網上版請按此
Harnessing smart tech to oversee building projects and workers' safety makes sense
Recently, a number of fatal construction accidents have caused widespread concern in the community. Therefore, it is time for the Housing Bureau and the Housing Department to introduce smart technologies to assist in the supervision of works and ensure the safety of construction workers through the use of internet-of-things sensors and artificial intelligence.
As pointed out by Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin, the average age of construction workers in Hong Kong is 55, and the use of technology can alleviate a personnel shortage and improve efficiency.
Technological applications or property technologies (proptech) can not only reduce manual labor processes and help reduce workers' safety risks, but also save energy and reduce emissions, and promote sustainable development.
Proptech, which has become a popular term in recent years, generally refers to the use of technology to solve the problems of the entire life cycle of the real estate industry, from construction works, housing sales and leasing, to property maintenance and management, and more, covering industrial, retail, office and residential buildings.
According to the World Green Building Council, 39 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. In densely populated Hong Kong, this is over 60 percent.
In the context of climate change and the post-pandemic recovery, reducing carbon emissions and improving indoor environmental quality have become the common focus of the world. It's no wonder that a newly released market research report predicts that the global proptech market will grow from $19.5 billion in 2022 to $32.2 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate of 6.5 percent.
No wonder Ho pointed out that after the testing of these technology products, "it is expected to be rolled out to Southeast Asia, the Belt and Road and other countries."
If Hong Kong can actively export its experience, I believe there are many business opportunities such as a local company's introducing green construction and infrastructure technology to the Middle East this year. The company combines expertise in both information technology and building services into commercial practices to optimize electricity and improve power efficiency while maintaining performance, and provides a comprehensive solution of cloud platform, hardware and engineering consulting.
Proptech has a lot of potential, but it can also be challenging to implement.
In 2022, consulting firm Ernst & Young and the Urban Land Institute jointly published the "GBA Prop-tech White Paper" on the digital transformation in the real estate industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), analyzing the current situation and opportunities in the region.
Under the dual pressure of tightening housing policies and rising operating costs on the Chinese mainland, real estate companies must strive to "break new ground for growth, entailing new approaches in management and operation", the white paper points out. At the same time, the demands from epidemic control, remote working, and data integration trends have also catalyzed the growth of the digital transformation of enterprises, of which proptech is believed to be part of the new normal.
According to the white paper, the urbanization rate in the GBA has reached 70 percent (65 percent for the whole mainland as of the end of 2022), and more construction projects are ready to be launched. China has clearly put forward the goals of hitting carbon emissions peak in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060. With the country's "dual carbon" policy, it is imperative to reduce the carbon emissions generated by buildings in the future.
However, while as many as 88 percent of the executives surveyed consider proptech to be critical, less than 4 in 10 construction and construction management companies surveyed are using these innovative technologies. The reason for this is a compatibility issue. Proptech is not easy to implement in real life, as evidenced by 71 percent of the respondents who cited the "integration of new and legacy systems" as a challenge.
The findings of a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States align with it. The Center for Real Estate found that the major obstacle to the implementation of proptech is the integration with existing technology and business processes, as well as the challenge of gaining the confidence and support of owners, property management companies and occupiers, even though a case study of Stanford University showed that its energy system innovation solution could save the university $420 million over the next 35 years.
The study also cites a 2019 global survey by consultancy KMPG, which showed that only 17 percent of proptech solutions can be seamlessly integrated.
There is a saying that it takes an average of 41.6 years for a technology to move from inception in the lab to become a part of our daily lives. I hope that local startups can buck the trend and accelerate the transformation of the real estate industry in Hong Kong and beyond.
Dr. Winnie Tang
Adjunct Professor, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering; Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences; and Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong