When the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) swept through the world in the past year, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) responded quickly and introduced innovation and technology (I&T) solutions to address the clients' pressing need to fight the virus. As the epidemic continues to unfold, the EMSD carries on to promote the long-term application of I&T solutions to address the needs of client venues, ensuring that these solutions will continue to benefit the clients and the public in the long run.
The EMSD has introduced a robotic delivery solution recently for trial at the General Office of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. The delivery robot has been used to deliver documents, enabling staff to focus on other administrative tasks. It helped our client reduce social contact at the office, while alleviating the workload of frontline staff. The EMSD and the contractor first affixed markers on the ceiling within the operating range of the robot, then the markers were scanned by the infrared camera of the robot to facilitate navigation and positioning, which allowed establishment of delivery routes and delivery locations. After placing items in the robot’s internal storage compartment and selecting the delivery location on the touch screen, the robot will automatically complete the task using the navigation route. In service at the Prince Philip Dental Hospital for more than eight months, the delivery robot has been assisting in document delivery to various offices of the General Office, minimising the risk of virus spread arising from human contact.
Go to https://bit.ly/3mFhLmF to view a demonstration video of the delivery robot.
The EMSD has been working closely with the Immigration Department since 2019 on a variety of I&T solutions, which were demonstrated in late October 2020. Among which, the automatic disinfection robot will scan the environment and map navigation routes using an optical radar, move to the pre-set locations autonomously, and carry out sterilisation with ultraviolet lamps and atomised disinfectant to strengthen anti-epidemic measures. The EMSD is now looking into various add-on features for the robot to cope with the client’s other operational needs. Meanwhile, the client also planned to install the fever screening system at the entrance of its new headquarters to detect unwell individuals. The headcount sensor control system could also be deployed in public areas for a better understanding of visitor distribution inside the building, which would facilitate visitor traffic management and manpower arrangement for relevant public services.
Environmental sanitation is essential in creating a safe environment for the public and our colleagues. At the onset of the epidemic, the EMSD has identified more than ten disinfection robots, which offer ultraviolet light, atomised disinfectant, vacuum cleaning and other functions. They have been successively deployed to our client departments, such as the Immigration Department, the Hongkong Post and the Auxiliary Medical Service on a trial basis since April 2020. The robot deployed to the Fire and Ambulance Services Academy under the Hong Kong Fire Services Department has been used to sterilise a wide range of indoor areas of its Administration Block. The disinfection robots were also deployed to public markets managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department to assist in cleaning the markets and alleviate manpower pressure when the epidemic situation was severe.
If you are interested in the above robot solutions, please contact Mr. Lai Chun-fai, Senior Engineer, at 2808 3879 to explore how these I&T solutions may address the needs of your department.
Keeping pace with the times, the EMSD has taken a resourceful approach in exploring new opportunities for virtual events while maintaining appropriate face-to-face interactions during the epidemic, with an aim to keep close relationships with our clients and other trade partners.
The E&M I&T Day 2020 was held from 31 August to 2 September 2020 to assist the trade in exploring I&T solutions, so as to be in line with the Government’s pro-innovation procurement policy. In view of the epidemic, the event dropped the physical setting and moved online, during which more than 40 exhibitors presented over 50 I&T solutions, alongside over 40 webinars and talks. The event attracted about 450 trade and client representatives, enabling participation from the comfort of their homes. The virtual venue was set up on the event website, through which visitors were able to explore I&T solutions and make enquiries at the virtual booths, or participate in online talks at any time. Having considered the savings in venue booking and transportation, the virtual event was more cost-effective.
Although virtual events have their unique advantages, physical events are of equal importance whenever practicable. The EMSD joined the Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit jointly hosted by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service in November 2020 to showcase to clients and the public several anti-epidemic technologies that may be applied in residential care homes for the elderly. Furthermore, at the beginning of the year, the Vehicle Engineering Sub-division arranged for representatives of the Land Transport Division of the Government Logistics Department (GLD) to visit our vehicle workshop at the EMSD Headquarters, offering insights into the daily work of the sub-division and thereby enhancing partnership through face-to-face exchanges.
The EMSD reaped bounteous rewards in the Celebration of BIM Achievement 2020 organised by the Construction Industry Council (CIC). In addition to being crowned one of the “BIM Organisations 2020”, the “Construction of Building Information Model and Asset Information Inputting for EMSD Headquarters” project was named a “BIM Project 2020”, while Mr. Chan Hor-yin, Steve, Senior Engineer of the Building Information Modelling Sub-division, Digitalisation and Technology Division of the EMSD was also awarded “BIMer 2020”.
The application of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology has gained traction in recent years. With the patented Building Information Modelling - Asset Management (BIM-AM) system developed by the EMSD, engineering personnel can remotely access equipment information through tablets. When there is a breakdown, they can immediately locate the malfunctioned components and diagnose the cause. Built upon the pilot scheme launched by the EMSD in 2014, the award-winning BIM project included site survey and analysis with 3D laser scanner for the EMSD Headquarters Building that enabled the construction of BIM model for an existing building.
