CONSTRUCTING
A GREEN
COMMUNITY

In light of the pressing climate and environmental changes, ArchSD does not only leverage our expertise in architecture to build for the city's sustainability and climate-resilience, but also shoulder our indispensable responsibilities as a government department to create a green workplace. We developed a departmental Quality, Environmental, Health and Safety Policy with commitments to achieving pollution prevention, as well as and energy and natural resources consumption reduction. We also focus on fostering employee environmental awareness through programmes and daily engagement to optimise our sustainability efforts.

Alongside with the policy, our Integrated Management System (IMS) has been serving as the foundation of our exhaustive environmental and energy management (ISO 14001 and ISO 50001), occupational health and safety (ISO 45001) and quality management (ISO 9001). By doing so, we benchmark and attach ourselves to international standards. The systematic approach also allows us to formulate guidelines, procedures and strategies for the monitoring and improvement of energy, waste, water and indoor air quality performance.

The concerted efforts from our management and staff has earned ArchSD once again the Hong Kong Green Organisation Certificate (HKGOC). The consecutive recognition from the Environmental Campaign Committee serves as a testimony and future motivation to our conscientious contributions to the environmental protection in workplace.

ArchSD clearly understands the need to contributing and acting in response towards the government's long-term plan to combat climate change. Acknowledging energy consumption, principally electricity consumption, is the primary source of our carbon footprint, we manage our consumption practices across our operating premises to ensure efficient energy utilisation.We continue to monitor our electricity use and explore different energy efficiency measures, such as lighting retrofitting works at our offices, to minimise the related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In addition to the HKGOC regarding overall environmental performance, ArchSD is pleased to maintain its 'Class of Excellence' Energywi$e Certificate under the same scheme in the reporting year. We are proud that our energy saving efforts have continued to gain wide recognition from the industry and general public.

ArchSD formulates proactive measures to incorporate the elements set out in the Hong Kong Climate Action Plan 2030+ published by Environment Bureau, including a set of city-wide carbon emission reduction targets and actionable items. In order to understand our performance in direct and indirect GHG emissions and move towards the common goal, we regularly conduct carbon audits to quantify our carbon footprint. The audits are carried out in accordance to the international standards Greenhouse Gas Protocol and making reference to guidelines published by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD). Three major GHGs, namely CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O, induced from our electricity and fuel consumption are tracked closely and taken into considerations in the audits. Other operational data are also incorporated into the calculation to truly reflect our performance on a consistent and measurable basis.

In support of the government's advocacy on waste management, ArchSD encourages waste reduction at source and promotes active recycling across our branches and offices. Green housekeeping guidelines are issued to disseminate information about appropriate practices in waste reduction, recycling and handling. For example, the guidelines set out principles for paper consumption and reduction to avoid unnecessary wastage. At the APB centre and QGO, collection facilities are set up for the collection of various recyclables, including but not limited to wastepaper, plastic bottles, used toner cartridges, aluminium cans and used CDs.

Additionally, we formulate annual targets to drive improvement progress, together with close monitoring on the implementation of different waste management programmes.

Our efforts in responsible waste management has also earned us a 'Class of Excellence' Wastewi$e Certificate for consecutive years under the HKGOC Scheme.