Easing global warming starts with a simple action! We are happy to announce that, until yesterday (6^th Oct 2021) 12:00, over 70 thousand households have signed up for “No Air Con Night 2021”! This year, with the significant support from 11 Universities and Higher Education Institutes, and 316 Schools (including 59 Secondary Schools, 110 Primary Schools and 147 Kindergartens), thousands of students, staff and parents have the chance to understand the importance in saving energy and the practice of green lifestyles. Some schools also held different kinds of energy saving activities in response to this campaign.

Moreover, 224 companies and organizations have pledged to join “No Air Con Night 2021”. Over 1300 buildings and housing estates have called for the support from their colleagues, residents and tenants, and some of the property management offices to turn off the air con. They posted No Air Con Night posters and display the paperless promotion on the e-panels.

It is our honour to gain the generous support from the Hong Kong Observatory and Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, and having dozens of Government departments and related organizations, such as Architectural Services Department, Buildings Department, Civil Aid Service, Drainage Services Department, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Estate Agents Authority, Government Property Agency, Hongkong Post, Labour Department, Lands Department, Planning Department, to actively promote our event to their Civil Servant teams.

We are also grateful to have Futou Annie perform a “No Air Con” theme song, from her famous song “夏日熱辣辣” with lyrics re-written. This theme song will soon be published on our social media platforms; other celebrities of different sectors have supported “No Air Con Night”, including:

- Dr. CHENG Cho Ming (Director of HK Observatory)

- Mr. LAM Chiu Ying (Former Director of HK Observatory)

- Mr. LEUNG Wing Mo (Former Assistant Director of HK Observatory)

- Mr. Vincent NG Ka Him (Freelance Journalist)

- Miss Cecilia CHOI (Actress)

- Mr. MOK Ho Kwong (Founder of Natural Network)

More about the participation list: https://en.noaircon.com/participation

This year, in order to link the use of air con with the outdoor temperature, we encourage the general public to pledge for turning off the Air Con when the outdoor temperature is below 27 degree (Celsius). After the mid-Autumn Festival, the average nighttime temperature was lower than in the summer. Therefore we promote to turn off the air con when the outdoor temperature is cooler.

Previously a writing competition for Primary School students about “A week without Air Con” was launched, which allowed all of us to rethink the use of air con in daily life. We should wisely use the air con responsibly, in order to save energy and to mitigate global warming. Totally there were nearly 300 writings received, with creative ideas about keeping cool at home in summer. The key message from many of them was “Stay Calm and Cool”.

In the past 9 years, we have host a “No Air Con Night” ceremony in an outdoor air-con-free venue. Even we cannot host a ceremony due to the pandemic for the 2^nd year, we believe more and more people value fresh air and air-con-free outdoor environment in the era of mask-wearing.

We thank all of you to turn off the air con and cool the Earth together! Please continue to support the “No Air Con Night” and sustain in the wise use of energy!

More details about the event: https://en.noaircon.com/activities

Over 90,000 households support the 11th No Air Con Night

Turning off the Air Con, Cooling the Earth

The “11th No Air Con Night” was successfully held on 9th October, 2020, Friday. This annual energy saving event aims to promote green practices and encourage people to bear the responsibility as a member of the earth village.

Easing global warming starts with a simple action! We are happy to announce that over 90,000 households have signed up for “No Air Con Night 2020”! With reference to an air con consuming 1kWh of electricity per hour, turning on the air con for 8 hours would equate to emitting around 4.43kg of carbon emission. Referring to the participation date of 90,000 households in this year’s “No Air Con Night” (from 7pm to 7am the next day) would decrease electricity consumption by 1080MW, while reducing 598 tons of carbon emission.

This year, with the significant support from 49 Universities and Higher Education Institutes, and 287 Schools (including 55 Secondary Schools, 115 Primary Schools and 117 Kindergartens), thousands of students, staff and parents have the chance to understand the importance in saving energy and the practice of green lifestyles. Some schools also held different kinds of energy saving activities in response to this campaign.

