To promote green buildings in the private sector, BD has implemented additional green measures in its new BD HQ at North Tower of West Kowloon Government Offices (WKGO) to demonstrate its commitment and support to a quality and sustainable built environment.  While the scope of assessment of BEAM Plus Interior Certification is confined to the BIC, green concepts and initiatives are introduced on every floor of the BD HQ. 

The nice interior of BIC is not a new outfit.  The interior components and furniture of BIC including the service counter, inspection stations, feature wall, AV system and even mobile file racks were largely relocated from previous office and reused in WKGO.  Meticulous planning and coordination of the project team is critical to allow seamless relocation of those reused items without interruption of public service.

To promote the culture of recycling, recycling facilities for glass, metal and plastic together with general waste collection are systematically arranged in a single cabinet at convenient locations.  To further reduce carbon footprint, BD has abandoned the use of bottled water by installing water dispensers to provide high quality drinking water for its staff and visitors.  Measures have been incorporated in the detailed design to prevent water leakage.

The office layout in the BD HQ is purposely designed to maximise the incoming daylight.  Direct sight line to the outdoor is available to 80% of workstations in the open plan office.  Together with indoor greening at various locations, the new office provides an open and pleasant working environment and atmosphere with a nice view of the blue sky and greenery.

For better IAQ, on top of achieving excellent class under the IAQ Certification Scheme, the central photocopy areas are equipped with additional independent exhausts for effective removal of airborne contaminants.  To encourage less print-out, AV provisions with internet connection and back-painted glass panels serving as whiteboards are provided in our breakout spaces on each floor to encourage paperless meetings.

BD understands and values the importance of staff participation in cultivating a green culture.  A “Floor Manager” scheme is in place to formulate house rules and collect staff feedback to facilitate effective implementation of the green initiatives.  For public education, a video wall is installed at the lift hall of BIC to display the real time energy consumption to the visitors.  This video wall also features some interactive games to disseminate important building safety information to the visitors in an interesting way.