MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

We are pleased to report that the total revenue of the EMSTF reached HK$8,911 million during the year, representing an increase of 2.2%, while the return on revenue slightly decreased to 2.6% mainly owing to our operation strategy of delivering additional value-added services to our client departments instead of emphasising financial return. The Customer Satisfaction Index and Overall Service Competitiveness Index both hit record highs in the Customer Opinion Survey 2022, showing that the EMSTF’s efforts were recognised by our clients.

The high E&M safety and services standards to which the EMSD always adheres have been encapsulated in the eight Operation and Maintenance Best Practices Booklets and Handbooks released in September 2022. Their contents, covering eight major areas, namely electrical installations, fire service installations, HVAC installations, lift and escalator installations, gas utilisation facilities, solar photovoltaic systems, solar water heating systems and fuel system of liquefied petroleum gas vehicles, can be easily accessed through different channels like the EMSD website, E&M Connect Mobile App, e‑handbooks and case study videos. I am confident that these publications will help promote the trade’s adoption of best practices and innovative technologies for continually improving the efficiency of E&M asset management.

SHOWING LEADERSHIP IN FOUR AREAS

As the Government's technical advisor, gate-keeper of E&M safety and energy efficiency as well as the E&M service provider of client departments, the EMSD remained at the forefront of supporting the Government's ongoing efforts in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and preparing the city for resumption of full normality during the year, while proactively adopting innovation and technology (I&T) to streamline workflow and improve E&M services, expediting Hong Kong's progress towards carbon neutrality, and expanding the Mainland and international collaborations to elevate E&M and energy efficiency standards.

Undertaking Anti-epidemic Efforts and Preparations for Resumption of Normality

The EMSD continued to devote commendable efforts to supporting anti-epidemic works, especially in areas where our technical expertise was most useful, such as ensuring good ventilation. Our teams conducted ventilation assessment for more than 700 residential care homes for the elderly and persons with disabilities and 65 government schools to ensure compliance with relevant requirements. We also made recommendations for improvement and even carried out ventilation enhancement works for schools where necessary.

Pioneering I&T Development

The EMSD plays a central role in spearheading I&T initiatives that bring significant benefits to our internal operations, client departments, regulatees and the E&M trade, and ultimately benefit the general public in various ways. For example, we introduced the Digital Log-books System for Lifts and Escalators (Digital Log-books) in November 2022 to streamline the tripartite monitoring of the “health record” of each individual lift/escalator throughout its service life by our Regulatory Services, the lift/escalator contractors and responsible persons. The EMSTF has fully adopted the Digital Log‑books for all the lifts and escalators it maintains, earning a competitive edge when providing lift/escalator services to client departments. As at September 2023, among nearly 80000 lifts and escalators across the territory, 20000 lifts have switched from paper-bound log-books to the Digital Log-books, reflecting that the innovative solution is well received by stakeholders. Another new initiative we undertook was the Internet of Thing-based Car Park Availability System trialled at our headquarters car park. It used big data to analyse the dynamic occupancy rate of the car park, allowing us to issue more parking permits according to the usage condition without overloading the car park. Upon successful trials at our premises, the system was subsequently introduced to client departments, such as the Hong Kong Police Force and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

The Regulatory Services has been taking the lead in developing I&T in order to encourage regulatees to adopt our I&T solutions or develop suitable solutions on their own. Results were particularly notable in improving railway safety. A number of award-winning I&T solutions such as the Train-borne Railway Infrastructure Inspection System that uses 3D point cloud mapping and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to track anomalies in tunnel infrastructure by normal operating trains, and the Tramway Derailment and Collision Prevention System that detects foreign objects in the rail groove, help our regulatees strengthen preventative measures to enhance railway safety. They also prompted our regulatees to proactively seek more cost‑effective solutions. We are very pleased to see that our collaborated projects with the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), namely the Train-borne Railway Infrastructure Inspection System, Passenger Misbehaviour Detection System and Rail Track Collision Object Detection System won one silver and two bronze awards at the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva.

Our I&T projects have garnered numerous international and local commendations. We bagged 23 awards at the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva and won 13 awards in the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2022, including the Gold Prize in Innovation and Technology Awards (Best Stakeholder Collaboration) and the Silver Prize in Innovation and Technology Awards (Best Use of Technology). Furthermore, we promoted and leveraged innovation and knowledge management to create great value for stakeholders, transforming enterprise knowledge into superior services and solutions. We were therefore awarded the Hong Kong Most Innovative Knowledge Enterprise Award 2022 and the Global Most Innovative Knowledge Enterprise Award 2022, which recognised our achievements in this area. More encouragingly, Singapore has showed interest in our award-winning innovation, the Smart Driver Assistant, currently being used at the Automated People Mover of the Hong Kong International Airport to analyse and monitor the condition of the track ahead and the drivers manually driving a train.

