The Company ensures that environmental consideration is given not only to the planning, design and construction of development projects but also to the operation and maintenance of all our facilities and services.  We pride ourselves on our leadership in providing excellent property management and in striving to improve upon our current environmental standards in the following areas:

Demand Side Management

Swire Properties has been actively working, together with the utilities and the Government, on various energy conservation programmes which can reduce electricity peak demand and consumption. Such initiatives include:

• The use of energy efficient fluorescent tube and electronic ballasts in our buildings;
  
• The use of more energy efficient variable speed drives; and 
  
• The use of water cooled air conditioning systems which require significantly less energy than air cooled systems.

Energy Saving Measures

Swire Properties has a dedicated Energy Efficiency Team, which is committed to developing measures and monitoring energy conservation programmes for our business activities.  The Company has continuously improved its energy use through activities and studies which reduce the environmental impact of its business.  Such measures include:

• The use of variable speed drives in air-conditioning system to achieve a better energy efficiency;
• Optimising the controls of the air conditioning system and temperature/ pressure reset to improve the operating performance;
• Adjustment of the counterweight of passengers lifts to suit the traffic pattern, reducing energy wastage in the lift driving system.
•  Replacement of lights with higher output types like T5 fluorescent lamp tubes and LED’s;
• The use of automatic tube cleaning equipment for improving the heat exchange efficiency of the chillers;
• Liaison with our tenants on developing measures which can reduce energy consumption in their premises, through briefings and publications.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Swire Properties is a major provider of commercial buildings in Hong Kong. To ensure that the quality of the air in its buildings is maintained at a high standard, we have our own internal guidelines for measuring indoor air quality. The guidelines are used for screening purposes, to identify whether any further investigation is required. When further measurement is needed, we normally commission an independent third party to conduct tests.  In our guidelines we specify that the following parameters are measured:

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) - It is widely accepted practice to use the level of CO2 as an indicator of indoor air quality. This reflects the provision of fresh air to the occupied space.
  
• Fresh air supply quantity - This determines whether the quantity of fresh air supplied to an occupied space is adequate.
  
• Respirable suspended particulates (RSP) - This determines whether our filtration system is working properly.

The results from our measurements are normally within acceptable levels.

We also work with our tenants to reduce the use of such products as formaldehyde and solvent based paints which can affect IAQ. Our fitting out guidelines, for ourselves and our tenants, minimise the use of materials that emit formaldehyde. Our Environmental Guidelines for Tenants also offer suggestions for alternatives to formaldehyde based products.

In addition, we are working with the Environmental Protection Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government to refine a voluntary standard on IAQ for use in buildings across Hong Kong.
 
Research and Development Projects and Task Forces

Swire Properties also liaises with professional bodies and institutions on developing methods and systems which can help to conserve energy and design healthier buildings. Swire Properties has representatives on various committees and task forces such as:

• PCICB (Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board)
  
• Hong Kong Construction Innovation Committee & CITF (Construction Industry Task Force) Demonstration Product Sub-Committee
  
• HK-BEAM Steering Committee
  
• BEC (Business Environment Council) Sustainable Buildings and Construction Task Force
  
• CII-HK and the HK Polytechnic University Study on Environmentally Healthy buildings
  
• REDA (Real Estate Development Association)

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