32 INTERVIEW
Building Green Yau Lee goes the extra mile!
綠色假日 環保有利
Holiday Inn Express Hong Kong SoHo has attracted much positive attention since its launch due to the hotel’s impressive green credentials. PRC recently met Yau Lee Holdings, Executive Director, Ms Rosana Wong, to discuss her experience in building the city’s greenest hotel property. “Before development commence we explored other potential projects for the site such as residential or commercial, but decided on a hotel since it offers the best return on investment,” states Wong. “This is actually the second hotel owned and constructed by Yau Lee.We previously owned a similar but bigger property in Causeway Bay. I had a great experience working with IHG (Intercontinental Hotel Group) and was especially impressed with Holiday Inn Express (HIE) - “No More No Less“ - service standard. The Green Factor Except for the foundations,Yau Lee has been responsible for the design to completion of the 274 room Sheung Wan hotel.The construction costs were HK$350 million with green features costing HK$13.26 million, a mere 3.85 per cent of overall costs which Wong fully expects to recoup within 4 years. “My rule is only to consider technology whose payback period is under 5 years as a matter of accountability and fairness to shareholders. Now that I can demonstrate the period is actually shorter, it becomes even more attractive to my clients. For an investment of just over 10 million, I am able to reduce power consumption by 58.5 per cent and carbon emissions by 70 per cent, but that really hinges on the different systems working seamlessly together.” With the latest data available, Wong is pleased the hotel has already beaten its annual power conservation goal even though it has been open less than a year.“In terms of which feature I am most proud of, my vote goes to the Peltia Headboard Cooler.We are the first hotel to develop and patent the technology on headboards, yet shall continue perfecting in its rollout while pushing for further energy savings.This smart technology ensures that when guests are sleeping cool air is only circulated to where it is needed.” “LEED has awarded us 1 point for this true innovation. Some guests have specifically requested for the Peltia installed room. Once I received a complaint about noises generated when adjusting the temperature, I closed the room for 5 days to redo it until the problem was fully resolved.” Holiday Inn Express Hong Kong SoHo is the first hotel in the world to achieve triple platinum green certification: LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – New Construction) from the US Green Building Council, BEAM Plus (Building Environmental Assessment Method) from the Hong Kong Green Building Council and Green Mark from Singapore Building & Construction Authority. Certification from China is still pending. “Most Hong Kong buildings only apply Beam Plus and LEED but we also applied for the Singapore Green Mark as Yau Lee has a diverse range of businesses there. We wish to demonstrate through this hotel, green building features can be universally and successfully implemented to local circumstances. Other green technologies we adopted in this hotel include some of the largest solar panels in Hong Kong, 5D BIM for scheduling and cost control that allowed the building cost and completion date to stay very closely within projections, as well as Yau Lee’s proprietary BMS – Powerbox to monitor in real time, identify areas for further improvements and for use as a client presentation tool.” Building market reputation Wong: “For me, these initiatives all come from the heart. As a Green Integrated Corporation, Yau Lee aims to be the most green-friendly in each business domain and then take the extra steps whenever possible.” “Every afternoon at 5, we organise a Green Tour for guests to introduce our green features and Hong Kong green heritage, HIE SoHo also recommends green trips such as to the Wetlands Park. I am also quite touched by the guest room’s paintings created by slightly disabled children, of their impression of the Sheung Wan streetscape. You could see the excitement upon seeing their work displayed, and the guests love it!” HIE SoHo has exceeded its 80 per cent occupancy target and has started to gain favour among CSR conscious corporations. Within 3 months of opening, the hotel has already received a reservation volume award, with its guests evenly split arriving from Europe, the Americas, Asia- Pacific and mainland China, making the property truly international.
Text 撰文: John Lo
“So far we have received over 70 organisations worldwide, from our competition in hospitality and construction to government departments, with technical presentations given by our directors and senior personnel. I believe that almost all have left the property impressed of what can be achieved when a developer is genuinely committed to building green.”
