Tag Archives: John Herbert

Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) Launch

Posted on 18 November 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Hong Kong’s very own GBC (Green Building Council) will be launched this week on 20th Nov. 2009 at the Conrad hotel.   The one day event will feature some of the usual Hong Kong suspects and some international speakers from Australia, … Continue reading →

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India Boost for Renewable development

Posted on 19 October 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Following in the footsteps of international success, India has now joined the list of countries that has adopted an attractive feed-in tariff for renewable power generation. It is no coincidence, its the the very same mechanism that drove a sluggish … Continue reading →

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Productivity in green buildings?

Posted on 12 October 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

An interesting survey from USA, adds more weight to benefit of building green or does it?  This report “Workers in green buildings take less sick leave” from Green Building Press states that a survey found that workers in green buildings … Continue reading →

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Funding energy efficiency, PRD, China

Posted on 29 September 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

The Guangdong municipal Government in South China has created an energy efficiency funding scheme, not unlike CP3 (Cleaner Production Partnership Programme). For energy and environmental improvement projects RMB 300 million (Approx. US$ 44 million) has been allocated for 1:1 cost … Continue reading →

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data centre energy efficiency more important than Uptime

Posted on 28 September 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Emerson’s survey reveals an interesting fact, their survey of data centre professionals and managers indicates that data centre energy efficiency is now higher priority than Uptime! Whilst it’s only one survey, it is interesting because adds to the mounting evidence … Continue reading →

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Green Building Labelling is flawed?

Posted on 3 September 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

More trouble for green building? The NY Times article Some Buildings Not Living Up to Green Label [1] reports on the hot button issue of the moment in green building sector. Essentially, the issue is that not all green buildings … Continue reading →

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Hong Kong Government adopts green building

Posted on 2 September 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Earlier this year  the Hong Kong Government finally discovered it needed to embrace Green Building, quietly in April 2009 word was issued for the adoption of green Government buildings. However, the joint circular was not widely advertised. Covert copies have … Continue reading →

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greener data centres vs buildings

Posted on 10 August 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

I can’t be the only person that has noticed, we have tools such as LEED (http://www.USGBC.org) and BEAM (http://www.HK-BEAM.org.hk) which treat new build (LEED NB, CS) projects and existing buildings (LEED O&M) differently. You might argue, without doubt, that new … Continue reading →

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More focus on climate change

Posted on 31 July 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

The SCMP newspaper (unlinkable article) reports a survey that found …..two-thirds of Hong Kong’s respondents thought the government should place a higher priority on climate change, while 30 per cent thought the current priority was appropriate Now I haven’t seen … Continue reading →

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International Green Code is a misnomer

Posted on 28 July 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

I read with interest from GreenBuildingAdviser a report that the ICC (International Code Council) is also playing catch-up and going green! ICC intends to create the definitive International Green Building code, read more on their website. Of course, ICC is … Continue reading →

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Green LEED Decertification

Posted on 28 July 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

LEED (USGBC) is a US tool for rating sustainable building, the latest version LEED 2009 introduces a new concept MPR (Minimum Program Requirement) (and also from GBCI website). It covers New Construction, Core & Shell, Schools, Commercial Interiors, and Existing Buildings: … Continue reading →

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You’re paying too much

Posted on 22 July 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Those shoes you bought last week, that new furniture you ordered, your laundry bill, even that trendy shirt cost too much.  Why? because the manufacturers, and their supply chain have wasted energy, that in turn means higher costs that ultimately … Continue reading →

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Energy Efficiency is Not Rocket Science

Posted on 21 June 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Hong Kong is a great location, indeed I am fortunate to meet a great number of smart, intelligent people that travel through Hong Kong, this week alone I met a Government Minister, a project developer, and financiers from the energy … Continue reading →

Posted in building tuning, clean production, energy audit, energy consultant, energy efficiency, John Herbert, LEED, sustainable building | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Alternate EE models

Posted on 15 June 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Energy Efficiency might well be the fastest, least intrusive and lowest cost solution to implement energy conservation projects that also lowers your carbon footprint, the McKinsey report even highlights these opportunities. However, it does not take way from the fact … Continue reading →

Posted in building energy efficiency, energy, energy efficiency project finance, energy performance contracts, John Herbert | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Big Ask

Posted on 5 June 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

I know many have high hopes for the forthcoming treaty negotiations in Copenhagen, I don’t. In my view only an overwhelming ground swell of public opinion today has a chance to sway our local officials from the typical do nothing … Continue reading →

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What tune does your building play?

Posted on 24 May 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Buildings account for the largest proportion of greenhouse emissions in Hong Kong, currently that is sixty three percent (63%) of Hong Kong’s carbon footprint. Whilst initiatives for new buildings are indeed welcome, the influence of the measures are limited to … Continue reading →

Posted in building energy efficiency, energy, energy efficiency, John Herbert, whole building design | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mandatory green roof

Posted on 9 May 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Alas not in Asia. The green building is still driving built environment innovation, and whilst politicians ponder carbon limits, and building owners ignore operating costs then obviously the next step is regulation. In Canada, the Mayor of the Toronto is … Continue reading →

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Green Building Innovation

Posted on 7 May 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

In the sustainable building sector fortune telling is easy, however future-proofing is not.  Over time what could be considered “state of the art” today is destined to become tomorrow’s rating tool baseline case. Translating that into project work, it means … Continue reading →

Posted in energy, green building, HKBEAM, John Herbert, LEED, sustainable building | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Lost Energy Efficiency Opportunites

Posted on 4 May 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Often you don’t even need to go inside a building to see opportunities for energy conservation in Hong Kong.  Sadly this opportunity (refer photograph) was many lost years ago at design stage when the lighting control strategy was planned and … Continue reading →

Posted in energy consultant, energy efficiency, John Herbert, lighting audit | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

International Energy Efficiency Finance Protocol

Posted on 23 April 2009 by John Herbert, BEAM Professional

Hope on the horizon for ESCO’s and Energy efficiency projects? EVO has released (April 2009) a new publication (cover see right) titled International Energy Efficiency Financing Protocol or IEEFP to tackle the issue of bank training. This guide is based … Continue reading →

Posted in energy efficiency project finance, energy performance contracts, John Herbert, MVP, project finance | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment