Smart Buildings Thrive in Historic Guangzhou to Foster Opportunities through Cross-border Exchanges

As the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development surges ahead, Guangzhou takes up the role as the primary commerce and transportation hub in Mainland China's Guangdong province, offering ample opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration with Hong Kong. Recently, Ir Thomas HO, the Chairman of the Construction Industry Council (CIC), along with industry representatives, visited the Tianhe Smart City Underground Integrated Corridor project and Guangzhou International Financial City in Guangzhou. The purpose of this visit was to foster deeper exchanges between Hong Kong and the mainland in various areas, including building technology research and development, construction engineering, market exploration, and training. In addition, they paid visits to the Guangzhou Design Institute Group and Guangzhou Institute of Building Science under Guangzhou Municipal Construction Group, aiming to gain insights from mainland architectural research and development. Mr. Li Jin, Vice President of Guangzhou Design Institute, was invited as a speaker to 'The CIC Global Construction Sustainability Forum and Exhibition 2023' to share his successful experience with "Green & Low-carbon Design Goes First".

The Tianhe Smart City Underground Integrated Corridor Project: A Visionary and Extensive Undertaking

The Tianhe Smart City Underground Integrated Corridor Project, with a staggering investment of approximately 3.14 billion RMB, spans an impressive distance of 19.4 kilometers. It is a remarkable project of immense scale that showcases technological innovation. The project incorporates key technological innovations, notably the utilisation of shield tunneling technology in high traffic zones and areas with extensive underground pipelines. This approach reduces the number of shield tunneling shafts, thereby lowering costs and minimising environmental impacts. Additionally, the project ingeniously repurposed the shield tunnel's starting shaft into an underground automated parking garage, providing space for around 80 vehicles. This effectively optimizes underground space and enhances urban spatial efficiency.

The project also incorporates a series of green corridor technologies, such as dedicated hoisting devices for natural lighting and theft prevention, energy-saving and eco-friendly automatic fire extinguishing systems, and noise-reducing and energy-saving ventilation devices. These technologies not only enhance the tunnel's environmental performance but also improve its efficiency and safety. Furthermore, the project team employed prefabricated Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) partition wall technology to enhance structural strength and waterproofing performance. Additionally, innovative features such as a negative pressure vacuum drainage system, enabling "water flowing upwards," effectively overcome the constraints of traditional drainage systems and serve as a significant example of innovation in urban infrastructure.

Guangzhou International Financial City: Promoting Digital Transformation with a Smart Construction Site Platform

The delegation also visited Guangzhou International Financial City, encompassing a planned area of 1.32 square kilometers. The entire underground space of financial city boasts a built-up area of 480,000 square meters, with an investment of approximately 8.94 billion RMB. A self-developed smart construction site platform has been introduced, integrating essential functions like environmental management, safety management, and on-site quality control. Leveraging large-scale Building Information Modeling (BIM), this platform enables digitalisation and intelligent management of construction sites. Consequently, construction efficiency has improved, site safety has been ensured, and environmental protection has been promoted. As such, it sets a valuable industry benchmark. Moreover, the project has implemented digital management of large-scale mechanical equipment, facilitating more efficient supervision and precise safety oversight. By utilising "point cloud reverse modeling" technology, actual site photos and point cloud models are combined, enabling comprehensive assessment and control of construction quality. In the long run, this platform also contributes to the advancement of City Information Modeling (CIM), paving the way for future innovations.

Forward-thinking Design Embraces Green and Low-Carbon Principles

Another highlight of the tour was Guangzhou Design Institute (the Institute), renowned for its commitment to enhancing construction management efficiency. Through their research efforts, the Institute have made significant contributions to the development of intelligent transportation systems, public service facilities, and energy management systems. These advancements have played a pivotal role in advancing the modernisation and sustainable development of urban infrastructure.

Since 2007, the Institute has been a pioneer in applying BIM to over a hundred projects while conducting extensive research and practice in green and low-carbon architectural design. In 2016, they established the Green Building and Building Services Consulting Center to assist clients in enhancing the environmental performance and energy efficiency of their buildings, leading the way in sustainable development. the Guangzhou Design Institute Group provides comprehensive services for green buildings, including planning, design, review, application, acceptance and renovation. They have successfully achieved green building certification for over 300 projects, including the Chimelong Marine Science Museum in Zhuhai, obtaining a three-star rating in green building certification and the LEED Gold certification from the United States.

In southern China, typical air conditioning systems in general buildings have an energy efficiency ratio (EER) of around 3.0. However, the Institute has developed an "ultra-efficient air conditioning system" that achieves an EER over 5.0, resulting in a 40% energy-saving rate and significant cost reduction. This system has been successfully applied in various commercial projects, greatly improving overall building energy efficiency. Additionally, the Institute has introduced exemplary buildings with ultra-low, nearly zero, or zero energy consumption. Through energy-saving technologies like passive building envelopes, efficient lighting systems, distributed photovoltaics, and large temperature difference water-cooling systems, they have made remarkable progress towards industry "carbon neutrality".

The Patent-rich Building Research Institute: Pioneering Intelligent Digitisation in the Construction Industry

Apart from design, the importance of architectural research should not be underestimated. Guangzhou Municipal Construction Group (GMC) recognizes this and established its own research institute called the Guangzhou Institute of Building Science in 1964. With extensive research and innovation platforms and capabilities, they have successfully completed over 100 research projects in the past decade. Their outstanding achievements have been acknowledged with more than 80 science and technology awards at the provincial, ministerial, and municipal levels. Additionally, they have obtained over 300 national patents and 80 software copyrights, highlighting their commitment to innovation.

The Guangzhou Institute of Building Science is dedicated to promoting innovation and technology applications across various fields. This includes digital management of construction projects, IoT-based intelligent monitoring technology, and intelligent quality inspection technology. These advancements have been successfully implemented in practical engineering projects, aiding teams in addressing management challenges such as real-time personnel positioning and statistics, machinery equipment management, material cost data statistics, and technical and environmental management. They promote the "smart digitisation" concept of the construction industry through a comprehensive approach encompassing "point, line, surface, and volume."

Point: Implementing the "Smart Construction Site Visualization System" for real-time monitoring of personnel, machinery, materials, safety, quality, environment, progress, and utilities on construction sites.

Line: Developing a lightweight BIM platform and Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) lifecycle project management platform to digitalise operational processes, enhancing project management and decision-making.

Surface: Facilitating networking and information exchange between government regulatory departments, construction companies, and project sites by internet.

Volume: Collaborating to ensure efficient design, procurement, production, construction, and operation of buildings, creating a competitive commercial ecosystem and constitute the digitalisation of the construction industry.

The Greater Bay Area is one of the most vibrant economic regions globally, and in recent years, it has made significant progress in the field of architectural technology. By leveraging complementary advantages and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, the region can bring together excellent research and development capabilities to contribute significantly to the sustainable development of the construction industry in Hong Kong.