GREEN TIPS
Benefits and results of safety and health upgrades
Benefits & relevance of sustainable retrofitting:
3.1.1 Upgrading building safety and health
Retrofitting an existing shopping mall and shop spaces enables its health and safety standards to be upgraded to meet
the latest regulations. Alteration and addition (A&A) is the terminology commonly adopted for the works involved in a
retrofitting exercise. Generally the Buildings Department only requires areas affected by the A&A to comply with the latest
building regulations or codes. Those parts of the building not affected by the A&A works do not need to be upgraded.
Rather than obstacles, these requirements should be viewed as opportunities to enhance the building’s performance.
Examples of the latest building codes that might be relevant to A&A of a shopping mall and shop spaces are:
• Code of Practice for Fire Safety in Buildings 2011 for means of escape, fire resisting construction, access for
firefighting and rescue.
• Design Manual: Barrier Free Access 2008 details requirements for ramps, lifts, toilets, signs, etc. for ease of access by
persons in wheelchairs or the visually impaired.
• Practice Notes for Authorised Persons, Registered Structural Engineers and Registered Geotechnical Engineers for
various issues covering the minimum number of toilet cubicles, etc.
3.1.2 Improving the connectivity
Shopping mall retrofitting can create opportunities for improving the connectivity to local transport and social systems that
have appeared since the building was first completed. This encourages shoppers to use public transport, and might also
enhance the mall’s rental value due to the increase in visitors.
A new transport hub, MTR entrance or bus stop, new nearby developments or even changes in the population are items
to look into. New access routes or amenities such as entrances, covered footbridges, shuttle services, bicycle storage,
etc. are possibilities that may encourage pedestrian access.
3.1.3 Energy saving through building systems and façade upgrading
Technology makes tremendous advances. Retrofitting a shopping mall and its shop spaces creates an opportunity
to upgrade the building systems – air conditioning and ventilation system, lighting, pumps, lifts and escalators, etc –
replacing them with new equipment which consumes less energy for the same performance as compared to those
manufactured fifteen or twenty years ago. The saving in energy consumption can become a saving in the long-term
running costs.
Apart from creating a new image for the shopping mall, retrofitting external façades also creates opportunities to ‘rectify’
problems of glare or excessive solar heat gained through windows and glass walls by introducing external or internal
shading devices and
. Please see
for further discussion on façade design.
3
Planning for shopping malls and shop spaces
3.1
Retrofitting existing buildings to become new shopping malls and shop spaces
Better fire safety
Better fire safety with updated fire prevention and alarm systems
Better public safety
Better public safety with upgraded design and structural calculations
for balustrades in atrium spaces
Reduced risks
Renewal and upgrading of HVAC systems to reduce risk of
Legionnaire’s Disease
Better sanitation
Introduction of more female toilets and improvement of toilet design
for better sanitary conditions
74 Hong Kong Green Shop Guide
