Health resilience of green buildings in a Dense City : evidence from COVID-19 infections in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study examines whether green buildings contribute to health resilience during public health crises in a dense city. Utilizing a dataset of 1552 public housing blocks in Hong Kong from January 2020 to December 2022, our findings suggest that residents living in green buildings are associated with significantly lower infection rates compared to those in non-green buildings. This effect is most pronounced during Hong Kong's fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, when community transmission and case counts peaked. These findings remain robust after controlling for building prototype fixed effect and isolating the confounding effect of building age and post-SARS upgrades. Heterogeneity analyses further suggest that the association between green buildings and lower infection rates is stronger for higher certification levels (e.g., BEAM Plus Gold or Platinum), and is particularly pronounced in contexts characterized by structural vulnerability and elevated epidemiological risk, including districts with higher population density, elevated infection risk, and lower resident income. Overall, our study provides novel empirical evidence on the social value of greenness during pandemics, highlighting the potential of green buildings to serve as a defense mechanism in dense urban environments. These findings suggest that health resilience should be integrated into future green building standards and public housing policy.