Green Management

Green Management

The department has all along recognised the importance of environmental protection and sustainable development to Hong Kong. Therefore, we are committed to ensuring that all services delivered to the public and our internal operations are in compliance with environmental protection principles and practices and in accordance with the requirements under the relevant environmental legislation, codes of practice and the Clean Air Charter. Reviews on green measures are conducted from time to time for continuous improvement in our environmental performance. We also encourage staff members to actively adopting green practices in both the workplace and their everyday lives.

The department encourages staff members to take an active part in adopting green practices in both the workplace and their everyday lives.

The department encourages staff members to take an active part in adopting green practices in both the workplace and their everyday lives.

Environmental Management

The Departmental Secretary is appointed as the Green Manager of the department. He is responsible for overseeing, reviewing and formulating various environmental protection measures in the department. Division heads are assigned to explore opportunities to adopt green initiatives and monitor the energy conservation measures to be implemented in offices under their purview. Energy Wardens are appointed at sub-divisional level to ensure the effective implementation of green housekeeping measures by conducting regular inspections in office premises and to maintain staff awareness of the importance of persistent conformity to the housekeeping measures. Reviews of green management practices focusing mainly on energy saving are conducted by Energy Wardens on a quarterly basis.

The Resources Management Committee, chaired by the Deputy Director and consisting of members of senior management, closely monitors paper and energy consumption in its monthly meetings. The consumption records are regularly updated and uploaded to our intranet portal to enable managers at all levels to have a holistic view of the consumption of resources, which facilitates their monitoring process.

Environmental Performance

The department's power consumption in 2021 slightly increased by 2.3 per cent when compared with that in 2020, with the total consumption being about 50 million kWh. The department will continue to implement a series of energy saving measures to reduce energy consumption.

Greening has been positively integrated into the design of government buildings, including the new control points.

The department will conduct carbon audits on those control points and buildings with annual electricity consumption exceeding 500,000 kWh. The findings will help us find out and measure our carbon footprints for the formulation of appropriate carbon reduction measures.

The department has been working in close collaboration with the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department to identify and implement various practicable energy saving measures.

To reduce energy consumption as far as practicable, the department will continue to take the following green measures:

Green Measures Taken
Lighting
  • Switching off lighting that is not in use.
  • Adjusting illumination to an appropriate level in offices, corridors and public areas, etc.
Air-conditioning
  • Adjusting indoor temperature to the recommended 25.5°C level in summer months.
  • Lowering window blinds or curtains before leaving offices to reduce direct sunlight on the following day.
  • Keeping windows closed in air-conditioned rooms.
Office Equipment
  • Switching off computers, photocopiers and other office equipment that are not in use to avoid leaving them in standby mode.
  • Replacing office equipment with models of better energy efficiency, such as those with the 'Energy Star' label, or the Grade 1 or 2 'Energy Label', whenever suitable.
Water Saving
  • Installing auto-sensing or timed-flow water taps for office premises as far as practicable to achieve water saving.
Others
  • Adopting the 'last-man-out' practice to check and turn off all lighting and office equipment.
  • Encouraging staff to use staircases instead of lifts for inter-floor traffic as far as possible.

The department has been committed to advocating the reduction of paper consumption. Our paper consumption in 2021 decreased by 13.35 per cent when compared with that in 2020. The department will make sustained efforts to reduce paper consumption as far as practicable and to maintain its diversified range of measures to minimise paper consumption both externally and internally, including:

Externally

  • Sharing information with members of the public via the electronic platform on the departmental website and mobile application for quick and paperless access to information.
  • Providing members of the public with a number of e-Services, such as online application, online appointment booking, online reporting of immigration offences and registration of outbound travel information. The e-Services not only facilitate the public's use of our services, but also help reduce paper consumption.

Internally

  • Making use of electronic means such as emails and our intranet portal to communicate and disseminate information as far as possible.
  • Distributing internal circulars and notices as well as posting orders through electronic means.
  • Avoiding printing or photocopying documents unless hard copies are absolutely necessary.
  • Using both sides of every sheet of paper and utilising the blank side of used sheets for drafting, faxing, printing and photocopying documents.
  • Reusing envelopes and file covers.
  • Using recycled paper.
  • Implementing the Electronic Leave Application and Processing System for leave application and approval, and the e-Procurement System for procurement.
  • Sending out electronic season's greeting cards during festive seasons.

The green measures listed above were widely accepted by both members of the public and our staff. The department will continue to adopt information technology as far as practicable and closely monitor our paper consumption to create a paperless work environment.

