Being committed to sustainable development is how We Do It Right at Hang Lung. This means continuously striving to achieve economic and social progress in the communities in which we operate while mitigating the environmental impact of the buildings we develop and manage. We consult our stakeholders to ensure that we meet their expectations and aspirations on sustainability and have established a new framework for collecting information on our sustainability performance to allow us to make continuous improvement.
OUR BUILDINGS

Reflecting our long-term business model of building to own and building to last, we incorporate the high standard of environmental sustainability in our projects in Hong Kong and mainland China. We believe that benchmarking our buildings’ environmental performance against international standards enables the Group to maintain the same high environmental standards when designing, building and managing our properties wherever we operate.

In 2013, we received the Gold Level certificate under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes from the U.S. Green Building Council for our residential project, 23-39 Blue Pool Road, at Blue Pool Road, Happy Valley. We also received the Gold Rating of Provisional Assessment under the BEAM Plus EB version 1.2 of the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) for our Standard Chartered Bank Building, which is the first existing building in Hong Kong to achieve this recognition. The Peak Galleria also achieved the Silver Rating of Provisional Assessment under the BEAM Plus EB version 1.1.

With around 90% of total electricity consumption in Hong Kong contributed by buildings, the Group recognizes the importance of enhancing energy efficiency in our properties. In 2012, the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance came into full operation in Hong Kong requiring all newly constructed buildings to comply with more stringent requirements. In response to the Ordinance, we set a target of reducing our electricity consumption by 5% in 2015 based on the 2010 baseline to ensure that we achieve greater energy efficiency in buildings and that continuous improvement is made. As of the end of 2013, we are on track to meeting this target with a 2% reduction in electricity consumption as compared to the 2010 baseline.

Recognizing that waste is a pressing issue for the community, we are supporting our tenants in managing their waste more effectively by introducing waste segregation facilities at our properties and requiring our waste contractors to provide data on waste collected. In 2013, 3,641 tonnes of materials were collected in our properties for recycling. We plan to extend this initiative into mainland China in 2014/2015. In 2013, we introduced a pilot scheme for recycling fluorescent light tubes across our business. We are also examining the feasibility of recycling glass bottles and aluminum cans. In addition, we are exploring installing food waste composer in The Peak Galleria. We aim to implement these initiatives by 2014 and plan to extend our recycling efforts across other properties in Hong Kong and mainland China by 2016.



OUR PEOPLE

People are the most precious asset of Hang Lung and the key to realizing our business and sustainability vision. We provide a range of training and development programs for our staff to grow their professional development. We provide training opportunities based on employees’ feedback from across the Company to ensure that the training meets the aspirations and expectations of our staff, as well as the needs of our business. In 2013, a total of 56,297 hours of training were delivered.

During the year, we placed a greater emphasis on ensuring that our employees are fully on board with our sustainable development commitment. We introduced the Hang Lung Green Office initiative in August 2013 with the aim of promoting a SmartGreen workplace. Under the initiative, Green Office Ambassadors are nominated in our Hong Kong and mainland China offices to promote and drive forward this initiative. Each of our offices has to fulfill no less than 20 green actions on its task list annually.

An educational tour was organized for our employees during the year at a hotel in Hong Kong, the first high-rise building in the world to achieve the Triple Platinum of Green Certificates, to further understand how we can do better in incorporating environmental designs and practices in our properties.

Receiving feedback from employees is crucial to ensuring that we are meeting their expectations. We engage regularly with our staff through our Town Hall, departmental and team meetings, conferences, focus groups and the “Long Service Employees Lunch with Managing Director” at which junior staff are able to have informal gatherings with the Managing Director. To further improve communications and connections among colleagues, the Company’s intranet was revamped in 2013 with a brand new look and enhanced functions to bring refreshing user experiences to colleagues.

In addition to regular engagement activities, we also engaged with our employees during the year when revamping the uniforms for our frontline colleagues in Hong Kong and mainland China to ensure that they suited the needs of our staff in different areas of our business. The feedback on the new uniforms from both our staff and customers has been positive.



OUR COMMUNITY

We recognize the importance of considering the impact that our business has on local communities throughout the life cycle of our buildings. During the construction of buildings, we set up telephone hotlines to respond to public enquiries in a timely manner. In areas of significant historical or cultural interest in our development projects, we work with the community to preserve or revitalize them as much as we can.

In our community involvement, we provide financial donations and offer free space in our properties to support a range of charitable activities. In 2013, we donated HK$16 million to support various charitable causes. Our volunteer team, Hang Lung As One, continues to serve the community enthusiastically, targeting the environment, youth development and elderly services. In 2013, our volunteers in Hong Kong and mainland China contributed over 6,400 hours in voluntary services, a 66% increase compared to 2012.



OUR ENGAGEMENT WITH STAKEHOLDERS

Recognizing the need to build trusting and productive relationships with our stakeholders, we engage regularly with them through various communication platforms. During the year, we built on last year’s exercise and carried out an independent engagement with external stakeholders to gain a more comprehensive view of what stakeholders expect from us and how we can work together to achieve our sustainability goals. External stakeholders engaged this year included tenants and investors. Their feedback is constructive in enabling the Group to further strengthen our sustainability performance and in shaping the content of this year’s Sustainability Report.

OUR SECOND SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

This year marks the second year in which we publish a standalone Sustainability Report to fulfill our commitment to honesty and transparency to stakeholders. We spent much of 2013 establishing a more effective system of streamlining our data collection process to provide a more comprehensive review of our sustainability performance to our stakeholders. Through this exercise, we are now able to identify areas where we can do better and further strengthen both our performance and disclosure to stakeholders.