Design solutions to reduce the carbon emissions of existing residential buildings in Hong Kong

Many citizens aware of the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are prepared to take pragmatic actions to help achieve this challenge. A possible strategy for emission reduction is by targeting the existing building stock as the energy efficiency of some less recently built buildings are far from satisfactory. Until now, much of the attention is attributed to reduce the emissions of commercial and institutional buildings. However, the potentials for cutting down on the emissions of residential buildings, especially in a sub-tropical city like Hong Kong, should not be underestimated.With a desire to help owners and residents identify suitable emission reduction measures for residential properties, a study has been carried out in Hong Kong to examine the available design solutions and their possible implications to different stakeholders. In this paper, different solutions for reducing the GHG emissions of existing residential buildings are reviewed. The results of a survey which aims to unveil citizens' expectations on low carbon refurbishment are then highlighted. The findings should help improve our understanding on which are the more feasible GHG reduction solutions for residential properties in a highly compacted city like Hong Kong.