Sustainability

The major challenge of our time is learning how human society can prosper while we live well and sustainably. While many environmental problems like climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss pose challenges to the world, we at HKUST turn them into opportunities for innovation, smart solutions, and new lifestyles with our futuristic research.

Enhancing air quality by cross-sector collaboration

HKUST is a key contributor to a large-scale, multi-year research collaboration between academia and the Hong Kong government. The initiative’s aim is the detailed study and development of science-based regional ozone and photochemical smog control strategies.

Leveraging its multi-disciplinary expertise, HKUST’s Institute for the Environment (HKUST-IENV) has launched the most comprehensive ozone study ever undertaken in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The primary objective is to enhance understanding of the origins and impacts of the various emission sources that cause the high levels of ozone and smog that befoul the area’s air quality.

The study harvests and assesses data on ground-level ozone and smog formation from multiple real-time instruments at selected sites around Hong Kong. Chief among these resources is a multi-site LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) tracking network that monitors three-dimensional variations in factors such as wind speed and direction. The network utilizes airborne, seaborne and land-based sampling capabilities that can swiftly be deployed each time ozone concentrations look like exceeding recommended safety levels.

To more accurately assess current levels of harmful pollutants and particulates, the researchers in one air quality project equipped ocean-going vessels and helicopters with advanced mobile air sensing monitors. To better control ship emissions, HKUST-IENV also pioneered a world-leading Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs or drones) whose onboard air sensors carry out high Sulphur fuel screening and ship emission measurement in local waters. Affordable and highly efficient, the drones have proved extremely effective in thoroughly screening and quickly identifying non-compliant ships.

HKUST collaborates with various government departments to monitor air quality using air-borne, sea-borne and land-based samples.

Enhancing quality of life remains central to each and every advance HKUST develops. An interactive app that makes it easy for Hongkongers to check air quality and their exposure to health risks via their mobile phones, PRAISE-HK, is an excellent example. Aggregating state-of-the-art sensor technologies, big data, air quality modelling systems, and exposure science, the app accurately analyzes and forecasts air quality at street level. Best of all, it enables users to avoid areas with harmful pollution levels by providing them with a comprehensive overview of their hourly travel history, both indoors and outdoors. Designed for patients with breathing problems, a new app feature enables asthmatics to input their symptoms for analysis and the preparation of personalized health recommendations.

HKUST Air Quality Research Supersite with advanced equipment for real-time characterization of air pollutants.

Transforming Hong Kong into a global leader in green finance

Developing sustainable solutions can be both costly and time-consuming. While only half the battle, untangling the many scientific complexities behind pollution and other environmental issues, is an essential first step in mobilizing the financing needed to underpin sustainability’s future.

Leading financial hubs’ need to become greener and more sustainable has significantly intensified competition for the talented investors, asset managers, and other specialists needed to mitigate climate risk. To ensure Hong Kong can recruit and retain the visionaries it needs to achieve its green and sustainable finance (GSF) goals, HKUST’s Business School has launched a groundbreaking in-depth research initiative.

Entitled “The Hong Kong Green and Sustainable Finance Talent Development Strategy”, the study’s findings identify key stakeholders, desired skill areas, and knowledge progression paths within the current GSF job market. The result is a treasure trove of essential information for local employers, educators, and job seekers formulating strategies within today’s fast-growing GSF sector.

HKUST Business School Dean Prof. TAM Kar-Yan (right) and Head of Fintech and Green Finance Projects Ms. Christy Yeung release their study report on green finance.

A Pioneering Net-Zero Office

In yet another way for HKUST to deliver on its sustainability commitment, we are the first university in Hong Kong to make a pledge to eliminate investments in fossil fuels, with a concrete environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investment strategy. The key targets here include a 50% reduction of its 2021 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, and the allocation of some 5% of its investment budget to companies offering concrete climate solutions.  

Equally determined to establish itself as a global leader in sustainability education, HKUST is re-engineering its campus into a vibrant living laboratory offering experiential learning, cutting-edge research and sustainable operations.  To enhance their ability to identify and implement sustainable, smart and cross-disciplinary home-grown projects, HKUST’s researchers are also crowdsourcing ideas from their fellow students, faculty and staff members. Noteworthy successes include a solar panel cooling technique that minimizes panel overheating, improves efficiency and slashes energy bills.

The setting up of a Sustainability/ Net-Zero Office is further evidence of the seriousness with which HKUST views sustainability. The office’s first major strategic undertaking is a 2028 Sustainability Challenge aimed at cutting waste by 75% and energy usage by 15% compared to their 2014 baseline. Working closely with the university’s GREAT Smart Cities Institute, the office has also launched the “Incentive Scheme for Net-Zero Carbon Research Projects” to encourage HKUST members to undertake large-scale studies that will accelerate its campus and regional net-zero carbon goals.

HKUST makes use of its campus as a living lab to implement sustainable and smart living solutions.