BEAM Plus New Buildings

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BEAM PLUS FOR NEW BUILDINGS OVERVIEW
V ERSION 1.2
Copyright © 2012 BEAM Society Limited. All rights reserved.
Both Version 4/04 ‘New Buildings’[ 6 ] and Version 5/04 ‘Existing
Buildings’ [7] had significant upgrades to the previous BEAM documents
in 2004. These versions had been developed from the pilot versions 4/03
and 5/03 which were published in June 2003, following extensive review
by the BEAM Society Technical Review Panel, supported by further
research and development. Besides expanding the range of building
developments that can be assessed, these versions of BEAM widened
the coverage of issues that could further define the quality and
sustainability of the buildings.
In 2009, climate change and global warming became international
issues. Various countries both developed and developing cooperated to
help improve the situation. In response to the critical global
environmental issue, BEAM was further developed to meet higher
expectations of the public and community. This gave birth to the BEAM
Plus Version 1.1 in 2010 [8].
BEAM SOCIETY LIMITED BEAM is owned and operated by BEAM Society Limited [ 9 ], an
independent not-for-profit organisation whose membership is drawn from
many professional and interest groups in Hong Kong’s building
construction and real estate sectors. Following initial funding from The
Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong (REDA), BEAM
development is funded from assessment fees with voluntary support from
the efforts of BEAM Society’s members and associates, and the
professional supporting team.
A S UCCESS STORY On a per capita basis, BEAM has assessed more buildings and more
square meters of space than any other similar scheme in use worldwide.
Most of the assessed buildings were air-conditioned commercial
buildings and high-rise residential buildings, which are the leading users
of energy and other natural resources in Hong Kong. In raising
awareness about the environmental impact of buildings, BEAM has
contributed to the development of green and sustainable buildings in the
HKSAR. BEAM will continue contributing to this development process by
widening its coverage and setting higher performance levels.
BEAM ACHIEVEMENTS As of May 2012, BEAM had provided recognition for improved building
performance in more than 230 landmark properties in Hong Kong,
Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, comprising over 13 million m2 of space.
The comprehensive BEAM standard for New and Existing Buildings will
definitely lead to a significant increase on this number.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT To build on this success BEAM is being developed further by providing:
 on-line support to Clients; and
 web-based tools for the purposes of preliminary self assessments.
VERSION 1.2 OF BEAM PLUS In response to stakeholder engagement, BEAM Plus Version 1.2 was
developed which brings together a holistic component of Passive Design
for residential development as an alternative method of assessment.
BEAM Plus version 1.2 also contains minor amendments from the
original guidelines in order to add clarity to the assessment.
6 BEAM Society. BEAM 4/04. Building Environmental Assessment Method for New Buildings. 2004.
7 BEAM Society. BEAM 5/04. Building Environmental Assessment Method for Existing Buildings. 2004.
8 BEAM Society, BEAM Plus Version 1.1 (2010.04)
9 BEAM Society Limited
(Ref. 3,4, 5, 6, 7 are available at )