High cost of green designs 'no scare tactic'

南華早報 CITY4 |  CITY |  By Olga Wong	2009-06-11 標示關鍵字
High cost of green designs 'no scare tactic'
The head of the Council for Sustainable Development yesterday defended its public consultation document that details the costly trade-offs of providing more green buildings and that it should not be seen as a scare tactic. Bernard Chan, who also said he would not be weak-kneed when he dealt with developers, made the comments in yesterday's press briefing for the document. Green activists - including Roy Tam Hoi-pong, president of Green Sense, - have criticised the paper as a scare tactic to protect the interests of developers. The council will start to gauge public views on June 20 over how to balance controlling the city's development density and encouraging more sustainable building designs. We have to ensure the questions posed to the public will not be biased, which developers have worries about, said Mr Chan. For example, the public will definitely say, 'no', if you ask them if developers should be given extra floor space [in exchange] for green features. The existing policy grants developers extra floor space for integrating green features, such as car parks and public space. This has been challenged in recent years, with green groups complaining that the increased bulk would reduce ventilation between buildings. The document, which will be released to the public during consultation sessions on June 20, proposes setting up design guidelines under which developers will receive concessions to the floor area to minimise the project's impact. While asking the public if incentives should be offered for energy-efficient buildings, the paper repeatedly warned of the costs of more green buildings without giving developers incentives - reducing the government's revenue in land premiums and also limiting housing supply. A senior source from the Real Estate Developers Association also threatened last month to give up providing any green features in projects if they are given no exemptions on floor area, accusing the government of going back on its word. Developers won't scare me away, Mr Chan said. This is not only about developers. Owners of green buildings should be informed of the trade-off. The public should know it. He said, for example, residents might have to pay higher maintenance fees for a green roof. We are not completely under the control of developers, he said, If they don't provide green features without extra floor space, we can ask them to do it on a compulsory basis. Mr Chan said a second consultation may be launched if a consensus was not reached in the first session. The chairman of the council's support group, Bernard Lim Wan-fung, stressed the consultation would form a platform for public discussion. Some green features such as balconies are really environmentally friendly and not all green features will form [so-called] walled buildings. Copyright (c) 2009. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.