As the Government’s Innovation Facilitator, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) is committed to promoting E&M innovation and technology (I&T) solutions, and proactively implementing the two key strategies of “Providing Customer-oriented Innovative Services” and “Strengthening Innovative Collaboration between Stakeholders” under the third Five-year Strategic Plan of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Trading Fund. Our continuous innovation and hard work have earned recognition and acclaims from various sectors. We received one Gold Award, two Silver Awards and one Best Use of AI Award for our diversified I&T solutions, including the ChillStream® AI Chiller Optimiser, the Smart Capacitor Bank Health Doctor and the Ball Type Rolling Robot for Inspection and Rescue, at the Hong Kong Information and Communications Technology Awards 2024 (HKICT Awards 2024) Awards Presentation Ceremony held in November 2024, and accolades in the 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva (Geneva Exhibition) and the Asia Pacific Information and Communications Technology Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2024; as well as the grand award in the “Handover” category of the openBIM Awards 2024 at the awards presentation ceremony held in Morocco in October, shining on local and international stages.
Locally, the ChillStream® AI Chiller Optimiser, self-developed by the EMSD, won the gold award in the Smart Business (Emerging Technologies) category and the Best Use of AI Award of the HKICT Awards 2024. ChillStream® is a scalable Analytics-as-a-Service solution that optimises the operation of chiller plants in real time and transforms traditional rule-based chiller plants into systems adaptable to environmental changes. Moreover, ChillStream® can be replicated and adjusted to accommodate to a variety of chillers with different operating conditions in various buildings. By employing artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise chiller plants in real time, ChillStream® helps achieve an energy saving of 3-5% annually.
The Smart Capacitor Bank Health Doctor, another I&T solution of the EMSD, won the Silver Award in the Smart Living (Smart Home) category of the HKICT Awards 2024 and has been patented. It harnesses AI deep learning neural network algorithms to monitor the capacitor bank condition in real time. Maintenance personnel can access relevant information via the data platform in formulating predictive maintenance strategies. The system can also predict capacitor problems in advance to avoid potential failures and safety risks, allowing the capacitor bank to more effectively perform important functions such as smoothing current, improving power factor, instantaneously compensating energy and stabilising output voltage, resulting in a safer and more reliable power supply.
Regarding the Ball Type Rolling Robot for Inspection and Rescue, the project won the Silver Award in the Smart Business (Solution for Business and Public Sector Enterprise) category of the HKICT Awards 2024 and has been patented. The Ball Type Rolling Robot can reach areas that are inaccessible to large robots and drones for inspection, rescue and negotiation. Its compact, sturdy and throwable features make it suitable for environmental monitoring, especially for collecting environmental data in caves, underground pipes, etc. The robot is also equipped with a video camera, voice system and multiple communication modes, supporting remote video transmission and two-way communication for remote monitoring.
In the international arena, the above three projects won a gold medal (the Ball Type Rolling Robot for Inspection and Rescue), a silver medal (the Smart Capacitor Bank Health Doctor) and a bronze medal (the ChillStream® AI Chiller Optimiser) respectively at the 49th Geneva Exhibition. ChillStream® and the Ball Type Rolling Robot were also presented the First Runner-up Award in the AI category and the Second Runner-up Award in the Public Sector and Government category – Government & Citizen Services respectively at the APICTA Awards 2024 held in Brunei in December.
In addition to I&T solutions, the EMSD has been committed to promoting the adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology in public works projects and received prizes in this regard. For the project applying openBIM technology, we first won the grand award in the Technology Solution Category of the Hong Kong openBIM / openGIS Awards 2024 in June 2024, and then the grand award in the “Handover” category of the international openBIM Awards 2024 in October.
OpenBIM is a groundbreaking digital technology that breaks through the framework of traditional software and file format. It is an open, non-proprietary file format that allows different engineering project teams to use a set of common standards for information exchange, and hence facilitates interoperability among various teams during the design, construction, delivery and maintenance stages, thereby helping to resolve communication problems often encountered by the industry and driving digitalisation of the construction industry. The two grand awards fully recognise our efforts and achievements in applying and promoting openBIM technology.