These achievements have motivated us to strive for excellence and take innovation to the next level. The EMSD has established the E&M AI Lab in collaboration with stakeholders from government departments, the trade, academia and research institutes to foster research and development in the application of big data and AI for E&M facilities. AI has proved very effective in most of the I&T solutions we have adopted or promoted to the trade and client departments. Notable examples include the AI system for searching e-commerce sites in Hong Kong for unsafe or non-compliant electrical products, the Artificial Intelligent Monitoring System for Aerial Ropeways, the AI based Image Analytic and Control System for Cremation Process (also known as “i-Cremation”), the AI models for predicting the required cooling load of chiller plants, and the AI Energy Optimisation Solution for the chiller plant system of the Civil Aviation Department Headquarters.

Echoing the theme of our 75th anniversary, “Serving the Community with Heart and Innovation”, we are dedicated to passing on our knowledge and experience to colleagues and the trade to uphold E&M excellence. Our active department-wide participation in internal and external events, including the 3rd Inno@E&M Challenge, the Global AI Challenge for Building E&M Facilities and the Young Professionals Exhibition and Competition 2022 organised by the Younger Members Section of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Hong Kong, demonstrated our commitment to achieving this goal.

Driving Carbon Neutrality

Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050 has identified specific areas regarding decarbonisation, including net-zero electricity generation, energy saving and green buildings, green transport and waste reduction. The EMSD has been actively contributing to all four areas.

In the area of net-zero electricity generation, we accelerated the approval of various gas installations at Hong Kong's first offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal jointly developed by the two power companies, so that the offshore LNG terminal could be fully commissioned on schedule in mid-2023, ensuring a more diversified, more reliable and cleaner energy supply for Hong Kong. Meanwhile, we continued to develop innovative solutions, such as the award-winning Integrated Self-sustained renewable-Energy Explorer, which motivates public and private organisations to install solar energy generation systems at their premises by calculating the optimal return on investment for the installation.

Regarding energy saving and green buildings, as it has been ten years since the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (BEEO) was enacted in 2012, we have commenced the preparatory work for its legislative amendments, with a view to raising the energy efficiency standards and extending the scope of application of the BEEO to a wider range of buildings. Regulation work often entails difficulties; nevertheless, we will persevere in responding to public expectations and support for green initiatives. Building on the community consensus that environmental protection is a matter of great urgency, I am confident that the amendments to the BEEO will win legislative support. Moreover, we have been putting efforts in optimising air-conditioning systems and retro-commissioning (RCx) buildings by using AI to achieve higher energy efficiency. In the future, we will expand the application of AI and big data analysis for energy management and predictive maintenance.

In addition, with the fourth phase of the Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme (MEELS) being gazetted for full implementation by December 2024, we anticipated that a significant energy saving from household appliances will be achieved. The four phases of MEELS set out the energy efficiency standards for prescribed household appliances, which together account for about 80% of total residential energy consumption. Not complacent about the expanding coverage of the MEELS, we have also launched the third upgrading exercise for the energy efficiency grading standards under the MEELS to continuously uplift the energy efficiency standards of prescribed household appliances.

On green transport, we support the Government's plan of introducing hydrogen-powered heavy vehicles in Hong Kong by late 2023 and early 2024. To this end, we have joined an inter-departmental working group to assist in the extensive preparatory work for promoting the use of hydrogen-fuelled transportation in Hong Kong, performing a leading role in the technical aspect. While the preparatory work was in full swing, the EMSD participated in an inter-departmental visit to Europe to learn about the relatively mature hydrogen technologies there, as well as the associated constraints, safety considerations, risks and other issues. The opinions of overseas experts on legislative requirements and risk control have been a valuable reference for us. To tie in with the Government's plan, we are also assisting the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in sourcing hydrogen-powered street washing vehicles, which are expected to be delivered in the middle of next year.

In terms of waste management, we continued to assist the Organic Resources Recovery Centres in converting food waste into biogas for electricity generation from the aspect of gas safety regulation. In addition, to support waste reduction, we have been advocating paperless workflow and the use of the Customer-Centric e-Platform to facilitate maintenance recording and case tracing.

