Tenant Engagement - Environment

The lifecycle of a building, including construction and occupant usage, consumes significant amounts of energy and water and generates waste. It is the responsibility of landlords and tenants to ensure that buildings are both built sustainably and used sustainably.

The Green Performance Pledge (“GPP”) is our newest tenant engagement programme. Centred around a performance-based agreement to deepen landlord-tenant partnerships, the GPP is applicable from fit-out through operation and is user-friendly and collaborative. The GPP is set to become our foremost tenant engagement platform for sustainability.

The GPP aims to encourage the Company and our tenants to cooperate in good faith to improve environmental performance in terms of energy use, water consumption, waste reduction and recycling. By signing the GPP, tenants gain priority access to bespoke sustainability programmes such as free energy audits and may participate in in-depth action planning workshops to formulate concrete steps to enhance environmental performance. Tenants may also earn recognition for the efforts they make to measure and share environmental data, and for achieving certain energy, waste and water performance benchmarks aligned with the Company’s SD 2030 targets.

The GPP was introduced in 2021 with a pilot programme for 0 office tenants, representing nearly 0% of office tenants in Hong Kong, as measured by occupied LFA. The results of this pilot will be used to improve the GPP in advance of a full rollout in the second half of 2022.

In 2021, we implemented new fit-out and renovation guidelines for office and retail tenants to help them incorporate sustainability considerations into their office and shop designs. We also continued to encourage tenants to make their daily operations “greener” through tailored, practical SD initiatives.

One of these is our Green Kitchen Initiative, which provides a platform for portfolio management teams and tenants to have sustainability conversations before fit-out and renovation projects commence. These communications allow both sides to collaborate on reducing energy and water usage and improving air quality and waste management. In turn, this enhances the sustainability performance of food and beverage outlets across our portfolios.

The Green Kitchen Award programme celebrates tenants that actively adopt recommendations from our Green Kitchen Technical Guidelines. In 2021, 0 restaurants received this recognition. In total, 0 food and beverage tenants in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland have been recognised with our Green Kitchen Award since the programme’s inception in 2019.

This year’s winning tenants adopted such green measures as:

• Setting up food waste recycling and recycling facilities for other items like glass bottles, metal cans and coffee grounds
• Installing water flow regulators and dishwashers with water recycling and heat recovery functions
• Putting in place demand-controlled or variable-speed exhaust systems to reduce kitchen exhaust fan energy use and associated cooling and heating costs
• Selecting energy efficient cooking and kitchen appliances

Building on the Green Kitchen Initiative’s success, in 2021, we began piloting a similar scheme with office tenants as part of the GPP. Tenants who are commencing or undergoing fit-out and/or renovation projects receive “seed points” under the GPP that recognise green features in their designs and lead to a sustainable office rating.

Fit-out and renovation projects often lead to the disposal of large amounts of office furniture. In 2021, we began partnering with a furniture company in a pilot programme to reuse, repurpose and recycle used furniture collected from office renovations, such as desk chairs, workstation desks, storage cabinets and computer monitor arms. An inventory of unwanted furniture and appliances was created for each pilot site, with the project team then formulating redistribution strategies that included such elements as takeback by outgoing tenants, reuse by incoming tenants, donation to NGO partners, and recycling. Even at the pilot stage, over 0 tonnes of useful furniture items were saved from landfills. In 2022, we will fine-tune the programme’s logistics and expand it to more tenants and portfolios.

Launched in 2017, The Loop is our SD exhibition centre in Devon House at Taikoo Place. The Loop features a recycling centre, food waste composter, “eco-art” installation and edible garden, among other exhibitions. The 4,000 sq ft space encourages tenants and the wider community to “close the loop” by incorporating sustainable practices into their business operations and daily lives.

Over the past two years, our in-person tenant engagement efforts have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there has been a renewed focus on urban farming. In 2021, we extended The Loop’s urban farm and community engagement concept to other properties across Hong Kong. We partnered with an office tenant to launch The Loop at One Island East, a “sky farm” situated on the building’s rooftop, 300 metres above ground. Originally a space dedicated to building maintenance, over 300 sq ft of the rooftop was re-allocated to an urban farm with 50 planters for seasonal greens and herbs. A food digester machine and composting tumblers were also set up to convert office tenants’ food waste into compost to fertilise the farm.

Additionally, The Loops located at South Island Place and Citygate launched “Farm Club” programmes, where office workers learn about farming and also plant, maintain and eventually harvest their own crops. The herbs grown and harvested at these farms are part of farm-to-table experiences held in partnership with F&B tenants at Citygate.

In collaboration with a local farming group, the four The Loop urban farms in Hong Kong engaged 0 office workers in urban farming programmes and events, harvesting a total of approximately 0kg of produce during the year, including a special harvest in December where over 80kg of freshly harvested organic crops were donated to a local food bank to share the holiday warmth with those in need.

Believing that effective communication can inspire action, in 2021 we enhanced our tenant circulars and began promoting our tenant programmes and sharing tenant stories through e-newsletters. This change allowed us to incorporate reader-friendly layout designs and track readership, which in turn informs our communication strategies relating to tenant companies and employees.

In November 2021, to capitalise on the attention placed on the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and to raise awareness about the Company’s 1.5°C-aligned science-based targets, we disseminated an e-newsletter to all tenants, encouraging them to take part in our sustainability initiatives and take personal action to fight climate change.

Taikoo Place hosted a series of digital sustainability talks featuring discussions between local sustainability advocates and three office tenants focusing on their sustainability strategies and programmes. Each talk was based on a case study, showing how SD projects were executed on the ground and examining their real-world impacts on society and the environment. Over 940 registrations were received for the series.

Swire Properties was the first real estate developer to support the Hong Kong Green Shop Alliance (“HKGSA”), established by the Construction Industry Council and the Hong Kong Green Building Council in 2016 to promote sustainability initiatives in the retail industry through landlord-tenant collaboration.

This year, our leadership in this field was recognised as we won major accolades at the 2021 HKGSA Awards:

“Best Green Practice in Malls” category:

• Cityplaza – Champion, standing out with our innovative energy-saving solutions and facilities as well as initiatives that help tenants save energy and reduce waste
• Island Place Mall – Second Runner-up

“Best Collaborative Effort of Malls and Shops” category:

• Pacific Place – Best Green Kitchen Partner Award
• Citygate Outlets – Merit Award

Excellent Green Product Advocator:

• Citygate Outlets
• Pacific Place