Annual Report 2020

(I) Leadership & Culture Environmental Policy Our Group’s Environmental Policy was established and approved by the Board of Directors in 2016, which applies to every stage of business operations and pertains to our people and across our supply chain. We have given due consideration to the environmental issues in our corporate decision-making process and have been recognized as a market pioneer in actively implementing effective environmental protection programmes in business operations. We continued to improve our performance in environmental protection and outperform the compliance requirements of the applicable environmental laws and standards. For the year ended 31 December 2020, there was no non-compliance case noted in relation to environmental laws and regulations that had a significant impact on the Group, such as Air Pollution Control Ordinance, Water Pollution Control Ordinance, Waste Disposal Ordinance, Hazardous Chemicals Control Ordinance, etc. Green Committees Two committees namely “Green Management Committee” and “Energy Management Committee” have been set up in the Asset Management Division of the Group. The committees are staffed by industry experts, who meet periodically to explore enhancement of green performance, strengthen our green practice and minimize adverse impacts to the environment from our business operations. Employee Involvement Besides the green tone from the top, the Group also enhances employee’s awareness and commitment to environmental protection. Environmental protection training is included in our staff orientation programme. We encourage employees to pay due attention to energy saving measures and explore new ideas on energy saving while performing their duties. In addition, we post notices to remind employees to turn off air-conditioning, lighting, personal computers and electrical appliances upon leaving their office or workplace. We also share our green experience, tips and achievements with staff via various channels such as our Employee Newsletter – MiChat, green workshops and events as to inspire and promote green living style to our staff. (II) Green Facilities Enhancement & Efficient Use of Resources Energy Efficiency Our self-assessment indicated that the major source of the Group’s indirect greenhouse gas emissions was from electricity consumption in the course of providing air-conditioning and lighting to our rental properties and hotel premises. Small amounts of greenhouse gases were released through burning of towngas in kitchen operations of the hotel and food and beverage businesses and consumption of fuels from provision of car services in our travel business. In the past few years, the Group has made a wide range of investments towards reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, mainly through installation of green facilities to improve energy efficiency, and also took initiatives to implement green practices and promote green activities. The main investments and initiatives are as follows: Electricity Chiller Plants The chiller plants conversion project at our shopping mall and office building, Mira Place 1 and Mira Place Tower A, was initiated in 2012. The project converted the old chiller plants to a more energy efficient and effective central water-cooled chillers and air-cooled oil-free chillers with variable frequency inverters for air conditioning supply. A significant reduction in electricity consumption, by 38.9%, has been achieved in 2020 as compared with 2012. In addition, since 2015, we started to install more environmental-friendly R410A split-type air conditioners in our core properties to meet the Electrical & Mechanical Services Department (“EMSD”) building energy efficiency requirements. An optimization programme was implemented on the chiller plant at our hotel premises, The Mira Hong Kong, in 2016, which achieved reduction in energy consumption without compromising air-conditioning service standard. The programme included optimization with multiple chillers, variable speed pumps, condenser water temperature and chilled water supply temperature reset. The programme has saved about 1,040,000 kWh per annum since the implementation and the contract came to an end during the year. We will continue to explore new energy saving opportunities to sustain our green culture. 034 Environmental, Social and Governance Report Annual Report 2020 Miramar Hotel and Investment Company, Limited