Expanding Mainland and International Collaboration

The EMSD has been promoting cross-border collaboration within and beyond the Greater Bay Area (GBA), especially as we prepared for the full resumption of normality. I am delighted to see that in-person exchanges with our GBA counterparts resumed quickly following the resumption of cross‑border travel. In 2023, our calendar is filled with more than 50 GBA activities, averaging nearly one activity per week, and our collaboration with our GBA counterparts has been particularly strong in five areas.

The first area is energy transformation. In view of the relatively mature hydrogen energy technologies in the Mainland, during the year, the EMSD dispatched staff to make visits to Beijing and Guangzhou, as well as a hydrogen energy demonstration project in Foshan. We are also looking into collaborating with the Mainland regarding the use of advanced technologies to import zero-carbon fuels from the Mainland by safe logistic and distribution means, with a view to achieving net-zero electricity generation. As Hong Kong lacks the land resources for large-scale development of clean energy facilities, I perceive the import of zero-carbon fuels into Hong Kong as a major area of collaboration within the GBA.

The second area is the formulation of mutually applicable and recognised technical standards. In April 2023, the governments of Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao signed a Memorandum of Understanding on jointly promoting the development of the standards in the GBA (GBA Standards), and announced a list of GBA Standards, which covered a total of 110 items, including the “Specifications for Risk Assessment of Traction Lifts”. The EMSD welcomes the three cities strengthening ties in this regard and establishing common standards within the GBA, which would facilitate the seamless flow and transfer of practitioners, logistics and practices in the E&M field. Personally, I am also excited about the prospect of establishing a set of GBA standards for the operating data of E&M facilities, which would enable greater transferability of AI technologies across the border.

Another significant area is I&T collaboration. We have organised various events and conferences during the year. For instance, we organised the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Youth Innovation and Technology Exchange, providing a platform for participants to exchange views on new materials technologies and science and technology policies. We also held the Green I&T Day in November 2022, bringing together experts from various sectors including I&T, the E&M trade, universities and public organisations to explore issues such as green transformation. In terms of introducing I&T solutions for E&M application, our I&T collaborations are also bearing fruit, such as facilitating the use of a drone by the Hongkong Electric Company Limited for detecting potential leakage in the subsea LPG pipeline connecting the Guangdong Dapeng LNG Terminal and Hong Kong, and introducing the intelligent robot for inspecting the tanks of LPG road tankers, just to name a few.

Technical training is an area where we have benefitted tremendously from collaboration with the Mainland. Our trainees and experienced technical staff have obtained valuable practical training through the Mainland technical training programmes. Notably, our joint training with the GBA has borne prominent results in the biennial WorldSkills Competition, hailed as the “Skills Olympics”, where participants' professional E&M skills and knowledge are evaluated. In the competition, two EMSD technicians competed against a strong field of contestants from more than 20 countries and regions, and one of them achieved the fifth overall and won a Medallion for Excellence in the Refrigeration and Air-conditioning trade. Technicians representing Hong Kong joined and reaped huge benefits from high-level training in the Mainland alongside top-calibre Mainland contestants who were the strongest candidates in their respective fields. We will continue to provide technicians and trainees with valuable technical training opportunities across the border, such as training in the area of electric vehicle (EV) maintenance. They will benefit greatly as mainland training institutes are equipped with necessary technical expertise and the latest EV models to gear up EV mechanics.

The fifth area of our Mainland and GBA collaboration is E&M safety. In the year, we renewed the Cooperation Arrangement on Electrical and Mechanical Products Safety and Energy Efficiency, which had been in place for 20 years, with the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China to continue the collaboration on E&M safety and promotion of carbon neutrality between Hong Kong and the Mainland. We are also preparing to sign memoranda of co-operation with our Mainland counterparts for mutual recognition of the energy efficiency labelling schemes and product safety standards of Hong Kong and the Mainland.

Our international engagement has also remained active. We continued to take on leadership roles in the Energy Working Group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and are seeking to participate in more standard-setting organisations such as AI-related conventions to stay updated on the latest trends in AI technology through knowledge exchanges. We are determined to lead the industry and the E&M trade in leveraging AI applications to facilitate smart operation, energy saving, predictive maintenance and other critical E&M functions.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT

As the jurisdiction of Regulatory Services and the scope of Trading Services continue to expand, we are keenly aware of the ongoing need to attract young talent to the E&M field. One effective way is to nurture children's interest in E&M engineering from a young age. Our promotional work in schools, starting from kindergartens, aims to not only deepen students' E&M safety awareness but also cultivate their interest in E&M subjects. Besides, the E&M Young Ambassador Programme has proved its effectiveness in establishing a tight-knit network with young people who are interested in the E&M field.

