Property developers have long mastered the art of the glossy sales brochure to portray new residential projects in the best possible light.
These days, that means emphasising green features and environmental design, with artists' renditions showing lush patches of greenery and the accompanying text highlighting everything from energy-saving systems to air-quality monitors.
While the good intentions should not be doubted, a sense of tokenism attaches to many of these initiatives.
Prospective buyers may be impressed, but what experts are left to ponder is not how much, but how little is still being done in Hong Kong to use materials, technology and principles of design that reflect a genuine commitment to sustainability.
According to Winnie Chu, associate director of consultancy firm BMT Asia-Pacific, an important step forward is to draw up a set of environmental standards and recommendations specific to Hong Kong. The system has evolved, with some developers adopting Britain's Building Environmental Assessment Method guidelines and others following the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design code from the United States.
'It is time to have our own standards, properly adapted to the local situation,' Ms Chu said. 'Everybody is doing different things. You need to pull it all together and improve the system by making it a lot more formalised. We really have to come up with a standard for ourselves with the same goals for everyone.'