We have also promoted the adoption of the BIM-AM system at a number of venues and buildings of the Government and public organisations. In 2019, the EMSD published the BIM-AM Standards and Guidelines Version 2.0, with a view to actively facilitating the integration of BIM technology with asset management, building management and city management in a continuous manner. Besides, we are currently working on the research and development of a Common Data Environment that can be used to collect, manage and distribute data and project information as well as providing complete information management workflows during the life cycle of engineering projects using ISO 19650, the international standard for BIM. We have also established a Regional Digital Control Centre to conduct centralised monitoring of the real-time status of electrical and mechanical assets in various venues at a regional city level by co-ordinating the digitised systems, including the BIM-AM systems, across various districts via the Internet.
Go to the link below to watch the Celebration of BIM Achievement 2020 video and access the List of Winners and Winners’ Booklet.
https://bim.cic.hk/edm/CBA20201120
The EMSD has skilfully leveraged ultrasonic technology to address fire hazards at cooked food markets. Over 70 cooked food markets across Hong Kong are using central exhaust systems to extract oily fumes from kitchens. However, grease often accumulates in the exhaust ductwork over time, posing fire hazards. While the ultraviolet-C and ozone technologies that the EMSD previously introduced had significantly reduced grease accumulation, the problem related to cleaning the oil filters used in the stall kitchens remained to be solved.
It so happened that a colleague came across some ultrasonic glasses cleaners on street. It sparked the idea of using ultrasonic technology in cleaning oil filters. The colleague then suggested installing ultrasonic soak tanks in cooked food markets to facilitate filter cleaning anytime by stall owners and reduce grease accumulation. After finalising the design within a short period of time, we promptly ordered a large, custom-made ultrasonic soak tank specifically designed for cleaning oil filters. Faced with various constraints, such as lack of space, power supply and drainage at the cooked food centre, we were still able to overcome all difficulties and successfully arranged for trial operation at the Sheung Wan Market Cooked Food Centre after we patiently explained to stall owners how to use the soak tank and answered their enquiries.
Once the soak tank was put into use, the difference it made was self-explanatory. Not only did it help stall owners save time and efforts, it also brought noticeable improvements in ventilation of the exhaust systems. The client was also pleased with the proactive attitude of the EMSD team demonstrated in overcoming challenges.
In July 2020, the EMSD procured for the Yue Kwong Road Market Cooked Food Centre another ultrasonic soak tank that was about one-third smaller than the previous model. As our client advised that the cleaning result was satisfactory, we believe that this soak tank could be adopted by more cooked food markets in the future.
To learn more about the application of ultrasonic soak tanks, please feel free to contact Mr. Wong Siu-wah, Solomon, Project Specialist Engineer, at 3757 6027.
The EMSD recently installed a smart lighting system at the Public Health Laboratory Centre (PHLC) of the Department of Health. The system not only improves operational flexibility for customers, but also facilitates periodic tests for battery-operated lightings. It may also be expanded to include other applications of intelligent technology in the future.
The smart lighting system installed by the EMSD at the public area of the PHLC is equipped with ZigBee wireless controllers, which can provide individual brightness control and enable flexible zoning of lighting based on users’ preference. The controllers can also store energy consumption data for better energy management. The smart lighting system can be wirelessly controlled with smartphones or tablets. Its mesh network design allows for the identification of an alternative route of communication in case of any device failure, enabling other devices in the mesh network to stay connected online, thus greatly enhancing the network stability.
The system software also includes a battery auto-test function for scheduling battery discharge tests for emergency lighting system periodically, and the test results are recorded in a register so as to meet the Fire Services Department’s requirements. The integration of the automatic testing feature and the recording function can effectively save manpower resources, since those tasks have to be manually conducted before. The smart lighting system has also been installed at other client venues, e.g. the basement of the Hong Kong Fire Services Headquarters Building.
With the technological advancement and the increasing popularity of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, the smart lighting system can be integrated with other IoT technologies, such as location beacon, which can be used to precisely identify the location of individuals within a building, enabling the development of an indoor navigation system for the visually impaired.
Six contracts under the supervision of the EMSD were commended with one Silver Award, two Bronze Awards and three Merit Awards under the 26th Considerate Contractors Site Award Scheme jointly organised by the Development Bureau and the Construction Industry Council. These accolades not only recognised the achievements the relevant contractors have made with respect to aspects such as site safety and environmental management, but also reflected the effectiveness of our work on the promotion of occupational safety and health among our contractors. The six contracts were to provide maintenance and improvement works to various client departments, including the Drainage Services Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Hospital Authority, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and the Tourism Commission. While the award presentation ceremony for public works awards was not held this year owing to the epidemic, Mr. Pang Yiu-hung, Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr. Cheung Yuen-fong, Deputy Director/Trading Services, and Mr. Wong Wai-kwong, Assistant Director/2 of the EMSD, visited six sites of client venues located across the territory to present the awards in person to the contractors and the supervising teams.
Questionnaire collection for the Customer Opinion Survey (COS) 2020 conducted by an independent market research company commissioned by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Trading Fund has been completed. We are grateful to all clients for sparing time in their busy schedules to give us valuable feedback. The research company will collate the feedback received from the COS for analysis, which will enable us to develop strategies for service optimisation and enhance our clients’ experience with a proactive approach.