[CIC-See What I See] Leveraging Innovative Technology for Improved Efficiency Concerted Efforts Opens New Horizon 【香港建造新視野】創新科技提升效率 同心協力再展新篇

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has been encouraging the industry to enhance productivity and site safety by applying new technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), the Internet of Things (IoT) and Modular Integrated Construction (MiC), and to this end has provided master classes on relevant subjects to nurture industry executives. Recently, the CIC invited Donal CHOI, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of ChinaChem Group, to share his views on how technologies such as MiC can improve construction efficiency and benefit society as a whole.

Challenges and Opportunities Faced by the Construction Industry

With multiple large-scale infrastructure projects in the pipeline for the coming decade, Hong Kong’s construction industry is set for a new golden era – one that will bring its own set of challenges.

CHOI remarked, “New infrastructure projects and developments will boost construction volume to HK$30 billion annually for the next decade. However, this expansion comes with multiple challenges for the industry.” First among them is the ageing workforce, exacerbated by the fact that young people do not understand the industry and hence are not interested in joining, which further affects productivity and efficiency. Moreover, number of construction occupational accidents reaches double digits annually. This underlines the necessity of facing up to construction site safety problems in order to attract more new blood to the industry.

The industry is also looking to eliminate the impact of environmental pollution caused by construction processes. According to a survey, building activities account for around 70% of the total carbon emissions in Hong Kong. The waste and noise created by construction processes also affect lives in nearby communities and the natural environment. With the expansion of construction volume, the industry is also facing the issue of quality control, such as craftsmanship defects caused by workers. The industry must ensure construction quality and quantity to meet market requirements and set standards.

In recent years, construction processes have also been disrupted by climate change, driving up the costs. Effective monitoring of project progress and expenditure has thus become an important issue.

Innovative Technologies Pave A New Way

On many of these foreseeable challenges, CIC has already worked closely with the industry to promote new technologies and embrace future opportunities. “Some of these technologies could potentially lessen or even eliminate the difficulties we are facing,” said CHOI.

Primarily, in the age of e-economy, digitalisation has become vitally important for all industries. The construction industry has gradually realised the power of digital transformation with the application of new technologies such as the Common Data Environment (CDE). As for BIM, in the long run, it will not only benefit the construction industry, but also help property owners and management companies to improve operating efficiency and reduce day-to-day operational and maintenance costs.

Furthermore, by leveraging digital tools such BIM and CDE, the industry can apply to government departments for project approvals more conveniently and ensure that applications meet specified criteria, thereby reducing approval time and costs.

The Internet of Things and Blockchain can help the industry to collect real-time data and information on relevant projects, reducing time and manpower spent on such repetitive processes while improving data safety and reliability. In fact, BIM can also be applied to other construction cycle processes such as e-tendering. In the future, BIM could even enhance the efficiency and reduce the cost of sourcing by helping the industry source materials, facilities and services globally. Currently, e-submission and automation are not used extensively in the industry. If the industry can make better use of these technologies, work efficiency, quality, quantity and accuracy can be further improved.

The industry is already using new technology to reduce carbon emissions at the construction stage. For example, some companies have cut carbon emissions by using battery energy storage systems for emergency power generation, as well as big data to enhance real-time monitoring and analysis.

The Many Advantages of MiC

MiC is bringing multiple benefits to the construction industry. Since MiC moves part of the construction process to factories, reduces construction processes on-site. On-site work can be done at the same time while modules are prefabricated in factories allowing construction time 30% faster than traditional methods. Also, on-site demand for labour can be reduced by 70%, on-site noise can be reduced by up to 75%, and construction waste and pollutants can be reduced by around 68%.

MiC enables construction components to be prefabricated and assembled remotely, in a factory with a controlled environment safe from the effects of weather. This alone improves construction site safety and lowers costs.

Affected by various factors including production quantity, the cost of MiC construction could be higher than traditional methods, but in the long run, it can potentially reduce on-site construction time and cost while improving quality. ChinaChem is working with Urban Renewal Authority on the Tokin Street re-development project at Cheungshawan – the first private sector project to adopt MiC. ChinaChem will also utilise MiC for another project at Tung Chung comprising five 46-storey towers with a total of 2,000 residential units.

However, CHOI expressed that some challenges still remain for MiC in Hong Kong. If the government provided policy support to diminish the construction cost of using MiC – such as by increasing the gross floor area exemption and height limits – there could be a greater industry incentive to adopt the technology.

The government has accepted the CIC’s and industry’s suggestion to study the feasibility of reserving land in the Northern Metropolis for MiC modular production and storage, and to promote cooperation within the Greater Bay Area to improve the MiC supply chain. “MiC is an option to improve our housing quality, protect our environment and ensure that we have a competitive city and a high quality of life. However, in the end, innovative technologies can only handle part of the challenges,” CHOI stressed. “Apart from using those technologies on construction processes, a change of mindset is also required to move us forward and make Hong Kong a more liveable city.”

Supporting the Industry to Seize Opportunities

The CIC will continue to promote the industry’s implementation and extensive use of innovative technologies. For instance, the CIC will continue to provide training to on-site workers and management staff to improve their understanding of the operational and management processes of new technologies such as MiC. By helping workers to develop, the industry will be better able to embrace the opportunities created by new tech.

At the same time, CIC will also work with partners in the Greater Bay Area on the application of new technologies and MiC to open up these new opportunities.

As Thomas HO, Chairman of CIC, emphasised: “Construction is an art of collaboration and connection; we cannot build alone, but we do it together with our partners.”