位於上環的香港蘇豪智選假日酒店，憑其傲視同儕的綠色身份，開張以來好評不絕。 《 PRC 建設》雜誌專訪了有利集團的執行董事黃慧敏小姐，分享她興建城中最環保之酒 店的經驗心得。 「我們曾為地皮探討過作其他例如住宅或商業項目的可行性，最終決定興建酒店乃因它提 供最佳的投資回報。」黃小姐道：「這物業是有利集團擁有及建造的第二家酒店，我們曾 在銅鑼灣建過規模更大的類似項目，並由於跟洲際酒店集團愉快的合作經驗，尤其對智選 假日酒店「恰到好處」的服務標準印象深刻，促成了再度合作的良機。」 綠色元素 除卻地基工程，這間274間客房的酒店設計到峻工全由有利包辦。建築總耗資三億五千萬 港元，其中環保設施投入約1,326萬港元，僅為整體成本的3.85%，黃小姐預計該部份能 於四年之內回本。「為公平起見，我通常只考慮採用投資回收期五年內的環保技術，並 好能向股東交代。現在我可以向大家展示回本期比預期更快，令產品能更吸引買家。其 實我只多放一點投資，就能節省58.5％的用電量及70％的碳排放，當然，真正關鍵在於 各個系統的完美融合及發揮。」 黃小姐手持最新數據，欣喜地向我們透露，儘管酒店開業不足一年，已超額完成其年度目 標。她說： 「若要我揀選最引以為傲的環保設施，那會是 Peltia 床頭冷氣系統。我們是首 家開發和申請專利，將技術應用在床頭板上的酒店，然而在其他房間陸續安裝期間，會繼 續完善其設計同時推動節約更多能源。這技術可確保客人在睡覺時，只供應冷風予有需要 的客房範圍。 LEED 特別按這創新研發而給予多寶貴的一分，甚至有客人指明要入住裝有 Peltia 的房間。我們曾收過客人的回應，指在調較溫度時製冷系統產生噪音，我們立刻關 閉房間五天，把系統改善，直至問題完全解決。」 香港蘇豪智選假日酒店－是全球首間同時獲三鉑金級環保建築驗證之酒店，包括：美國綠 色建築委員會的 LEED (領先能源及環保設計—新建造)、香港綠色建築議會的BEAM Plus( 建築環保評保法)以及新加坡建設局的 Green Mark。以創新優先及堅守可持續發展做法， 例如節能及環境最優化、用水效率設計、建築物料之選用及空內環境與質量之管理等創出 驕人成績；而中國方面的認證仍在審批中。 黃小姐解釋說：「大多數香港建築只申請 Beam Plus 和 LEED 驗證，有利亦因在新加坡 業務日趨多元化，為酒店申請了新加坡的 Green Mark；希望利用本酒店向現有及潛在客 戶，展示環保技術及設施全球通用之餘，亦能按當地情況成功推行。」 其他運用的綠色科技，包括了利用五維建築信息模型作施工進度監察及成本控制，確保 不會超支超時，加上有利獨家研發的 PowerBox 大廈監測系統，能實時監控，尋找可進 步之空間；同時使用了全港最大型的太陽能板，以受選用可循環再用的高強度混凝土建 材等等，酒店可以稱得上是每一寸設計也是以環保為出發點。 建立市場聲譽 黃小姐稱：「對於我而言，這些舉措均出自內心。作為一間綜合綠色企業，有利目標是 在每個涉獵的業務領域內成為環保先鋒，然後竭盡所能多行一步 。」酒店會於每日下午 五時，為住客舉辦綠色導賞團，介紹內裡的環保設施及香港自然生態，亦會替住客推介 如濕地公園等本地的生態旅遊。黃小姐續說：「最令我感觸的，是懸掛於每間客房內的 畫作，那是出自一群輕度殘障小朋友的手筆，以上環街景作靈感而畫成。當他們看見自 己作品時，那份興奮至今難忘，而入住的賓客亦一致讚許！」 蘇豪智選假日已超越初開業時訂下的八成入住率目標，並開始獲得具社會責任意識的企業 青睞。甫開業三個月，酒店已獲得客房預訂大獎，客源均衡遍布歐洲、美洲、亞太地區與 中國大陸，達致真正國際化。 「至目前為止，我們接待過全球超過70個組織，涵蓋酒店、建造業的同仁，及政府部門， 都親由本公司董事及高層管理人員作技術簡報。我深信，幾乎每一位曾到訪的賓客，均對 當發展商真正致力於環保建造時，能實現的 成果記憶尤深。」黃小姐總結道。