To raise staff and public awareness of the benefits of waste recycling for the environment, the Immigration Tower has participated in the 'Programme on Source Separation of Commercial and Industrial Waste' initiated by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD).

Recycling bins are installed at the Immigration Tower to collect recyclables, such as waste paper, metal, plastic and glass bottles. Recycling bins are installed at the Immigration Tower to collect recyclables, such as waste paper, metal, plastic and glass bottles.

Recycling bins are installed at the Immigration Tower to collect recyclables, such as waste paper, metal, plastic and glass bottles.

Apart from traditional wastes, other recyclable wastes including rechargeable batteries, fluorescent lamps and CD-ROMs are also collected through collection boxes.

To further minimise solid waste and protect the environment, the department continued to return used printer cartridges to suppliers by means of trade-in. The department has also included green specifications for the procurement of stock items to ensure that the products to be purchased will make minimal adverse impacts on the environment.

To implement the Clean Air Charter, which aims at improving air quality in Hong Kong, the department has adopted the following measures in daily operations to minimise the adverse impacts of our vehicles and vessels on the environment as far as practicable:

  • Encouraging staff members to share pool cars and combine their trips whenever practicable to fully utilise the vehicles and reduce mileage.
  • Planning routes in advance when using departmental vehicles to shorten journeys and travelling time.
  • Encouraging the use of public transport whenever possible.
  • Ensuring compliance with the requirement for switching off vehicle engines while waiting under the Motor Vehicle Idling (Fixed Penalty) Ordinance (Cap. 611, Laws of Hong Kong) to reduce exhaust emissions and achieve fuel saving.
  • Ensuring proper maintenance of our departmental vehicles and vessels to minimise the production of pollutants and nuisance caused by exhaust emissions.

The total fuel consumption of the vehicle and vessel fleets of the department slightly increased by 3 per cent from 1,047,291 litres in 2020 to 1,079,643 litres in 2021. The department will continue to make its best effort to minimise the fuel consumption and emissions of our vehicle and vessel fleets.

The department has all along endeavoured to provide a better work environment for its staff. In this connection, the Immigration Tower has participated in the Indoor Air Quality Certification Scheme to ensure good indoor air quality to safeguard the health of our staff. In 2021, the indoor air quality of the Immigration Tower achieved the 'Good Class'.

The indoor air quality of the Immigration Tower has attained 'Good Class' under the Indoor Air Quality Certification Scheme launched by the Environmental Protection Department.

The indoor air quality of the Immigration Tower has attained 'Good Class' under the Indoor Air Quality Certification Scheme launched by the Environmental Protection Department.

To foster a green culture among staff members, the department continued to disseminate to staff through emails and our intranet portal the latest news and useful information on environmental protection, such as encouraging staff members to minimise the use of disposable plastic tableware as urged by the EPD. Staff were also encouraged to participate in environmental protection campaigns arranged by other departments/organisations, such as the 'Green Low Carbon Day' organised by the Community Chest, which encouraged participants to adopt a greener lifestyle, such as taking public transport and supporting recycling of waste; the 'Earth Hour' organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature, which encouraged participants to switch off non-essential lights at the appointed time for an hour; and the 'Moon Cake Box Recycling Programme' and 'Red Packet, Candy/Biscuit Box Recycling Campaign' organised by the building management office of the Immigration Tower.

To enhance staff's environmental awareness, the department has publicised green tips and the latest news relating to green matters at various offices. The information is updated periodically.

Staff members are encouraged to participate in environmental protection campaigns organised by different organisations so as to enhance their environmental awareness. Staff members are encouraged to participate in environmental protection campaigns organised by different organisations so as to enhance their environmental awareness.

Staff members are encouraged to participate in environmental protection campaigns organised by different organisations so as to enhance their environmental awareness.

The Way Forward

The support and cooperation from staff are the key to success in green office management. The department will continue to reinforce and extend the current housekeeping measures, adopt green management principles in all activities and take forward new green initiatives and targets as appropriate. The effectiveness of the green measures will be reviewed periodically in order to seek continuous improvement in the efficient use of energy and resources.

Environmentally Friendly Design of the New Immigration Headquarters

The new headquarters will adopt various energy efficient features and renewable energy technologies, including:

  • water-cooled chillers;
  • variable speed drive for chillers;
  • demand control of supply air;
  • building energy management system; and
  • photovoltaic system

For greening features, the new headquarters will provide landscaping and vertical greening for environmental and amenity benefits. Furthermore, for recycled features, the new headquarters will adopt a rainwater harvesting system for landscape irrigation with a view to conserving water.