Work

Towards a holistic and reflexive assessment of green buildings and technological landscapes in Hong Kong

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The selection of sustainable technologies is a critical challenge in the global pursuit of decarbonisation, yet prevailing models often privilege technical and economic metrics at the expense of contextual nuance and stakeholder diversity. This article advances a holistic and reflexive assessment framework for technology selection, foregrounding the integration of technical, economic, environmental, and social criteria, and embedding the perspectives of end-users and local regulators within the evaluative process. Through a case study of green building technologies in Hong Kong, a city marked by dense urban form, regulatory complexity, and climatic specificity, the framework is applied to a spectrum of technologies, including insulation, paints, windows, lifts, and HVAC systems, across both retrofit and new construction scenarios. The findings reveal that technology selection, when attuned to local infrastructural, regulatory, and cultural conditions, not only enhances technical viability but also fosters social legitimacy and accelerates adoption. This approach transcends conventional expert-driven models, offering policymakers and practitioners an adaptive, user-centred, and reflexive methodology that is responsive to the evolving priorities of urban sustainability. While the present study constitutes an initial, expert-led assessment, it establishes a foundation for future participatory and iterative processes, ultimately aiming to democratise technology selection and align it with the lived realities of diverse urban communities. In so doing, the research contributes a novel, context-sensitive paradigm for sustainable building practice, with implications for decarbonisation strategies in cities worldwide.

Source: Energy Research & Social Science

DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104235