Moreover, 246 companies and organizations have pledged to join “No Air Con Night 2020”. Over 1400 buildings and housing estates have called for the support from their colleagues, residents and tenants, and some of the property management offices to turn off the air con. They posted No Air Con Night posters, stickers and display the paperless promotion on the e-panels.

It is our honour to gain the generous support from the Hong Kong Observatory and Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, and having dozens of Government departments and related organizations, such as the Transport and Housing Bureau, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Buildings Department, etc., to actively promote our event to their Civil Servant teams. We are also grateful to have the support from over 57 District Council Members. They have published posts on the social media to show their supports.

Apart from political, business and educational parties, we have specially invited a rapper from HKGolden Music to perform the theme song and filmed music video for “No Air Con Night 2020”, arousing support from the general public! This year we also invited Sham Lok Yi, a local artist and Green KOL, to film a promotional video for “No Air Con Night”. In the video, Sham introduced different creative methods for cooling down when not using the air con. She also encouraged us to save energy and reduce carbon emission, as well as joining the “No Air Con Night”.

This year, celebrities of different sectors have supported “No Air Con Night”, including:

• Mr. PANG Yiu Hung, JP (Director of Electrical & Mechanical Services (Ag.)
• Dr. CHENG Cho Ming (Director of HK Observatory)
• Mr. LAM Chiu Ying (Former Director of HK Observatory)
• Futou Annie (Musician)
• Mr. MOK Ho Kwong (Founder of Natural Network)
• Ms. SHAM Lok Yi (Artist)
• Miss Cecilia CHOI (Actress)
• Ah Jeng (Radio DJ)

More about the participation list: https://en.noaircon.com/participation

Apart from inviting celebrities to support “No Air Con Night”, we are also aware that a number of public figures, including radio presenter, writer, and artist, have encouraged the public to join the event on their social media pages. Meanwhile, various online information platforms helped to promote this year’s “No Air Con Night”. We are motivated by the active responses public figures and the media have shown towards the event, which also reflects our society’s increasing awareness towards environmental issues.

This year, under the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures, we launched a new online activity for “No Air Con Night”– “Party Guess with the Polar Bear”, which allowed us to interact with the public via social media. In a video clip, an actor in a “Polar Bear” costume demonstrated a list of movements representing environmentally friendly and climate change messages. Dozens of participants got the correct answer and will receive a reusable umbrella bag. The reusable umbrella bag is an environmentally friendly gift and can substitute single-use umbrella bags. Through this activity, we hope participants and the public can learn to use the air con responsibly, to save energy and to mitigate global warming. We would like to thank the participants who joined this activity.

In the past 9 years, we have host a “No Air Con Night” ceremony in an outdoor air-con-free venue. This year we cannot host a ceremony due to the pandemic, but we are glad that different sectors have still shown their understanding and support for this event.

We thank all of you to turn off the air con and cool the Earth together! Please continue to support the “No Air Con Night” and sustain in the wise use of energy!

Participants pledged to switch off the air con at home from 7pm on 5th Oct to 7am the next day. The event also urged people to reduce air con usage in daily life in order to enjoy the air-con-free environment and rethink how to use the energy and other resources wisely. The 9th Air Con Night responds to the extreme weather and super Typhoon. Hong Kong Government and citizens should act promptly in saving energy and tackling the climate change.

17 Universities and Higher Education Institutes, 309 schools (53 secondary schools, 122 primary schools and special school and 134 kindergartens) take part in No Air Con Night. There were thousands of teachers and students pledged and practice green living. Some schools also hold different kinds of energy-saving activities such as sharing information about global warming and heat island effect at morning assembly, switching off air con during school time in response to this campaign today.

No Air Con Night is also supported by 253 companies and organizations which promote this campaign to their staff. Over 900 buildings also encourage residents and tenants to join. Some property management companies are to turn off the air con at some areas of buildings and estates.

