In 2014, Hang Lung launched a three-year sustainability plan (2015-2017) covering five key areas which environmental performance is one of them. Over the years, Connections has run a number of interesting stories and static columns, including the feature story, Seeding Green, and a number of articles in the HL Sustain and Green World sections, to foster a culture of sustainability and promote the Company's initiatives and contributions in this area to a wider audience.

Building upon the successes over the years, the Company has reached some milestones and is adopting a new sustainability framework so as to develop longer-term goals and plans to take our sustainability initiatives to the next level. To keep the momentum, the Company will launch a series of exercises starting from October 2018 to set the long-term sustainability targets with different departments. In this issue, we will see the fruits of our endeavors!

Benchmark Affirmations
Recognition from reputable organizations has always been a shining affirmation of the Company's efforts to promote sustainability. Since the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index series was launched in 2010, Hang Lung Properties (HLP) has been listed as a constituent of the Hang Seng (Mainland and HK) Corporate Sustainability Index, the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index, and the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index for nine consecutive years. In September this year, Hang Lung Group was selected as a constituent member of the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index. In addition, HLP has been rated as one of the top 20 companies in the Hong Kong Business Sustainability Index since 2015.

Reaching global standards, HLP has also been selected as an Index Component of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices in the Asia Pacific Index for two consecutive years. These globally recognized indices select companies with exceptional performance in sustainability as constituents. As one of the top 20% of over 600 large companies from the Asia Pacific, HLP is also one of only nine Hong Kong companies included in the index. In addition, HLP has achieved a 3-Star performance rating and A grade disclosure rating under Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark this year.

To date, the Company has been awarded 9 LEED Gold certificates issued by the U.S. Green Building Council, which is a resounding attestation to the Company's determination in living up to the Build to Own, Build to Last business model.

Instilling a Culture of Sustainability
Unity is strength. The Company has always encouraged colleagues to participate in the conservation of natural capital and the safeguarding of our common future. The mastermind behind the initiative is no doubt the Sustainability Steering Committee (the Committee), formed by a group of the Company's top management including Executive Director cum Chairperson of the Committee Mr. Adriel Chan, Director – Leasing & Management cum Vice-Chairperson of the Committee Ms. Bella Chhoa, Executive Director Mr. Dane Cheng, Director – Leasing & Management Mr. William Yiu, Director – Corporate Audit Mr. Ricky Tsang, Director – Project Management Mr. Peter Leung, Director and Group Financial Controller Mr. Raymond Mak, Director – Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Mr. C.F. Kwan, Director – Cost & Controls Mr. Gabriel Cheung, and Director – Design & Development Mr. Moses Leung.

Events at Hang Lung Green Week 2018 :
Of all the Company's many initiatives, the annual Hang Lung Green Week must be one of the most popular. The most recent, Green Week 2018, was themed Trash to Treasure in Offices and was successfully held between September 17 and 24. During the week, a series of activities were held to further promote waste reduction and green ideas for the workplace.

Meanwhile, the Sustainability Talk Series is also a major campaign. Between 2017 and 2018, a total of 5 sustainability talks were held covering various topics on the environment, and social and global issues, with the last talk of this year, introducing social inclusion, scheduled for November 2018.

Goal for Green
Raymond Hui, a 2018 management trainee, and Joanne Tang from Development and Design presented their suggestions on how to create a greener workplace environment and won the Goal for Green competition.

Waste Less, Think More
A competition encouraging colleagues to propose ideas and share green tips for how to reduce waste in daily life. A total of six proposals were selected. The winners were Wang Zhongyu from Palace 66; Yang Dewei and Betty Liu from Grand Gateway 66; Doris Zhu and Heaven Chou from Olympia 66; and Ran Li from Riverside 66.

Themed activities
Apart from the two Company-wide competitions, a variety of activities such as the Make Your Coaster Workshop (upcycling coffee residue into coasters), a mooncake donation drive, the Waist Loss Challenge, and the relocation of recycling bins were also undertaken.

Optimizing Energy and Operational Efficiency
As a key element in achieving the Company's sustainability goals, the massive Asset Enhancement Initiative (AEI) launched in 2012 has now been mostly accomplished. To date, Grand Plaza, Gala Place, Fashion Walk, Amoy Plaza, and Kornhill Plaza in Hong Kong, plus Plaza 66 in Shanghai have completed their large-scale AEI projects while the enhancement works at The Peak Galleria in Hong Kong and Grand Gateway 66 in Shanghai are already underway.

The Company has replaced air-cooled chillers with more energy-efficient water-cooled chillers at 14 properties in Hong Kong since 2006, cumulatively reducing electricity consumption by nearly 96 million kWh, equivalent to HK$123 million by the end of 2017. Meanwhile, the Company also recorded an over 9% reduction in electricity intensity at properties across Hong Kong and the Mainland in 2017, against the 2015 baseline, and a close to 12% reduction of water consumption at our Mainland properties in 2017, compared to 2016.

Leveraging on the AEI, the Company also invested more than HK$40 million to launch its Clean Air Initiative to upgrade air filtration systems at malls and office towers on the Mainland to enhance indoor air quality.

Publishing Standalone Sustainability Reports
To maintain the highest possible level of transparency while sharing the challenges faced and achievements accomplished, the Company has published a standalone Sustainability Report annually since 2013 and received multiple international awards for the publications. In June this year, the Company published the sixth report and decided to publish e-version only to reduce paper usage, making the full report available by download from the Hang Lung website.