HKQAA Seminar on Application of ISO 50001 in Construction Projects

The Seminar entitled "HKQAA Seminar on Application of ISO 50001 in Construction Projects" was organized by Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA) on 8 Aug 2013. ISO 50001 standard was published in 2011 and then Hong Kong government introduced the "Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance" which came into effect in Sep 2012. The seminar aimed to give an overview of the Housing Department's latest initiates in energy management.

Mr. P.C. Chan (Chief Operating Officer, HKQAA) was the first speaker and his topic entitled "Overview of ISO 50001:2011 Energy Management Systems". In the beginning, Mr. Chan introduced the HKQAA which has been established by Hong Kong Government since 1989. Then he use the photo of Cocooned trees in Pakistan (source from National Geographic 2011) to explain the impact of climate change (GHG & flooding) which clause to development several environmental related standards include ISO 50001. Moreover, Mr. Chan quoted recent news in China that extreme high temperature in Shanghai.

After that Mr. Chan explained ISO 50001:2011 standard which included specifies requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an energy management systems (EnMS). The purpose of the standard is to follow a systematic approach in achieving continual improvement of energy performance. ISO 50001 followed Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) continual improvement structure that a guideline was issued by US Department of Energy in 2011.

Energy Planning Process was mentioned by Mr. Chan. It is the most important part of ISO 50001 implementation because the planning outputs include Energy Baseline, Energy Performance Indicators (EnPIs), Objectives, Targets and Action Plans.

The second speaker was Dr. Mckey Ho (Manager (Quality Management), Housing Department, HKSAR) and his presentation named "Implementation of ISO 50001 EnMS in Public Housing and Construction Sites". Firstly, Dr. Ho introduced two types of Energy in Public Housing Development (Type 1 - 1/3 and Type 2 - 2/3).
1) Energy in Use - Energy used once the building is occupied
2) Embodied Energy - Energy used to extract & process the raw materials, in transporting materials & components to site, during construction and during demolition.

Dr. Ho introduced their Scope of ISO 50001 certification that Planning, design, project administration and contract administration for the construction of public housing development. (where Contract Administration refers to the contract administration processes for ensuring that all installed energy systems, products and the associated testing and commissioning are in compliance with the contract requirements.) Then the Boundary of the certification is that Confined to communal area of domestic building blocks of both public rental housing and new Home Ownership Scheme.

Dr. Ho briefed the analysis of energy use and consumption included Lighting, Lift, Security, Communal Aerial Broadcast Distribution (CABD), Air Conditioning & Mechanical Ventilation (ACMV), Fire Services, Water Supply and Electrical Installation. The apportionment of Energy Consumption was shown in the follow diagram. Lighting was identified as "Significant Energy Use (SEU)". Variables affecting SEU included length of daylight, estate management practices, legal requirements, cost and energy efficiency of lighting products.

There are three means for improving energy performance:
1. Use of energy efficiency products
2. Administrative procedures
3. Optimize the energy source (e.g. Use of energy optimizer)

The example of energy baseline was demonstrated using the average energy consumption of building services installations in communal area of domestic block where a single parameter in "kWh" Consumption per Area used as energy performance indicator (EnPI).

The objective, Target and Action Plan in Housing Dept. were briefed. In addition, Dr. Ho said to use separate meters to measure the consumption of each energy use which could easier to identify the improvement point. The meter / measuring equipment should be calibrated after installed.

Dr. Ho mentioned the implementation of ISO 50001 EnMS in Construction Sites that the scope must cover the construction processes of public housing construction (not only confined to the headquarter or the site offices). Energy Baseline should account for the majority of energy use/consumption for the construction processes but there are many other possible approaches/combinations.

Finally, Dr. Ho gave several examples of Energy Performance Indicator (EnPI) as follows:
- Energy consumption per typical floor
- Energy consumption per construction floor area
- Energy consumption per construction floor area for a particular range of building storeys
- Energy consumption per each type of piles
- Energy consumption per each type of piles for a particular range of pile depth

During Panel Discussion, Mr. Yau Chun Kau (Quality Manager, Tysan Foundation Limit) (Photo: Right first) briefed Tysan ISO 50001 experience. Some discussion points are summarized below.

Dr. Ho said they used energy efficiency products (e.g. from T8 to T5, then LED) for improving energy performance in lighting. Moreover, administrative procedures were also found effective.

During discussion of EnPI, Mr. Chan said the standard was not specific the degree of EnPIs use but no more and no less he commended. However, EnPI would affect the data collection and it was only reference point. In addition, Mr. Chan mentioned the Boundary stated in ISO 50006 (Draft) included Physical, System and Organization. Lastly, Mr. Chan explained "Continual Improvement" which did not limit to the result but could be process or management capability improvement.

Reference:
HKQAA - http://www.hkqaa.org
PDCA Components of ISO 50001 (US Energy Dept.) - https://ecenter.ee.doe.gov/EM/SPM/Documents/PDCA%20Components%20of%20ISO%2050001.pdf