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Over 30 public rental housing projects coming on stream will be built with the help of of micro-climate studies, which allow the designer to plan the estate for enhanced environmental performance, in order to achieve energy efficiency and greater human comfort.
"High density urban development affects the surrounding environment. It is high time for us to ponder what nature can offer in terms of wind and sunlight and make the best out of it," the Deputy Director of Housing (Development and Construction), Ms Ada Fung, said today (April 8).
"By planning and designing our public housing estates according to the environmental characteristics of the site, we can provide greater human comfort for our tenants by enhancing environmental performance of our public housing blocks," Ms Fung said.
"This is the very essence of micro-climate studies. Before we lay our first bricks on site, we apply computational fluid dynamic techniques to obtain scientific data in relation to wind speed, natural ventilation, solar heat gain, daylight and noise.
"With full knowledge of the environmental performance factors of the site, the site will be carefully planned, the blocks shaped and positioned to make the best use of natural resources such as prevailing wind directions and sunlight. The domestic flats, lobbies, corridors, housing blocks, open spaces as well as landscaped areas will fully capitalize on the benefits of our natural resources" Ms Fung said.
“Improved natural ventilation and daylight provision to the domestic flats, common areas and lift lobbies as well as the open space will reduce energy consumption and heat emission of air-conditioning and artificial lighting. Ventilated re-entrants improve public hygiene as pollutants can be dispersed and diluted effectively. Thermal comfort at open space will be enhanced by shading from the blazing sun using building blocks and extensive tree planting," she added.
Upper Ngau Tau Kok Estate Phases 2 and 3, scheduled for completion in 2008, will be the first public housing project being built with the use of micro-climate studies in the planning and design stage. Other public housing projects in the pipeline are in Ma On Shan, Tseung Kwan O, Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po etc.
"In fact, micro-climate studies have become an integral part of our design checking before finalization of estate layout and building design since 2004," Ms Fung said.
Of course, Ms Fung said, there are other constraints that will shape the final form of our building development, like site configuration, orientation, adjoining roads and building economics. But working with micro-climate studies can help us optimize the design within these constraints.
"We shall continue to feed our design through this verification process and optimize our design solution in terms of environmental performance for our public housing estates," she said.
The Housing Department will also take stock of the experience gained in these studies and decide the way forward for other environmental friendly initiatives in future endeavours.
Ends/Sunday, April 8, 2007
Issued at HKT 11:01
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