According to the No Air Con Night 2018 registration website , there were over 90 thousands families pledged to turn off the air con on No Air Con Night at home! If each household reduces at least 4.28 kg carbon emitted tonight by turning off the air con in 8 hours, we estimate the reduction of carbon emission by 385 tonnes in this campaign.

We aim to arouse people to rethink their lifestyle and understand the importance of saving energy from the increasing electricity consumption. This campaign also provided a chance for all citizens to reduce carbon emission in daily life.

In order to conserve energy and reduce carbon emission, we encourage the public to join “Energetic Night” at Tamar Park, Western District Promenade – Central Section. We welcomed all members of the public to enjoy the air con free environment together. Over a hundred participants have been signed up for Moonlight Orienteering, Street Workout, Yoga class on lawn and Stargazing.

More about the No Air Con Night and Energetic Night at Waterfront, please refer to http://noaircon.com

Street Survey: Over 500 responses to household air conditioning usage

30% respondents woken up by freezing temperatures – Energy Label not popularized enough

Citizens should choose and use air conditioners more wisely

No Air Con Night 2017 encourages energy saving and smart use of air con

Local green group Green Sense has long been paying close attention to environmental issues in the urban area. Multiple scientific surveys has been conducted on both individual and organizational misuse of air conditioning in order to urge Hong Kong to reduce its electricity consumption and carbon emission. Surveys and researches examining air conditioning systems in various transport means and public places such as shopping malls were done throughout this decade. As a part of the annual event No Air Con Night 2017, in August we have conducted street questionnaires at 5 of the most bustling locations over the city, in hope of shedding some light on citizens’ habits of air con usage at home.

A total of 507 responses were collected, with information including clothing choices and sleeping quality in an air conditioned household, the frequency and duration of air con usage, and the reasons and concerns of using air conditioners.

Background

In 2016 alone, Hong Kong consumed an astounding 14.4 billion kWh of electricity, accounting for 8.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Shall the city strive to relieve climate change and lower its carbon emissions, it would be important to reduce power consumption and use air conditioners smartly.

In summer, citizens mostly stay in air-conditioned environments, including offices, classrooms, public transport and entertainment facilities. These public areas, however, do not allow the adjustment of indoor temperature by the public themselves. As a result, we conducted a survey last year about shopping mall temperatures in the form of street questionnaires and on-site measurement, and discovered that some shopping malls still possessed a low indoor temperature. The huge difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures can be detrimental to public health, and is a large waste of electricity as well.

On the contrary, at home citizens are capable of controlling air conditioners at will according to their own needs and feelings. Hence it is the question of whether they are using air con wisely to improve sleeping quality or abusing. We wish, at the same time, to raise awareness of air con use with this survey.

Methodology

In August, 2017, we, with the help of volunteers, conducted street questionnaires in 5 places spanning all of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, namely Central, Mong Kok, Tuen Mun, Sha Tin and Tai Po. A total of 507 valid responses were collected. All results and graphs are available here.

Results

Valid responses amounted to 507. The target group of the survey was Hong Kong residents. Summaries of responses of the 13 questions in the questionnaire are as follows:

