HKUST Environmental Report
2 0 0 2 Update
শ ส ॊ ث Ђ ᐯ
THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Resource Conservation
Conserving resources continued to be an area of emphasis in our facility management operations. Examples of our effort include:
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The second energy performance contract for Librarydehumidification continues. This reduced the gas consumption of 47,000 GJ, translating into HK$1.0 million savings in 2002.
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The third energy performance contract retrofitting works were completed in mid-2002. This increased the anticipated energy reduction of the two contracts with Honeywell to 5,599 MWH per year, translating into savings of HK$4.3 million and reduction of 3,415 tons of C02 emission in a year./
Instead of obtaining hot water supply from a central gas combustion boiler, the Animal Care Facility which is located far from the central gas combustion boiler will have a localized electric heat pump installed to maintain correct spacetemperature and humidity control for the animals. The relevant pipe heat loss in the hot water distribution network will be greatly reduced whilst energy efficiency of hot water provision will be increased due to adoption of heat pump. The anticipated energy reduction is 2,000 GJ which will translate to
HK$270,000 savings per annum.
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A new type of energy savings exit sign using Electroluminscent (EL) technology had been selected to replace some existing exit signs. Instead of consuming 18-watt per exit sign, the new product adopts emitting phosphors to generate cool light output consuming 5-watt only. The replacement will result in an anticipated electrical energy savings of 138 MWH, which will translate to HK$117,000 savings per annum./
To reduce paper napkin consumption, napkin dispensers have been installed in LG1 restaurant where consumption of paper napkin is always extremely high. Besides, paper napkin in LG7 restaurant was packed together with tablewares in individual bag to reduce wastage and to avoid abuse of usage. In other catering outlets, paper napkins are distributed by catering staff instead of self-served.Waste Management
Efforts in minimizing and recycling wastes were intensified, yielding marked improvements. Income derived from recycling was dedicated to supporting various environmental initiatives.
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A feasibility study and tender exercise for installing a food scrap composting machine were completed by end of 2002. It is estimated that the program will be implemented in May 2003. Main objective of this program is to reduce the amount of food scrap being sent everyday to landfill and have it recycled for horticulture use./
!The number of plastic bottles recycled in 2002 increased from 3,953 to 4,944, representing a 25% increase as compared to 2001./
Aluminium cans increased 6.54%, i.e. from 54,655 in 2001 to 58,229 aluminium cans in 2002./
Due to the quantity of paper consumed in 2002 was 0.93% less than 2001 and the increased use of electronic filing system, the paper waste recycled decreased by 19.3% from 162,118kg in 2001 to 130,805kg in 2002. The printer cartridges recycled also decreased a little bit from 1,370 to 1,329./
The use of biodegradable disposal wares, e.g. meal box, have been extended to small catering outlets./
Chemical reagent recycling program continues to operate steadily with 51 items recycled in 2002 as reflected in our Chemical Exchange Program./
Except LG5 counter numbers 2 and 3 and the Seafront Snack Shop, the other on-campus catering outlets have arranged contractors to collect used cooking oil for recycling.in concert towards a sustainable future. New research projects couple with
innovative sustainable practices highlight the accomplishments this year.
Indoor Air Quality
Some exhaust fans for laboratory emission dispersion are being replaced by Virtual Stacks, a different type of exhaust fans without using a physical stack that may otherwise ruin aesthetic outlook of the campus. These new fans create a strong air stream to push the laboratory emission high up the sky for enhanced dispersion, leading to improved air quality at rooftop of building even under unfavorable weather conditions.
Mobile Real-time Air Monitoring Platform
HKUST has designed, built and launched a Mobile Real-time Air Monitoring Platform (MAP) in April 2002 to measure air pollutant concentrations as the platform travels across a region and to obtain time-series data, when needed, at strategic sites. This technology allows measurement at locations such as covered garages and tunnels to where it is difficult to get access. It is also very useful in obtaining data for street canyon modelers. Because of its mobility, MAP is suitable in tracking episodes caused by meteorological conditions such as subsidence and more importantly, it can be easily adopted for cross-border studies. MAP is ideal for studying remote or undeveloped area where a large area can be mapped for baseline data in a short time.
Student Activities
A number of activities were organized to promote environmental awareness among students.
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A collection campaign for used paper and aluminium cans was organized by the Joint House Student Associations. The campaign has gained support from the ECC Shell Environmental Award for Tertiary and Vocational Institutes. This campaign aimed at encouraging students to practise waste separation and recycling./
Many student groups and departmental student societies had organized used books resale./
Two rounds of used items collection were organized by the Student Social Service Society./
An environmental tour to Taman Negara Resort at Malaysia was organized by the Biochemistry Student Society.Promotion on Environmental Awareness
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An outreach program for waste recycling scheme was jointly organized by the Environmental Protection Department and the Conservancy Association to raise the environmental awareness among staff and students./
An exchange square for waste recycling was organized by Environmental Campaign Committee, Environmental Protection Department and the Safety and Environmental Protection Department of HKUST. A booth was set up at the Chia-Wei Woo Academic Concourse to encourage the campus community to practise waste separation and recycling.শ ส ॊ ث Ђ ᐯ
THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Environmental Research Projects
HKUST continues to conduct research on different environmental issues including atmospheric environment, air and water quality management, environmental cleanup technology, waste water treatment, marine environment monitoring, solid waste treatment, gravity sewer management, biological controls and highway pavement technology, etc. Units engaging in environmental studies include Department of Biology, Center for Coastal and Atmospheric Research, Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Department of Civil Engineering, Institute for Environment & Sustainable Development, Atmospheric, Marine & Coastal Environment Program, etc. A comprehensive list of environmental research projects conducted in 2002 is accessible at
http://www.ab.ust.hk/sepo/EnvRep/env02.pdf
G9826
Environmental Compliance
We continued to comply with various environmental regulatory requirements applicable to HKUST operations. These include monthly monitoring of waste water and sea water discharges, hazardous waste management, etc.
