Executive Summary

The Sustainability Report 2008/09, Sustainability: Balance and Harmony, is our fourth Sustainability Report that reaffirms our commitment and effort in building a sustainable living environment while clearly depicting the Housing Authority (HA)'s sustainability performance. This report provides a detailed exposition of our sustainable management operations and achievements in our economic, social and environmental activities between the period 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009 as well as our future plan towards sustainable development.

This report was developed with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Guidelines and the GRI sector supplement for Public Agencies.

Our Vision and Management Approaches

Our Services

Our Environmental Performance

We set 29 environmental targets for the fiscal year 2008/09, ranging from air, greening and landscaping, noise control, waste management, energy efficiency, water conservation, material usage and control of hazardous materials. Of these targets, 28 were fully met and 1 achieved substantial progress. Our environmental performance for this year is outlined below:

Implementation of air quality improvement measures to improve air quality in offices, construction sites and estates:

• We conducted Air Ventilation Assessment in our new housing projects to enhance the air ventilation of the living environment.
• We introduced the techniques of modular design and hard-paving construction method to minimise the generation of dust on the construction sites.
• We installed de-odourisers at the covered refuse collection points to control odour at the time of refuse collection.

Enhancement of estate greening and landscaping to improve amenity comfort and the quality of our estates:

Implementation of noise mitigation measures to minimise noise nuisance:

• We introduced noise mitigation measures like the use of hydraulic concrete crushers and prefabricated building elements in our new construction projects to further reduce the noise impacts upon our tenants and neighbouring community.
• We replaced 19 noisy high speed water pumps with quieter water pumps to reduce noise nuisance in PRH estates.
• There was no noise abatement notice received in 2008/09.

Implementation of waste management to minimise the waste generation and material consumption:

• We took effective measures in managing Construction and Demolition waste disposal.
• A total of 120 PRH estates have participated in the Programme on Source Separation of Domestic Waste (SSDW), whilst 1 estate won the Gold Award, 5 estates won the Bronze Award and 114 of them received Certificates of Merit from the Environmental Protection Department. Two of the above estates also received the Award for Co-operative Partnership.
• In 2008/09, we recovered over 14 000 tonnes waste paper, 490 tonnes aluminium cans, 930 tonnes plastic bottles and 600 tonnes used clothes.
• The average domestic waste production of our residents in 2008/09 was 0.6940 kg/person/day, representing a 15.3% reduction as compared against 2002/03.
• During 2008/09, only 134 952 reams of paper were consumed, which is lower than our target consumption rate set against 2002/03 by 10.6%.

Utilisation of energy saving measures and appliances to reduce energy consumption:

• We have completed lighting modification works that optimised the use of daylight in all H-type blocks in 2008/09, with an overall expected electricity saving of 1 680 000 kWh per year.
• We installed a pilot photovoltaic system of 248 m² on the roofs of 3 domestic blocks in Lam Tin Estate to use renewable energy.
• We conducted carbon audits in our existing buildings to improve our performance in greenhouse gas emission.
• The electricity consumption in the public areas of domestic buildings decreased about 3%, from 69.4 kWh/flat/month in 2007/08 to 67.3 kWh/flat/month in 2008/09.

Installation and utilisation of water reduction facilities to minimise water consumption:

• We trial run installation of collection systems in pilot projects to harvest rain water for irrigation to minimise water consumption.
• We have installed water saving facilities like dual flush cisterns and twin water tanks in pilot estates to investigate their effectiveness.

Utilisation of environmentally friendly materials to conserve resources

• We adopted reusable metal hoardings, metal formwork and prefabricated building elements to save about 26 000 tonnes of timber.
• We used pulverised fuel ash as a partial cement substitute on our construction sites and saved 32 000 tonnes of cement.
• We carried on with a pilot project using Forestry Stewardship Council certified doors in the construction of Eastern Harbour Crossing Phase 4.

Implementation of Micro-Climate Studies to improve natural environment for residents

• We applied the Micro-Climate Studies in the design and development of all our new buildings to provide a healthier and more comfortable living environment for residents.
• Our "Micro-Climate studies for Sustainable Public Housing in HK" won the "Highly Commended Architectural and Surveying Innovation Award" in the International Innovation and Research Awards organised by the Chartered Institute of Building of the United Kingdom.

Our Social Performance

We set 11 social targets for 2008/09 covering safety, marking scheme and staff awareness. Of these targets, all of them were fully met. Our social performance during the year is highlighted below:

Implementation of effective safety measures during our construction and maintenance works to significantly mitigate the accident rate

• We continued to adopt the Performance Assessment Scoring System to assess, monitor and measure the performance of our contractors.
• We have introduced the programme of "Safety Coordinator, Safety Officer" for Building Works contractors and Property Service Agents to foster the site safety environment in PRH estates.
• The Fall Arrest Horizontal Life-line System has been incorporated to contractual agreements to reinforce the safety of staff working at height.
• Our accident rate for new works has reduced significantly from 55.8 per 1 000 workers in 2001 down to 16.1 in 2008. Throughout the year, two fatality cases were recorded.
• We closely collaborated with the Fire Services Department to raise public awareness of fire safety. Over 90 fire drills and promotional activities were held in 84 estates during the year.
• We enhanced safety measures and organised the Lift and Escalator Safety Campaign to our residents in mid-2008, resulting in a 20% drop in lift and escalator accidents when compared against 2007/08.

