consumed in buildings, the building sector should be playing a prominent role in decarbonising the demand side which is to reduce the energy consumption within buildings.

Building owners have been reducing their energy demand, in particular electricity consumption, reporting their performance and applying for green finance for their improvement projects. However, the industry lacks clear definitions and benchmarking scheme to gauge energy performance of buildings. They are concerned with what targets they need to set for their buildings in order to align with the Plan.

The industry is in need of a benchmarking scheme to gauge the energy performance of its buildings together with a target setting tool that can facilitate them to set their targets to align with the carbon neutrality target.

To address this, the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) established a Zero-Carbon-Ready Building (ZCRB) Certification Scheme. The purpose of the certification scheme is to provide aligned definitions, calculation methodologies and targets among industry stakeholders. Building professionals including government departments, property developers, consultants, contractors, and academia participated in the Expert Groups throughout the certification scheme’s development, and a stakeholder engagement workshop was conducted to gather inputs from industry stakeholders.

Zero-carbon-ready building criteria are adopted. The criteria are defined by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that zero-carbon-ready buildings are highly energy efficient and resilient buildings that either use renewable energy directly, or rely on a source of energy supply that can be fully decarbonised, such as electricity or district energy. Such definition and criteria are adopted due to the fact that the concept of “Zero-Carbon-Ready Building” is well accepted internationally and Hong Kong has already committed to fully decarbonised its electricity supply.

Under the certification scheme, there are three categories of certification, namely “Energy Performance Certificate”, “Target Setting Certificate” and “Progress Certificate”, and the assessment level is based on the defined trajectory as presented on the scheme’s website. The variety of certificates can accommodate all building types and functions with feasible and measurable assessment criteria, for instance, both new and existing buildings can be assessed under the design of the scheme. The certification scheme is well recognised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s “Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance”, and included in both the GRESB and the BEAM Plus assessments. Since the certification scheme’s launch in September 2023, 12 building owners have participated, with 65 energy performance and target setting certifications granted. Both the Energy Utilisation Index (EUI) and the rating of the buildings are disclosed in the certificate and on the website to facilitate building owners’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting. The certification scheme has been promoted through different social media channels, events for stakeholders, and the details have been published on the website to engage the industry to participate in the scheme and set targets for their buildings.

Applicant of the ZCRB Certification Scheme has to engage an Energy Assessor-ZCRB to apply for the certification. The duty of the Energy Assessor-ZCRB is to provide detailed and independent assessment and verification services of the building’s energy systems based on the building’s data and information.

To elevate the skill level of professionals, HKGBC has launched the Energy Assessor – ZCRB training in November 2023, which is targeted for practitioners who are involved in the ZCRB certification process. As of early April this year, around 150 industry practitioners, including approximately 20% female trainees, have completed the training, with more than half of them successfully registered as Energy Assessor – ZCRB.

How is the material administered?

Live teacher required

Assessment Methods (e.g. testing)
HKGBC offers a 4-hour in-class training including a 1-hour written examination, which forms part of the Energy Assessor – ZCRB registration requirement.

Programs for implementing training
Energy Assessor – ZCRB training programme includes:
1. Introduction
2. Certification Scheme
3. Application and Certification Process
4. Energy Assessor – ZCRB
5. Examination

After the training, candidates should be able to:
– Have a holistic view of the ZCRB Certification Scheme
– Provide professional advice to building owners on the ZCRB Certification Scheme
– Conduct detailed and independent assessment and verification services for the building’s energy systems based on the building’s data and information under the Scheme
– Use the web tool and the energy performance calculator
– Facilitate building owners to apply for the Scheme

The Energy Assessor-ZCRB has to be a Registered Energy Assessor under the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap.610), enforced by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the HKSAR Government, who has taken the Energy Assessor – ZCRB training course and passed an examination organised by the HKGBC.

Training Information at https://zcrbc.hkgbc.org.hk/events.