TABLE OF CONTENTS - The Professional Green Building Council

Theme B: Creating a livable, healthy and environmentally viable citiesSUSTAINABILITY THROUGH PREFABRICATEDCONSTRUCTION IN HONG KONG PUBLIC HOUSINGPROJECTSJOSEPH YW MAKHong Kong Housing Department, HKSAR Government, HKSARABSTRACT: Prefabrication offers cleaner, more efficient and safer construction and makes asignificant contribution to sustainability in housing development. The key benefits from thesemethods are the conservation of construction materials, savings in overall resources and energy,minimizing construction waste, providing a clean and healthy working environment and shorteningthe overall construction time. Upon completion, there are also life cycle cost benefits whencompared with the hitherto more traditional approaches to design and construction.The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has been a pioneer in developing prefabrication in theterritory. In the early 1980’s, the HA initiated a programme to encourage prefabrication andmechanized construction technology through well known international contractors. In the late 80’s,leading local contractors were encouraged to develop their own pre-casting systems to suit the HongKong context. The follow-up contractual, procurement and quality assurance measures were thendeveloped and implemented in building contracts. In parallel, new technological initiatives havebeen introduced one by one and a very comprehensive prefabrication system for high rise residentialbuildings has evolved.This paper will share the experience in the evolution and development of prefabrication initiatives inthe public housing programme, for the benefits to be appreciated by the industry as a whole and forthe advancement of the sustainability in the construction industry.1. INTRODUCTIONIn the mid 1960’s, due to the influx of immigrants from Mainland China to HongKong, the majority of these immigrants lived in squatters or very old buildings. A380