The Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification (HKCTC) and Hong Kong Accreditation Service coorganized a seminar entitled “Greenhouse Gas Validation and Verification” on 4 Feb 2015. In order to tackle climate change, initiatives to limit Greenhouse Gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere were implemented in many places around the world. The seminar aims to introduce a GHG validation and verification through the sharing from representatives from the Construction Industry Council and the HKAS, as well as, users of relevant services. The summary was shown below.
In the beginning, Prof. Paul Lam (Convener, Panel on Promoting Testing and Certification Services in Environmental Protection Trade, HKCTC) gave a welcoming remark. He briefed the six GHGs covered by the Kyoto Protocol which were Carbon dioxid (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (NO2), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and Sulpur hexafluoride (SF6). Then Prof. Lam mentioned ISO/TS 14067 carbon footprint would be a global trend and HKAS provided the service for ISO 14064.
All guest speakers took a group photo.
The first speaker was Ir. Julian Lee (Manager – Research, Construction Industry Council (CIC)) and his topic entitled “Moving Towards Low Carbon Building Design and Construction – From Rhetoric to Reality”.
Then Ir. Julian Lee introduced CIC Carbon Labelling Scheme which aimed to provide verifiable and accurate information on the carbon footprint of construction materials for users to make informed decision thereby to combat the climate change in which materials covered Cement, Rebar, Structural Steel and Ready-mixed Concrete first. The scheme is a voluntary eco-labelling programme with independent third-party verification reference to ISO/TS 14067:2013 (GHG – Carbon Footprint of Products – Requirement and Guidelines for Quantification and Communication) and ISO 14025:2006 (Environmental Labels and Declarations – Type III Environmental Declarations – Principles and Procedures).
Ir. Julian Lee also mentioned the certification process included manufacturer, certified carbon auditor, GHG Validation & Verification and Zero Carbon Building (ZCB). The scheme implementation framework included Training (by ZCB), Auditing (by Accredited GHG Verification Bodies) and Certification (by ZCB).
Finally, Mr. Lee summarized CIC work done and processing application in the different product categories. The participants were form different regions such as Japan, Chian, Taiwan, Macau and HK. They had lobbying different key stakeholders to participate this scheme successfully. For future development, they did not only focus on Low Carbon Materials and Sellection of Green Materials, but also encourage Low Carbon Design and Green Culture.
The second speaker was Mr. Eddie Tse (Senior Environmental Manager, Gammon Construction Limited) and his presentation named “Greenhouse Gas Management – A Contractor’s Perspective”. Mr. Tse told us their sustainability perspective (Environment & Society) was closely linked with Safety, Money, Time, Quality and Resources.
Mr. Tse pointed out the business drivers for GHG / Carbon Managment. They were Corporation Social Responsibility (CSR), Cost Saving and Competitive Advantage (increasing customers’ demand for demonstrable carbon accounting and saving activities). Then he introduced their Carbon Taskforce through the following diagram.
The structure of GHG Management included Corporate GHG Inventory, GHG Assessment, Energy Management and Product Carbon Label.
Mr. Tse briefed the scope and boundary where Scope 1 was Direct Emissions, Scope 2 was Indirect Emission and Scope 3 was Other Indirect Emission (Upstream & Downstream). He said they were lucky because of strong finance and procurement departments which consolidated all data and no need to collect in each site.
During the tea break, I took a photo with Prof. Paul Lam (Middle) and my classmate (HD) Mr. Ivan Leung (Left).
The third & forth speakers were Ir. Joseph Lo (Chief Engineer – Regal Airport Hotel, Regal Hotels International Limited) and Mr. Kevin Man (Chief Engineer – Regal Riverside Hotel, Regal Hotels International Limited) and their presentation topic was “Case Study on Greenhouse Gas Emission based on ISO 14064-1”. Firstly, Ir. Joseph Lo explained “What is a Carbon Footprint?” – The amount of GHG emitted that your organization is responsible for, expressed in units of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) (usually in tonnes emitted annually).
Then Ir. Joseph Lo briefed 6 steps for GHG Reporting below.
1. Identify the Boundary
2. Identify all Emission Sources (Scope 1 – Direct; Scope 2 – Indirect; Scope 3 – Indirect & Optional)
3. Data Collection
4. Application the Calculation
5. Finding the Deduction
6. Summary and Conclusion the Result
The following example demonstrated how to identify the emission sources based on their scop
After that Ir. Kevin Man shared different cases on GHG calculation.
Those cases included special emission factor from Diethylene Glycol (Gel Fuel), LPG gas container volume to verify the amount of gas emission, emissions from the mobile sources (Transportation), HFC and PFC emissions from Refrigeration / Air-conditioning Equipment, etc. (Even though WD40 should be counted!)
Finally, he shared their 15 ways to reduce GHG emission.
The last speaker was Mr. Wilson Shum (Senior Accreditation Officer, HKAS) and his topic named “Accreditation Services for Greenhouse Gas Validation and Verification”. Mr. Shum mentioned the GHG Quantification was based on ISO 14064-1 (for organization); ISO 14064-2 (for GHG emission reduction/removal enhancement project) and ISO/TS 14067 (for product carbon footprint).
The following diagram showed ISO 14064-1:2006 structure. The benefits to implement this standard were improving awareness, creating a baseline, identifying areas of high GHG emissions and implementing action or project to reduce GHG emission.
The following diagram showed ISO/TS 14067:2003 process to quantify the carbon footprint of a product (CFP) based on life cycle assessment.
The relationship among accreditation body, verification body and GHG information were discussed.
Q&A SessionDuring discussion, speakers explained the reduction of GHG did not necessary saving money. It depended on policy or technology readiness. They agreed people was most important so the awareness training was needed and top management should be invited to attend as well.
Reference:
HKCTC -
http://www.hkctc.gov.hk/en/home.html HKCTC Seminar presentation file -
http://www.hkctc.gov.hk/en/work_seminars.html#b44
HKAS -
http://www.itc.gov.hk/en/quality/hkas/about.htm 