1. (Q1) Over 90% of respondents turn on air-conditioners because the weather is too hot; close to 30% do so to improve sleeping quality; around a tenth use air con for dehumidification. We suggest using a dehumidifier instead for such purpose.
2. (Q2) Nearly half of the respondents selected ‘expensive electricity bill’ as a main reason of not turning on their air con. A quarter chose ‘carbon emission’ as a main concern; and another 25% chose health concerns such as drying of the skin and respiratory allergies as reasons to avoid turning on air con.
3. (Q3) Almost half of the respondents adjust the temperature setting of their air con to a suitable 24-26 degrees C, while 40% adjust the temperature to 22-24 degrees C.
4. (Q4) The peak of air con usage was found to be in July to August, during which over 90% of respondents turn on their air con.
5. (Q5) 73.9% of respondents utilize their air con every day in summer.
6. (Q6) 42% of respondents turning on air con for 5-8 hours per day, and the proportion for 9-12 hours per day reached 32%.
7. (Q7 to Q9) Among those who set their air con temperature to 22-24 degrees C, 35% has experienced waking up due to the room being too cold. The same experience was found in 32% of those who set their air con temperature to 24-26 degrees C. These figures reveal that there is room for improvement in using air conditioning. Specifically, temperature should be set higher, in order not to fail the purpose of improving sleeping quality. This helps save energy and reduce emissions as well.
8. (Q10) It has been many years since the Hong Kong government launched the Energy Label Scheme. Moreover, in 2009, it became compulsory for air conditioners to carry energy labels. However, we found that more than 40% of citizens do not know which energy efficiency grade their air conditioners belong to. This shows more promotion on the scheme by the government is necessary. We further remind the public to select Grade 1 air conditioners for maximum energy efficiency, and refer to data such as energy consumption level when purchasing.
9. (Q11) Just about all respondents turn off their air con when there is no one at home; 66% clean the filters of their air conditioners regularly; 54% use fans to assist in cooling and turn off air conditioning earlier than necessary to make use of residual cool air instead. Unfortunately, only 13.6% set timers to their air conditioners, and only 16.1% use cooling mats. We encourage the public to use cooling mats and to use fans to facilitate air movement in the flat instead of turning on air con for long periods of time.
10. (Q12-Q13) These questions concern the sex and age group of the respondents.

Conclusions and suggestions

When problems like climate change and extreme weather conditioners become more serious, Hong Kong, as a coastal city, is bound to bear the brunt of the damage. This survey thus aims to raise public concern of air con use, and to stress the fact that our daily habits play an important role in affecting global climate.

Compared with previous similar studies, there has been improvement in people’s choice of clothing and bed covers. However, as reflected by 30% of respondents being woken up by the cold, there is undoubtedly room to further raise indoor temperature and use air con more wisely, to avoid wasting energy. Despite being in air conditioned environments most of the time, 40% of residents remain ignorant of the energy label grade of their air conditioners. Other than reflecting the energy efficiency of appliances, energy labels also serve as an indicator of the electricity cost of said appliances. We thus urge the public to select Grade 1 appliances and purchase according to their own household conditions (flat size, number of family members, etc). In addition, we further hope the public would use air con more wisely, such as wearing lighter clothing, adjusting the temperature setting to a more reasonable level, using cooling mats and fans more, and setting timers. These habits can lead to a reduction in the dependence to air conditioning.

Follow-up actions

• We have recently voiced our demands of promoting energy saving habits to governmental officials in the 2017-18 Policy Address Consultation session.
• We shall continue to examine and monitor the public air con usage, and carry out further studies when necessary.
• Results of the survey would be widely promoted in our annual energy saving event No Air Con Night along with the message and related information of using air conditioners smartly
• Through various forms of environmental education, we shall continue to emphasize and promote the importance of wise air con use and energy saving

Coincides with the upcoming “No Air Con Night 2017” event, we are going to carry out a series of investigation and promotion on the wise use of air con. We hope to arouse public concerns about the abuse of air con and ultimately taking energy saving action with awareness.

This summer, we are going to investigate the habits of Hong Kong citizens using air conditioner and energy saving practices at home. We hope to provide specific advice for different situations on how to reduce the use of air con.

We need volunteers to collect questionnaire in the territory (please see the location and time details in the enrollment form).

Date: 7-19 August 2017
Duration: 2.5 hours
Dress code: casual wear
Please Prepare:
1. Smart phone or tablet (for we reduce printing out the questionnaire)
2. Water bottle for drinking
3. Umbrella/raincoat and sunblock
4. Towel/handkerchief (use less tissue paper)

Online enrollment and details: https://goo.gl/w88uEd

Note:
1. We welcome anyone over 15 years old who wish to participate.
2. Participants who are under 18 years old need to submit parents’ letter with signature. (The parents’ letter will be sent with confirmation email)