The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, attended the opening ceremony of the 34th Passive and Low Energy Architecture (PLEA) Conference at the Chinese University of Hong Kong this morning (December 10). She welcomed the participation of more than 300 academics, researchers, professionals and students from over 50 countries and regions in the three-day conference to promote bioclimatic design and sustainable architecture. Addressing the opening ceremony, she said that Hong Kong is committed to improving the built environment through a series of measures covering areas such as the law, technology and planning to develop Hong Kong as a more liveable, competitive and sustainable city.

     Presenting the 2018 Annual Awards at the ceremony, Mrs Lam said she was encouraged by the recognition given to a government department and several current and former government officials. The Architectural Services Department was one of the awardees in the organisation category for many of its innovative passive and low-energy architecture projects. In the individual category, the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, a keen advocate of green buildings as an architect for many years, received an award. In addition, former Deputy Director of Housing Ms Ada Fung and former Chief Architect of the Housing Department Mr John Ng jointly received an award for their contributions to provide and improve low-cost and low-energy public housing. 

     The first PLEA conference was held in 1982 and an annual conference has been conducted in various places around the world over the years to promote the application of natural and innovative techniques for sustainable architecture and design. Hosted in Hong Kong for the first time, the conference was organised by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the PLEA Association among other institutions.

Ends/Monday, December 10, 2018
Issued at HKT 18:42

NNNN