建造業議會一直致力鼓勵業界利用創新科技，例如建築信息模擬（BIM）、物聯網（IoT），以至「組裝合成」建築法（MiC）等提升生產力及提升工地安會水平，亦舉辦有關科技的大師班，以培育業界的精英。早前，議會更邀請了華懋集團執行董事兼行政總裁蔡宏興建築師(Donald)，分享創新建築技術如「組裝合成」建築法(MiC)，如何能提升建造業效率以及對整體社會的裨益。

建造業面對的挑戰與機遇

隨著多項大型基建開展，未來十年，本港建造業可以說是踏入另一個黃金時期，不過隨之而來的是各式各樣的挑戰。

正如Donald說：「大量基建動工和發展，令每年的建築工程量增至數百億港元。不過，工程量上升的同時，建造業也面對重重挑戰。」首先，建造業普遍存在人手老化問題，而且年青人對行業認識不足，對加入建造業意慾不高，對生產力和效率造成一定影響；與此同時，每年的工業意外數字均達雙位數，反映需要正視工業安全問題，方可吸引新血加入行業。

還有是如何減低建造業施工過程時對環境造成的污染。據統計，建造業的碳排放量佔香港總碳排放量約70%。建造過程產生的工業廢料以至噪音，亦對生活及生態環境造成影響。隨著工程量上升，建造業亦面對質量控制的問題，例如由建築工人的手工所引致的瑕疵等等。業界須致力確保建築項目的質量，能符合市場要求和旣定標準。

近年全球氣候變化，令建築工程受阻，亦間接推高成本，因此，如何有效監察工程進度和開支，亦成為重要課題。

新科技 新出路

雖然未來有不少的挑戰，但議會早已聯同業界推廣新科技的應用，迎接未來的機遇。Donald亦表示：「透過利用創新科技，建造業便能夠更有效地減輕或應付上述挑戰。」

首先，踏入電子經濟的時代，數碼化已是各行各業未來的重要方向。但隨著綜合數碼共用平台（CDE）等科技獲得更廣泛應用，建造業亦正逐漸實現數碼轉型。至於另一項創新技術 — 建築信息模擬（BIM），長遠而言，不單對建造行業有利，還可幫助物業的業主和管理公司「終身」改善營運效率、降低日常運作及維修成本。此外，建造業界利用BIM和CDE等數碼化工具，可更便捷地向政府部門申請批核工程，並確保申請內容符合旣定準則，有助縮短審批時間和降低成本。

至於物聯網（Internet of Things，簡稱IoT）和「區塊鏈」(Blockchain)，則可協助建造業收集關於工程的實時數據和資料，從而減省花於這類重複性工序的人手，並可提升資料的安全和可靠性。事實上，BIM亦可應用於建造業其他程序，例如電子招標（e-tendering），日後更可望方便建築界從全球各地採購建材、設備和服務，藉此提升採購效率和降低成本。目前，建造業在使用e-submission(電子呈交)和automation(自動化)這兩方面仍未全面，若業界能更善用這些技術，將可進一步提高建造業的工作效率、質量和準確性。

在減排方面，建築界亦正從建造階段着手，利用新技術減排。例如部分業界在緊急發電方面已開始採用電池儲能系統，減少碳排放之餘，利用大數據加強實時監察和分析，為減排出一分力。

「組裝合成」建築法 一舉多得

在建築方面，「組裝合成」建築法(MiC)能為建築界帶來多方面的好處。

首先，由於部分建築工序移至工廠內進行，減省現場施工工序，工廠生產模組同時可在工地現場進行其他工序，讓MiC建築時間較傳統方式快三成。工地的勞動力需求亦可降低七成，而現場施工產生的噪音則大幅減少75%，至於施工所產生的廢棄物和污染物排放亦減少約68%。 利用MiC的預製建築技術，能夠在工廠化的安全環境下生產和裝配建築組件，令工程減少受到惡劣天氣影響，並且提升建築安全和降低成本。

受到生產數量等因素影響，儘管MiC 技術的建築成本有可能較傳統建築方法高，但長遠而言，採用MiC可減少現場施工的時間、成本和提升質素。華懋集團與市區重建局合作、位於長沙灣東京街的重建項目，便是本港第一個由私人發展商以MiC技術建成的私人住宅項目。該集團在港鐵東涌另一物業發展項目亦會引入 MiC，興建五幢46層高大廈合共約2,000伙單位。

不過，Donald表示，MiC技術在香港的應用仍面對一些挑戰，若政府能透過提供政策支援(例如增加總樓面面積豁免和樓高限制)，減輕業界使用 MiC 技術的建築成本，相信能為業界應用 MiC 技術提供更多誘因。

現時政府已接納議會及業界建議，將會研究在北部都會區預留土地生產及儲存「組裝合成」組件，及促進與大灣區協作完善「組裝合成」供應鏈。Donald表示：「採用MiC技術能夠提升本港房屋建築的質量，有助保護環境，並且加強香港社會的競爭力和整體生活質素。不過，創新科技始終只能解決部分困難。除了在建築程序上運用創新科技，更重要的是改變思維去面對挑戰，建造業才可奮力前行，令香港發展成為一個更宜居的城市。」

支援業界 把握機遇

事實上，議會亦會繼續向業界加強推廣創新科技落地，致力促進建造業更廣泛應用創新科技。例如議會一直開辦各類有關創新科技的課程，培訓業內管理層及前線工人，協助他們了解組裝合成建築法這類新技術的運作流程和管理，幫助工人轉型，讓建造業積極迎向和把握創新科技帶來的機遇。

同時，議會亦就新科技及MiC的應用積極與大灣區合作夥伴聯繫，為業界開拓新機遇。

正如議會主席何安誠所言： 「建築是一門協作及連繫的藝術，我們不能單打獨鬥，必須與夥伴一同合作。」