Comparison of environmental performance assessment for construction in Hong Kong and the Mainland China

Abstract

Environmental protection has aroused much public concern in recent years. Environmental management system (EMS) has been advocated for all economic sectors. Construction, being one of the pollution generators creating destruction to the environment, is by no means exempted from EMS. However, in carrying out EMS, the greatest obstacle is the lack of objective performance evaluation criteria. Trying to overcome this, the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) was introduced for assessing the environmental performance in terms of management and operational systems, which however is not popularly adopted in the construction industry of Hong Kong and the Mainland China. This paper compares and discusses the implementation status of EPA between Hong Kong and the Mainland China, highlighting the difficulties during assessments. Construction is passive and reactive in implementing EPA, the reasons of which are found to be the non-mandatory nature of the scheme, lacking any external stimulus, the thin profit margins of most construction firms, and the high investment cost that deter contractors from the implementation.