Dedicated to promoting the sustainable development of public housing, the Housing Authority (HA) has achieved marked results in its environmental, social and economic performances.

These achievements are carried in the Authority's Sustainability Report 2006/07 now available on its website (http://www.housingauthority.gov.hk).

Entitled "Our Commitment and Your Participation", the report covers the Authority's performance on environmental aspects including greening, water, air, noise, energy and waste reduction; social aspects including safety, hygiene and health, employee development and contribution to society; and economic aspects including financial performance, resource optimisation and operating with cost effectiveness.

In the year 2006/07, the Authority grew more than 600 000 plants and upgraded 110 000 square metres of greenery in its public housing estates for landscaping and greening purposes.

"In order to improve the living environment and quality of life, we have planted more than 5 000 trees, about 590 000 shrubs and 52 000 annuals in our public housing estates," a spokesman for the HA said.

The HA has also made substantial improvement in water saving and waste reduction, he added.

Installation of water saving facilities in public housing estates has reduced the consumption of water by about 6.2% when compared with 2005/06. Water Recycling Systems implemented in 21 building contracts has resulted in a reduction of water usage of approximately 12% compared with 2005/06.

On waste management, the Authority encouraged the use of long-lasting and easily-maintained building materials. The waste separation at source scheme was implemented at 60 housing estates. 

On site safety, the spokesman said: "Implementation of safety measures in our construction sites and maintenance works has achieved a better safety record. The accident rate of our new construction sites dropped from 55.8 per thousand workers in 2001 to 11.5 in 2006. The rate is lower than the average 64.3 of the local construction industry."

Looking forward, the spokesman said the HA is committed to properly managing and reducing resources consumption in its daily operation, in particular those waste producing and energy consuming activities. "We are also committed to finding and utilizing better construction methods to further reduce our environmental footprint and reduce the overall impact on our development, management and maintenance processes," the spokesman said.

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