Case study: How FCOT minimises energy consumption and GHG emissions at its properties - SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine

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››Case study: How FCOT minimises energy consumption and GHG emissions at its properties

Case study: How FCOT minimises energy consumption and GHG emissions at its properties

By Gerasimos
August 19, 2020
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Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) is a real estate investment trust with a diversified portfolio of six high quality and well-located properties in Singapore, Australia and the UK, comprising four office developments, one business space property and a business park. FCOT seeks to minimise energy consumption and GHG emissions at its properties, in contribution to global efforts towards mitigating climate change.  Tweet This!

This case study is based on the 2019 Annual Report by FCOT published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.

Abstract

As properties rely heavily on electricity to operate, enhancing energy efficiency helps FCOT to reduce resources consumption and operating costs. Renewable energy is also used, where possible. In order to minimise energy consumption and GHG emissions at its properties FCOT took action to:

  • recommission and upgrade lightings at Central Park
  • implement sustainable management at China Square Central
  • reduce energy consumption at 357 Collins Street through improvements in the mechanical plant
  • use renewable energy
  • attain ISO 50001:2011 and ISO 14001:2015 certifications to boost energy performance

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What are the material issues the company has identified?

In its 2019 Annual Report FCOT identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, anti-corruption, marketing and labelling, employment, training and education, labour/management relations. Among these, minimising energy consumption and GHG emissions at its properties stands out as a key material issue for FCOT.

Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards              

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:

“The reporting organization shall identify its stakeholders, and explain how it has responded to their reasonable expectations and interests.”

Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.

Key stakeholder groups FCOT engages with:

Stakeholder Group                Method of engagement
Tenants

 

 ·      Tenant engagement programmes

·      Joint community programmes with tenants

·      Tenant surveys

·      Tenant meetings
Employees

 

 

 

 ·      Performance appraisals

·      Team bonding activities

·      Orientation programme for new staff

·      Communication via the Frasers Property intranet and Workplace

·      Training

·      Company and employee activities such as Annual Dinner & Dance, Family Day, sports events and fitness programmes
Property managers ·      Regular meetings and discussions

·      Emails and phone calls
Unitholders and investor community

 

 

 

 

 ·      Local and overseas investor meetings, conferences, roadshows and property tours

·      Post-results briefings for analysts and investors

·      Annual General Meetings

·      Website, announcements, management presentations, press releases, webcasts of half-year and full-year results briefings
Local community

 

 ·      Social and community events and activities

·      Sustainability report
Regulators and industry bodies

 

 

 ·      Meetings, briefings and consultations

·      Industry conferences and seminars and memberships in industry bodies such as REITAS (FCOT is one of the pioneer members)

How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues

To identify and prioritise material topics FCOT carried out a survey with internal and external stakeholders.

blankWhat actions were taken by FCOT to minimise energy consumption and GHG emissions at its properties?

In its 2019 Annual Report FCOT reports that it took the following actions for minimising energy consumption and GHG emissions at its properties:

  • Recommissioning and upgrading lightings at Central Park
  • Approximately 70% of the building’s mechanical controls have been recommissioned in the past four years, which has resulted in energy savings and a more comfortable environment for tenants. Recommissioning is one of the most efficient ways to improve the building’s energy performance, as it optimises energy efficiency, building operations and peak building energy demand management. Over the past four years, the lighting system on the tower floors has been upgraded to T5 fluorescent lights or light-emitting diode (LED) lights, which has reduced lighting energy use from 13.2 watts/ sq m to 5 watts/ sq m (a savings of 62.1%). An automatic lighting control system utilising motion sensor has also been installed.
  • Implementing sustainable management at China Square Central
  • At China Square Central, the usage of a water-cooled chiller plant system designed with energy efficient chillers, variable speed drives (VSD) driven chilled water pumps and tower fans has resulted in energy savings of around 503,000 kWh per annum. The savings are a significant 23% over and above the baseline stated in BCA Green Mark requirements. Additionally, LED and T5 lights and motion sensors installed at common areas resulted in substantial energy savings of approximately 165,000 kWh per annum and achieved a 62.9% improvement over the benchmarked lighting power budget of the BCA Green Mark requirements. China Square Central also uses sustainable materials and products certified under the Singapore Green Labelled Scheme (SGLS) or Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC) extensively to provide a healthier environment for occupants. Sustainable materials and products used include ceiling boards, drywall partitions, wooden door panels, concrete walls, floor screeds, eco-friendly cleaning products, sustainable toilet rolls and paper hand towels.
  • Reducing energy consumption at 357 Collins Street through improvements in the mechanical plant
  • Close monitoring and proactive improvements to the property’s mechanical chiller plant resulted in a year-on-year reduction in consumption of around 111 mWh or 10.2% in FY2019. The water chiller temperature was also fine-tuned to approximately 1°C. The plant is one of the biggest consumers of electricity in the building. Adjusting the control valves ensures correct staging of the chiller system to maintain high efficiencies.
  • Using renewable energy
  • FCOT uses renewable energy across its properties, as follows:
    • Central Park: The installation of a solar photovoltaic system generated around 10,000 kWh from solar power in FY2019, providing sufficient renewable energy to power the management office of Central Park.
    • 357 Collins Street: About 20% of the power used in FY2019 was from green power sources which were predominantly generated by wind farms.
    • Farnborough Business Park:
      • Renewable energy: The multi-let buildings in the business park purchased 100% of their energy requirements from renewable sources in FY2019.
      • Promoting green travels: The business park provides comprehensive end-of-trip facilities, bicycle paths throughout the business park and electric vehicle charging stations for both tenants and visitors. In FY2019, two more electric vehicle charging stations were added. The business park’s shuttle busses have low-emission Euro 5 engines which are more environmentally friendly.
  • Attaining ISO 50001:2011 and ISO 14001:2015 certifications to boost energy performance
  • In FY2019, the environment management systems (EMS) of both properties in Singapore attained ISO 50001:2011 certifications (Energy Management System), in addition to their existing ISO 14001:2015 certifications (Environmental Management System). These certifications are internationally recognised standards for strategic and systematic EMS implementation with proven energy and cost savings. These standards enable and empower the property managers to identify and harness energy-saving opportunities as they materialise. By continuously monitoring and improving energy efficiency, the properties are able to achieve continuous energy savings.

Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?

The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:

1) Disclosure 302-1 Energy consumption within the organization

2) Disclosure 302-3 Energy intensity

3) Disclosure 305-2 Energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions

4) Disclosure 305-4 GHG emissions intensity

 

Disclosure 302-1 Energy consumption within the organization corresponds to:

Disclosure 302-3 Energy intensity corresponds to:

Disclosure 305-2 Energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions corresponds to:

Disclosure 305-4 GHG emissions intensity corresponds to:

 

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References:

1) This case study is based on published information by FCOT, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:

http://database.globalreporting.org/

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/

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