BRANCH EVENTS
with the Carbon and Energy Fund and others, had – she explained – developed the ‘healthcare engineering roadmap’ titled An Energy Roadmap for Delivering Net Zero Carbon Emissions By 2040, published in March 2021, and since widely adopted.
Dr Tony KO Pat-Sing, CEO of the HSKAR Hospital Authority, spoke enthusiastically about Hong Kong’s 10-year Hospital Development Plan (HDP) – one of the key elements of it will be increasing use of ‘smart’ technology.
vehicular and zero carbon emissions in the transport sector before 2050, through electrification of vehicles and ferries, development of ‘new- energy transport’, and improved traffic management. Hong Kong’s Government will also cease registering fuel-propelled and hybrid private cars in 2035 ‘or earlier’, promote electric buses and commercial vehicles, and work with the city’s franchised bus companies and ‘other stakeholders’ over the next three years to test hydrogen fuel cell electric buses and HGVs.
n Waste reduction – Hong Kong’s Government will strive to develop adequate waste-to-energy facilities by 2035, reducing reliance on landfill. It will also further promote waste reduction and recycling, introduce waste charging, and regulate disposable plastic tableware.
Within the next two decades it says it will devote ‘about HK$ 240 bn’ to take forward ‘various measures’ on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Alison Ryan discussed these proposals, and Hong Kong’s current and future fuel mix and primary energy supplies, before touching on some of the city’s ‘exciting new hospital developments’. She told delegates: “I believe there are currently 43 public hospitals, 13 private hospitals, 49 specialist outpatient clinics, and 74 general outpatient clinics, organised into seven hospital clusters based on location.” She explained that Hong Kong’s 10- year Hospital Development Plan (HDP) includes: n Redeveloping 11 existing hospitals. n The construction of a new major Acute Hospital (Kai Tak), and
n The construction of three new Community Health Centres, and Supporting Services Centre(s).
The HDP is anticipated to deliver around 5,000 additional bed spaces, and 90 additional operating theatres. Alison Ryan said she was particularly looking forward to visiting Hong Hong’s new Kwong
46 Health Estate Journal January 2024
IHEEM President, Alison Ryan, giving her keynote address, in which one of her focuses was the Hong Kong Climate Action Plan 2050 – which sets out the target of reducing the city’s carbon intensity by 65-70% by 2030.
Wah Hospital the following day. One of the proposals there was to incorporate around 100 single inpatient rooms able to switch to negative pressure isolation rooms for treating those with infectious diseases – something she said the UK had also been looking at, in terms of the ability to ‘flex’ from even an isolation room to an operating theatre – and back, as required.
Children’s Hospital’s H-shaped tower The IHEEM President also discussed the new Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, with its H-shaped Clinical Tower, designed to allow in increased natural light and improve air circulation. The hospital will link to a district cooling system, has green terraces and roofs, and vertical green walls – to help reduce overheating and mitigate the island effect, plus roof-mounted solar hot water and roof-mounted PV panels. It has achieved a Platinum rating under the BEAM Plus New Buildings Version 1.2 assessment tool. Alison Ryan explained that some of the other potential renewable energy sources in Hong Kong – which aims to increase the share of renewable energy in its fuel mix from 1-15% by 2050 – include ‘floating’ and ‘thin-film’ solar energy generation systems, food waste and sewage sludge anaerobic co-digestion facilities, solar PV farms, offshore wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and hydrogen. Later, she focused on some of the NHS in England’s key sustainability initiatives, such as the Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service report published in October 2020. IHEEM and HEFMA, in partnership
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She also discussed the NHS Net Zero Building Standard, which applies to new hospitals and extensions, and is the first of its kind to set bespoke targets for individual health projects. Its aim is to reduce the embodied carbon and operational energy – and thus the operational carbon, of healthcare buildings. She explained that the Standard differs from LETI or RIBA in setting specific targets depending on building type. The benefits of standardisation and
repeatability in healthcare building design were another focus, with evidence from the ProCure21 framework having shown that standardisation and repetition of selected rooms results in 11% cost savings, and ‘improved patient outcomes’. In closing, Alison Ryan noted that
when London-based ‘think tank’, Well, recently evaluated ‘where to find the best healthcare in the world’, Singapore came top, Hong Kong 14th, and the UK 34th. She said events like the symposium provided the opportunity to learn not just about ‘what is good about healthcare in other countries?’, but also ‘What we can learn?’, ‘How can we deliver better healthcare?’, and ‘What might future healthcare delivery and hospitals look like?’
Branch Chair ‘delighted’ with content Hong Kong Branch Chair, Dr PL Yuen (winner of the IHEEM Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023), was delighted with the attendance at the symposium and dinner, the high quality of the presentations, and the valuable networking that took place. He said: “The Branch is fortunate to have close connections with a number of other healthcare engineering and construction bodies in the region, plus some organisations with a more clinical focus.” These include CIBSE Hong Kong, the ASHRAE Hong Kong Chapter, the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, the Hong Kong Society for Microbiology and Infection, the Hong Kong College of Pathologists, and the Medical Laboratory Technologists Board. “With these links,” Dr Yuen said, “we
The Chinese healthcare market is huge; I believe China has at least 30,000 hospitals, and more operating theatres than the rest of the world put together. When you visit Chinese hospitals, it’s not
unusual to see 4,000-10,000 bedded facilities IHEEM Hong Kong Branch Chair, Dr PL Yuen
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