Grading Buildings on IAQ? Great Idea! Self-regulation? NOT!!

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Buildings may be graded on air quality

Hong Kong Standard

11-06-1999

BUILDINGS in Hong Kong may soon be ``graded'' not only on how they look

but also on how clean their indoor air quality is.

This could be gleaned from a government proposal - contained in a

consultation paper released yesterday - on a certification scheme identify

buildings with the best indoor quality level.

The paper also proposes that a three-level indoor Air Quality

Objectives be established to act as the common benchmark for evaluating

and assessing the indoor air quality.

The three categories are:

Level 1 - This represents very good indoor air quality that a high-

class and comfortable building should have.

Level 2 - This represents the indoor air quality that provides

protection to the public at large including the very young and the aged.

Level 3 - This represents the indoor air quality required to protect

workers and employees as enforced under the current occupational safety

and health laws.

The government is hopeful that for office buildings and public places,

building owners and management would aspire to achieve at least level 2

as their desired target.

Deputy Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands (Environment) Kim

Salkeld said these objectives should be flexible but comparable to

international

standards.

Under the proposed certification system, owners of premises would be

required to put up a certificate at a prominent location declaring that

their buildings comply with the standard on indoor air quality.

He said the government would take the lead to carry out the trial

scheme by surveying a representative number of buildings with centralised

air-conditioning systems early next year.

The government proposes that as a start, annual certification should

be on a voluntary basis.

Mr Salkeld said there were benefits under the certification scheme.

Among these were that users could understand the quality of the indoor

air, good management practices would be recognised, and building owners

would have an incentive to achieve the best level of indoor air quality.

It is also proposed that the self-regulation approach should be

followed by efforts to improve air quality. This would avoid the need for

the government to set up a large team of public officers to conduct

inspections and surveys.

Acquiring the services via the marketplace would also ensure cost-

effectiveness.