HONG KONG: China Resources Property (CRP), a subsidiary of consumer-focused conglomerate China Resources Enterprise, will spend up to HK$600 million renovating its head office in Hong Kong.

Winson Chow, managing director of CRP, said the move is aimed at making its headquarters energy-efficient while setting an example to other landlords in the city to be more environmentally-conscious in the design and use of their office premises.

He said the company will reconstruct the facade of its 25-year-old China Resources Building in Wan Chai North with environmental concerns in mind.

"Capital expenditure for the project will be around HK$500 to HK$600 million," Chow told reporters in Hong Kong on Friday, "We will also consider renovating other buildings owned by the company."

China Resources Property has hired global engineering firm Arup to design the company's new "green" head office, while Arup will refurbish the building premises according to the framework of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

LEED is a recognized US standard for high performance and sustainable buildings. The LEED certification has been adopted in 20 to 30 countries around the world for almost 10 years.

Raymond Yau, an Arup fellow and Director of Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited, said the LEED certification provides a holistic framework to assess the building performance and achieve sustainable development.

"The new China Resources Building will be the first project in Hong Kong to receive a gold rating from the certification scheme," Yau said.

The company will recycle about 53 tons of waste generated by the project, which will help cut around 75 percent of resources to be used for the facelift.

"After the renovation, the new building will reduce 7.5 percent of carbon dioxide emission to 1,370 tons per year," he said, "It will also save 1.65 gigawatt/hours of energy consumption, equivalent to 24-hour operation of 5,200 fluorescent tubes for a year."

Arup's senior engineer Wing Ho said the new China Resources Building will use solar reflective roofing materials and green roof, to reduce the urban heat-island effect, which causes a spiral in temperature in the metropolitan area.

"There will be a green roof of around 500 to 600 square meters over the building," Ho said. "The green roof will serve as an exclusive garden for its staff."

Both CRP and Arup hope the renovation of China Resources Building will encourage other landlords in Hong Kong to take part in the city's environmental protection development.

"If every landlord is doing the same, this will put the community forward into thinking about environmental issues," Arup's Yau said.

The new China Resources Building will receive a pre-certification from LEED in the first quarter of 2010, while the project is aimed to be completed before the second half of 2012.

(HK Edition 06/06/2009 page5)