Environmental Responsibility
The Manager recognises that
every organisation has a corporate
responsibility and an obligation to
minimise adverse impact on the
environment and it has taken proactive
steps to implement a set of eco-friendly
initiatives and practices.
World Environment Day
In conjunction with the World
Environment Day on 5 June 2008,
several green activities were
launched to encourage staff to adopt
environmentally-friendly practices.
Banners to promote awareness of
green issues amongst tenants and
visitors were exhibited at the lobbies
of all K-REIT Asia’s buildings. Some
of the green issues highlighted at the
exhibitions include climate change,
waste minimisation and recycling.
Staff also attended a lunch-time talk
organised at the National Library,
featuring an eco-stellar line of
Singapore’s environmental champions.
Dr Geh Min, President of the Nature
Society, shared on the topic ‘Saving
the Forests, Saving the Earth’ while
Professor Leo Tan from the Nanyang
Technological University shared on
‘Low Carbon Strategies: Ways to
Green-Up Your Life’. The third speaker,
Mr Stewart Tai, Facilities Management
Manager from Alexandra Hospital
elaborated on a case study on how
the hospital management improved
the well-being of their patients by
building a green haven within the
hospital’s premises.
Participants brought unwanted recycleable
items and dropped them into the
recycling bins at the event and also
made pledges to take active steps
towards being more ecologically aware
in their daily lives. In return, pledgers
received recycle-able bags and mugs.
On 7 June 2008, staff and tenants
of K-REIT Asia’s properties attended
a complimentary screening of An
Inconvenient Truth, an acclaimed
documentary about global warming,
championed by former United States
Vice President, Al Gore.
Environment Champions
K-REIT Asia’s representatives
attended the Environment Champions
Workshop on 5 September 2008.
The workshop, a first in a series of
three, was jointly organised by Keppel
Integrated Engineering and the National
Environment Agency (NEA). It allows
environment champions from different
companies to gain valuable knowledge
and share innovative ideas with their
organisations on how they can help
to protect the environment.
During the workshop, the ‘green
champions’ worked in groups to
brainstorm on how to pitch, plan,
communicate and implement
environmental initiatives.
K-REIT Asia’s representatives
also pledged commitment to play
their role for the environment during
the workshop.
Reducing, Reusing
and Recycling
The three recycling bins that were
placed at Keppel Towers and GE
Tower in 2007, were well-used by
tenants. In 2008, the Manager
continued with this initiative and
placed another four recycling bins
at Bugis Junction Towers.
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To promote recycling efforts, the
Manager printed 500 recycle-able carry
bags and distributed them as corporate
gifts. This helped to convey and
promote the message of environmental
conservation to external parties and
express the Manager’s commitment
towards recycling and reduction of
unnecessary usage of resources
- in particular the overuse of plastic
shopping bags.
K-REIT Asia continued to make its
Annual Reports available online at its
corporate website, enabling users
to access them quickly and at their
convenience - saving both paper as well
as costs incurred for printing and mailing.
Both K-REIT Asia’s Annual Reports for
2007 and this report for 2008 are printed
on semi-wood free paper.
Green Buildings
The Manager aims to raise the
standard of environmental performance
for K-REIT Asia’s office buildings. The
Manager believes that sustainable
buildings will not only reap benefits for
the environment but also in corporate
branding and reputation, energy
savings as well as tenants’ well-being.
The Manager is looking into obtaining
the Building and Construction
Authority of Singapore (BCA) Green
Mark certification for all K-REIT Asia’s
buildings. The BCA Green Mark is a
green building rating system used to
evaluate a building for its environmental
impact and performance. It is endorsed
and supported by the NEA. For
instance, the Manager is currently
in the process of upgrading airconditioner
chillers at Keppel Towers
and GE Tower to energy-efficient units
so as to ensure that they fall within the
Green Mark guidelines.
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K-REIT Asia’s buildings have pockets
of green relief.
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