I believe the key to drawing in young blood is to project a modern image for the E&M trade, with a strong emphasis on I&T being integral to E&M work. Moreover, highlighting the fact that the E&M trade offers progression opportunities and stable employment with assured regular income over the long term will add to its appeal as a career choice. We have taken a vital step by shortening technician training by a year across various E&M streams, and trainees in the first cohort undergoing the shorter apprenticeship are set to graduate in 2023. They have in fact demonstrated their ability to achieve a similar standard as previous cohorts.

We have also incorporated richer I&T elements into E&M training, such as virtual reality, the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment system, the Building Information Modelling – Asset Management system, digital systems, and elements of our high-level training for the WorldSkills Competition, to make E&M more appealing to the tech-savvy generation.

DIRECTIONS FOR 2023/24

In the year ahead, the EMSD will continue its commitment to carbon neutrality, digitalisation, GBA and international collaboration and, in the case of the EMSTF, service competitiveness.

We will continue to play a role in the four main areas for decarbonisation to support the Government's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, by providing technical guidelines, retrofitting and RCx guidelines, as well as energy audits, which are also conducted by the EMSTF staff. The EMSTF will strive for the same goal by implementing energy-efficient and innovative installations, using AI tools for energy saving and carbon emission reduction, and conducting energy audits for client departments.

Meanwhile, we will work with associations in Hong Kong and the GBA on an energy retrofit scheme, another measure that follows our established, highly effective RCx scheme. While RCx suffices for newer buildings, energy retrofits can bring greater energy saving for buildings aged over 20 years. The Building Energy Code (BEC), updated once every three years, has increased energy saving by more than 23% since its introduction in 2012. This means a BEC-compliant building completed in 2012, which has since had all its energy installations retrofitted and complied with the standards stipulated in the latest 2021 edition of the BEC, can save 23% of energy. In fact, the older the building, the more energy-saving capacity it presents. Some commercial buildings completed in the 1970s and 1980s could even achieve energy savings of up to 40% to 50% after a major retrofit. We hope the energy retrofit scheme being mooted will bring about further significant energy saving upon its official launch.

Collectively, we will continue to drive I&T application in all areas of our work. With digitalisation being the common theme for the work goals of Regulatory Services and our third Five-year Strategic Plan of the EMSTF, we aim to enhance convenience for clients, and improve the skills and efficiency of our staff as well as effectiveness of our internal workflow.

To advance AI application, we are working with the Guangdong Provincial Academy of Building Research Group Company Limited and the Guangdong Province Construction Technology and Standardisation Association to develop a set of data standards for AI in the E&M industry, which will serve as a “common language” for different AI programmes. This will allow greater portability and applicability of AI across systems and platforms, thereby leading to game-changing outcomes for AI applications in the E&M industry.

We will also strengthen collaboration with our GBA, regional and international counterparts to further drive our digitalisation progress. Our shared goal is to leverage digitalisation and AI to deliver improved outcomes for client departments, the public, the regulatees, the E&M trade, our law enforcement work and our internal operations. For example, we anticipate utilising data from the Digital Log-books to improve lift and escalator safety.

In terms of service competitiveness of the EMSTF, we will strive for further improvement in satisfaction and competitiveness indicators by delivering quality and efficient services and providing value-added services to our clients. For Regulatory Services, we will continue to monitor regulatees to uphold E&M safety and minimise incidents that cause public concern and inconvenience. Wherever applicable, I&T solutions will be introduced to augment our work.

Ultimately, not complacent about merely meeting minimum requirements, we hold ourselves to the high standards as laid out in our Best Practices guides.

DEEP APPRECIATION AND GRATITUDE

As Hong Kong emerged from the impact of the fifth wave of the epidemic and was returning to full normality, we are pleased to have played a role in protecting the well-being of the community from the E&M perspective. We sincerely thank the policy bureaux and government departments for their support in our regulatory work, and our EMSTF clients for their ongoing trust and strong partnership. Our heartfelt gratitude also goes to all our colleagues for their commitment and excellent service.

We deeply appreciate the unfailing support and collaboration of the trade associations and partners, professional bodies, academics, training and research institutions, non-governmental organisations, as well as our Mainland and overseas partners. Moreover, our continuous progress would not have been possible without the vigilance and feedback from the public, the media, members of the Legislative Council, and other opinion leaders. We owe all of them a big thank you.

The EMSD will work hard to make the most of every new opportunity that lies ahead. With your continued support, we are confident that we will have another fruitful year.