Implementation of preventive measures to protect workers' right and wage payment

• We have strictly enforced the Demerit Point System and the electronic Facial Attendance System to further protect non-skilled workers from exploitation and violation of regulations.
• We continue to implement the provision of Labour Relation Officers to protect workers to foster timely payment of wage, as well as worker's rights and benefits.

Enhancement of housing quality to provide a comfortable living environment

• We upgraded the Digital Closed Circuit Television systems in 37 estates to improve the quality of security.
• 1 030 families were re-housed through various transfer schemes to alleviate the overcrowding problem.
• 1 630 households, living with an internal floor area below seven m² per person, were re-housed to a more spacious accommodation under our Living Space Improvement Transfer Scheme.

Implementation of hygiene and health initiatives to protect our residents

Implementation of various initiatives to foster harmonious living

Provision of numerous training opportunities to enhance staff capability and development

Our Economic Performance

We set 4 economic performance targets for 2008/09 covering rent adjustment, assistance and concession, vacancy rate minimisation, combating tenancy abuse and preventive maintenance, restoration and improvement. Among these targets, all of them are fully met. Our economic performance in this year is highlighted below:

Implementation of Rent Assistance and Concession Policy to support financial difficulties of tenants

• We introduced a new rent adjustment mechanism for PRH to adjust rents based on changes in tenants' household incomes.
• 11 960 families were paying reduced rents under Rent Assistance Scheme as at March 2009.
• We offered rent relief to retail and factory tenants as a quick response to the outbreak of the global financial crisis.

Implementation of various measures to optimise housing resources

Implementation of various measures to enhance cost-effectiveness

• We continued to explore opportunities to improve the building design and construction technique to achieve cost-effectiveness of construction.
• We will carry out improvement works in Ping Shek Estate and Wah Fu Estate to prolong the life of the estates for the next 15 years since they are structurally safe.
• To ensure building quality, Independent Checking Unit provides third party monitoring and control of all new and existing HA developments and alteration works.

Stakeholder Engagement

We set 5 stakeholder engagement targets for 2008/09 covering communication, awareness raising and participation initiatives. All were fully met. Our stakeholder engagement performance for 2008/09 is highlighted below:

Provision of effective communication channels to enhance public understanding on housing information and services:

Provision of feedback mechanisms to seek views for improvement

• We arranged different channels such as Staff Opinion Survey and Staff Suggestion Scheme to enhance communication and feedback from staff.
• We conducted annual Public Housing Recurrent Survey to seek tenants' feedback for improvement. Tenants (at 78%) were most satisfied with the quality of security service among the aspects surveyed.

Way Forward

We have been endeavouring to fulfil our mission of providing sustainable living environment to our residents through functional solution and advancement. We have identified, and will commit to, various targets in 2009/10. Our key targets are outlined below.

To continue promotion of sustainability issues

• We will launch a wide range of programmes to promote environmental awareness in our workplace, PRH estates and the community.
• We continue to conduct various initiatives to have active communication with our staff and obtain feedback to enhance operational effectiveness.

To enhance greening and landscaping

• We will increase the greening areas in estates gradually by introducing green treatments in different areas; and organising green programmes or activities such as tree planting and hydro-seeding.

To reduce noise nuisances

• We continue our on-going programme to replace noisy high speed water pumps with 1 500 rpm quieter water pumps to reduce noise nuisance in PRH estates.

To maintain our waste management practices

• We continue to facilitate and encourage more residents to separate their waste for recycling by implementing the Programme on SSDW in PRH estates.
• We will organize more publicity campaigns in estates to increase recovery rate of paper, aluminium cans, plastic bottles and used clothes.
• We continue to use environmentally friendly paper in printing of all publicity materials.
• We aimed to reduce generation of waste such as paper consumption in office.

To continue improvement on energy efficiency

• We continue to adopt the Building Energy Codes to design new building services installations and implement a number of electricity saving measures to reduce electricity consumption, such as commencement on the installation of "machine-roomless" lifts in our properties and shortening the operational hours of lighting and air-conditioners.

To reduce water consumption

• We continue to reduce water consumption by conducting trial schemes in new projects, using self-stopping or movement-sensing water taps, conducting a replumbing programme to minimise pipe bursting and leakage, and trial use of rain water for irrigation and general cleansing.

To uphold our social contribution

• We will continue to actively communicate with the stakeholders to promote better understanding of our policies and initiatives.
• We will conduct annual Public Housing Recurrent Survey to seek tenants' feedback for improvement.

To lessen safety risk

• We continue to tighten monitoring of contractors with high accident rates as well as the control measures for high-risk operations on site to improve the safety of operations with potential health and safety risks.
• We will maintain and raise high safety standards in the workplace by regularly monitoring and reviewing the performance of contractors, implementing several site safety assessment items and constantly meeting with the government departments to ensure the safety performance is up to standard, and improvement will be introduced if necessary.

To enhance our economic performance

• We will continue to minimise the vacancy of PRH estates.
• We will continue to implement the new rent adjustment mechanism.
• We will continue to carry out tenancy control and education campaign to combat tenancy abuse.
• We will conduct the assessment of old estates to enhance the old estates' preventive maintenance and restoration.