Sun Hung Kai Centre was completed nearly 40 years ago. In response to the ever-rising green standards, its management team has set energy-saving and waste-reduction goals and elevated the building's systems and facilities since 2005. Sun Hung Kai Centre has been rated Excellent, the top rating under the Selective Scheme of the Hong Kong Green Building Council's newly launched BEAM Plus Existing Buildings V2.0, after decades of effort. SHKPNews invited Ricky Kwan, project consultant for the Sun Hung Kai Centre, to introduce the building's various optimization works.

Sun Hung Kai Centre's energy-saving initiatives include adopting an intelligent building management system, installing an energy-monitoring system, enhancing the ventilation and air-conditioning system, and installing a variable air volume (VAV) system. From 2006 to 2019, over 46 million kWh of electricity was saved and carbon emissions were reduced by about 36,000 tons to help slow down the greenhouse effect and global warming. In recent years, SHKP has actively introduced innovative technology to elevate property management quality. Sun Hung Kai Centre is currently trying out Internet of Things (IoT) technology with the cloud and big data to carry out analyses to further enhance energy efficiency. It is planning to usher in Building Information Modelling (BIM), so that it will be able to obtain precise information about energy efficiency by developing a highly-accurate solid geometric modelling system. Sun Hung Kai Centre's property management team will continue to work for an even better work environment for our colleagues and tenants.

In its pursuit of continuous improvement, SHKP has actively introduced new technology applications to enhance overall work efficiency and product quality. The company started adopting Building Information Modelling (BIM) in its development projects several years ago. By creating a 3D model containing all the information and data of a project for the relevant teams, the process has elevated work efficiency and quality, while reducing construction costs, which echoes our corporate culture of Quality, Speed, Efficiency.

BIM's edge

SHKP started applying BIM in 2013, and its BIM team was formed in 2018. In the past few years, SHKP had been exploring the possibilities of BIM with the industry and government bodies, widening and deepening its application. The BIM team turns 3D models into a collaboration platform that integrates all the information and data of a project to reduce errors arising from conventional paper communication. Leveraging the many automatic functions of the BIM software, the construction teams were able to generate effective, comprehensive analyses since the early development stage of the technology application. This has helped them foresee different situations and avoid making amendments after construction work has commenced, saving time and improving efficiency. The BIM model can also be applied to a spectrum of professional modelling simulations, such as CFD Simulation, Construction 4D Simulation, and Clash Analysis, eliminating the need for traditional modelling. BIM technology can even be applied to property management to elevate the effectiveness of facility management and maintenance.

Transforming the construction sector

In the future, the application of BIM will become more and more popular in the construction sector, bringing great changes to the workflow. For example, cross-team cooperation will become smoother; by utilizing Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies, project communication will become more straightforward and authentic; and conventional paper communication will be significantly reduced, facilitating a paperless workplace. With the development of BIM and IoT technologies, project management will be further connected to the Internet and big data, enhancing work effectiveness and reducing costs.

SHKP is committed to providing customers with premium products and service. In recognition of their professional and friendly service, SHKP mall customer care ambassadors received numerous honours at the 2019 Service & Courtesy Award. MOKO reported encouraging results, winning two gold awards and one silver.

MOKO receives two gold awards and one silver

Organized by the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, the Service & Courtesy Award, hailed as the Oscars of the retail industry, helps raise Hong Kong's overall retail service standards by recognizing outstanding frontline staff. This year, all 16 SHKP mall customer care ambassadors who participated in the scheme were shortlisted for the final round, with MOKO ultimately winning three awards – Jane Tsui, gold award winner in the Supervisory Level – Retail (Services) category; and Annie Chan and JoJo Tsang, gold and silver award winners, respectively, in the Junior Frontline Level – Property Management category. In the same category, Stephanie Cheng of Tai Po Mega Mall won the Outstanding Performance Award. And Annie Chan, JoJo Tsang and Cally Li of HomeSquare clinched the Excellent Service Star award for full marks in two rounds of mystery shopper assessments.

The International Commerce Centre (ICC) and Sun Hung Kai Centre have spiced up the festive ambience during Christmas and New Year. From now until 26 December, the tallest electronic Christmas tree in town will be displayed on the ICC's façades every evening to spread the joy of Christmas. On 31 December, the ICC will have a New Year's Eve countdown event for locals and visitors to bring in the New Year. Meanwhile, the façades of Sun Hung Kai Centre have donned festive lighting decorations, featuring angels lighting candles, along with white doves, symbolizing blessings for society.

The third SmarTone Hackathon, a coding competition under the theme '5G & Smart City', was recently held to welcome the 5G service, which will be launched in mid-2020. The competition attracted the enthusiastic participation of software developers, designers and entrepreneurs from around the world.

