Partnering with three local green groups, namely the Conservancy Association, the Friends of the Earth (HK) and the Business Environment Council, the Housing Authority (HA) has recently launched the sixth phase of the Green Delight in Estates programme. The programme aims to develop all public rental housing (PRH) estates into green communities and to foster a healthy living environment for the residents through a series of green education activities.

At the opening ceremony held on 10 August, Mr D W Pescod, Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Housing), said the HA would support the theme of the current programme “Reduction of Municipal Waste” by encouraging PRH tenants to reduce waste generation and extending the food waste recycling trial to more estates.

The Green Delight in Estates programme has been organising various activities since its launch in 2005. These activities include such topics as “Summer Clean Up”, “Waste Recycling”, “Energy Saving”, “Reduction in the Use of Plastic Bags” and “Carbon Reduction”. To strengthen public engagement in environmental activities,  over
10 000 tenants have been recruited and trained as Green Estate Ambassadors.

The Housing Authority (HA) was the first in Hong Kong to obtain the ISO 50001 Certification on residential building design. According to the lead auditor of the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA), the HA is not only the first organisation in Hong Kong but most probably the first in the world to obtain the above certification. Deputy Director of Housing (Construction and Development) Ms Ada Fung and her colleagues were proud to receive the certificate from the HKQAA at a presentation ceremony held in early August.

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) issued the ISO 50001 Energy Management System (EnMS) in June 2011 to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources. Having been adopting energy saving initiatives in residential building design for some time, we were prompted to review our energy management practices, build up an energy baseline, and establish energy objectives and targets for monitoring and measuring our energy performance in compliance with ISO 50001. Our EnMS was formally rolled out in December 2011 and underwent external certification audit in May 2012.

Following the success of the three pilot estates, namely Oi Man, Sun Tin Wai and Lai On, in obtaining the ISO 14001 Certification for Environmental Management System (EMS) in May last year, the Housing Authority (HA) has extended the certification programme to all public rental housing (PRH) estates with a view to strengthening the environmental initiatives in estate management and building a sustainable living environment for PRH tenants. Thanks to the concerted efforts of staff from various disciplines over a year, we passed the certification audit for the first batch of 40 PRH estates in May 2012.

The ISO 14001 Certificate was presented in recognition of our effective measures and good practices to minimise environmental impacts (in terms of water, air, noise and waste) caused by our management activities on PRH residents and the public. Such measures include reduction of excess lighting in public areas, a self-developed garden sprinkler system to save resources, and the initiative to recycle grass and leaves into organic compost.

The EMS has already been implemented in the second batch of 50 estates since April and will be further extended to the final batch of 65 estates in September this year. We expect the ISO 14001 EMS Certification for estate management to cover all PRH estates by May next year.

“Entwined Hearts in Fuk Loi”, the second episode of the “Community Impressions” video series produced by the Housing Authority (HA) was launched on 16 August. The story is told by Sau King and Meng Yee, an elderly pair living in Fuk Loi Estate, Tsuen Wan. They have been good friends and good neighbours for 50 years. Depicting the trifles and niceties of their daily lives, they are able to count their blessings.

The public can view the video on the Housing Authority / Housing Department Website, the HA’s facebook page “Public Housing Vistas”, as well as the HA’s channel on YouTube. A short version of the video is also running on the Housing Channel at the ground floor lobby of public housing blocks.

At the Housing Authority (HA), we design special landscapes and gardens for our public rental housing (PRH) estates, planting different flowers, shrubs and trees, to not only beautify the environment but also improve air quality. Behind the scenes are our Horticulture Unit and frontline staff who work hard to create and look after these green and pleasant landscapes.

One of the main tasks of our unit of horticulturists is to improve landscapes in PRH estates. Unit members frequently survey estates, observing the growth and health of plants and arranging landscape improvements as necessary. Plants that look unhealthy are replaced by more suitable or healthier ones, which are selected according to the characteristics of the location and environment as well as the soil condition. Selecting the right flowers and plants to fit the situation thus requires specialist knowledge – if there is plenty of sunshine for example, Allamanda Neriifolia (Small Allamanda) and Ixora Chinensis (Chinese Ixora) will be planted as they thrive in the sun. If the opposite, Camellia Japonica (Japanese Camellia) and Osmanthus Fragrans (Kwai-Fah) which do not need much sunlight will be chosen.

The unit also designs theme gardens for different estates. There is a “Love Garden”, for example, at Yau Oi Estate in Tuen Mun. As “Yau Oi” literally means friendship and love, plants with heart-shaped leaves were chosen. The “Butterfly Garden” at Hoi Lai Estate in Sham Shui Po is another example. At this development, a range of colourful plants has been cultivated to attract butterflies and bees to the area.

In recent years, committed to the implementation of green rooftops and vertical greening in our estates, we have seen a great deal of activities in this direction. These greening activities not only improve the surrounding environment visually, they also help to reduce heat, dilute pollutants and provide cleaner air. All this greenery however does require care and maintenance to keep healthy. As such the unit provides technical advices to the estate management on the care of this greenery. The unit also collaborates with the Tree Management Unit, organising basic horticultural and arboricultural training courses for estate front-line staff to provide a better understanding of the plants and trees and what is required for their maintenance on a long term basis.

The HA’s Long Bin Plant Nursery at Yuen Long, which is managed by the Horticulture Unit, consists of around
7 000 square metres for the propagation and maintenace of plants. With more than 600 different species, the nursery produces some 150 000 plants every year, providing seasonal flowers and shrubs to serve both the needs of PRH estates as well as for display at major events.

We are making every effort to promote these green concepts in the local community. We have participated in the Hong Kong Flower Show over a number of years, and have won numerous awards. These displays have been masterpieces, specially created by our Horticulture Unit for the show. Encouraging residents to also get involved in the greening of their environment, the unit helps to develop community farms in our PRH estates. Our tenants can thus not only enjoy the fun and benefits of growing plants themselves, these activities also help to foster social bonds within the community.