The champion team, WeAR, developed an Augmented Reality (AR)-enabled platform, which stores product information in a QR Code so that consumers can easily retrieve the information via the 5G network with a smartphone or virtual glasses. The system was designed especially for the retail industry and other industries that involve a large amount of information. The first runner-up team, I & AI, created a personalized platform for users to download data from their social media accounts for artificial intelligence (AI) analysis, so that users can understand their own preferences better and receive more relevant information from merchants. The second runner-up team, Softcare, designed a road-safety monitoring system, using the 5G network, which issues a warning if a potential accident is detected. The system also monitors driver drowsiness with real time data analysis. The team's idea won the Smart Pitch Award as well. The Smart Synergy Award, won by Luk Advisor, rewards innovations that will create the best synergy across Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area. 

The champion team received an interview opportunity with either the Cyberport Creative Micro Fund (CCMF) or the Cyberport Incubation Programme. The other winning teams will also have the opportunity to work with the SHKP Group and its subsidiaries to turn their creative ideas into reality.

Since 2002, SHKP has been recruiting Management Trainees in Hong Kong and the mainland, nurturing young talents to become the company's future management. Group Training has recently arranged the newly recruited Management Trainees to visit various projects, so that they can learn more about the company's businesses.

The young people who have joined as SHKP Management Trainees are definitely the elite. Du Zhiyu, a Management Trainee (Mainland) working in Guangzhou's Parc Central, comes from Xiamen and did not speak Cantonese at all. To facilitate her training in Guangzhou, she spent two months learning the language, which showed her determination to equip herself. Jamie Chan, a Management Trainee (Hong Kong) in Corporate Planning & Strategic Investment Department looks forward to the three-year training, which will allow him to gain as much knowledge as possible to gear himself up. "The company offers us rotations to different departments for on-the-job training and learning. It also provides us with ample professional examination support, which is extremely helpful for our development," he said.

For the safety of workers and other road users, Aegis Engineering and Construction team A recently developed the '360°Soft cut-out' rollover protection system.

In 2014, Aegis Engineering developed a successful vehicle rollover alarm system to reduce the risk of crane lorry overturns. To optimize the system, Aegis Engineering and Construction team A developed the '360°Soft cut-out', an upgraded version of the rollover protection system. In addition to blinking and buzzing, the upgraded system automatically stops the operation of the crane if it is overloaded. The system costs only HK$15,000, and exemplifies SHKP's corporate culture of Quality, Speed, Efficiency. Their efforts in this endeavour earned them the Work Safety Gold Award.

SHKP hopes other construction companies will adopt this technology. There are currently about 8,000 old-style crane lorries in Hong Kong. Their safety can be significantly enhanced through a simple transformation. Therefore, SHKP has written to the Construction Industry Council to introduce this rollover protection system for the reference and application of the industry in the future.

In recent years, the government has been pushing smart city development. The company has also introduced new technologies in different areas to promote the efficiency and quality of our work. The Construction – Land Survey team has introduced drones and realistic 3D model technologies, which have substantially enhanced the effectiveness of architectural design, tendering and even land supervision. These technology applications have therefore earned the team this year's Quality Raising Gold Award.

The principle of a realistic 3D model

Applying the principles of aerophotogrammetry, the Construction – Land Survey team uses drones to take a large number of aerial photos, captures the images, traces control points, manages and analyses the relevant 3D data using a computer programme, and finally produces a realistic 3D model.
Realistic 3D models can bring many benefits. This technology application enables the team to navigate site progress and the surrounding environment from different angles and distances. The team can also take a virtual reality tour of the relevant projects. Moreover, incorporating realistic 3D model technology to building information modeling (BMI) gives the team a better understanding of future views from different floors of the relevant projects upon completion to help make strategic arrangements that are aligned with the company's development.

A technology application with immense potential

The Construction – Land Survey team said that the application of realistic 3D models is just one component of their entire smart digital management and that there is immense potential for this application's future development. The team believes that new technologies will definitely bring about positive changes in all industries.

Starting last year, SHKP has participated in the Scheme on Corporate Summer Internship on the Mainland and Overseas, which is an initiative of the HKSAR government. In the scheme, the company provides local undergraduates with eight weeks’ practical work and training exposure on the mainland. In early June, 12 interns attended a series of orientation activities organized by the company. All of the interns were full of energy and seemed to be ready for the challenge.

In the first week, the interns visited various SHKP projects to learn more about the group's major businesses and the operations of different departments. This will be followed by a seven-week internship. Each intern will be sent to an SHKP project in Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou, where they will engage in job functions related to Investment & Acquisition, Office Sales & Leasing, Retail Leasing & Promotion as well as Residential Sales to obtain hands-on experience. Department supervisors, who are responsible for feedback and performance evaluations, will help the interns identify their strengths and potential for future career development.