Environmental Care and the Community

Zen garden, Apollo Heath & Wellness Centre, Auckland

ING Medical Properties Limited, as a part of the global ING Group (ING) subscribes to the ING environmental statement. We recognise that certain natural resources are finite and must therefore be used responsibly.

The protection of the environment has become more important. Scarce resources must be preserved for future generations. At the same time, there is a growing awareness that many environmental issues do not stand alone, but are intertwined with broader social and political developments. 

ING Group is a large global financial services institution with operations in over 50 countries. We are committed to conducting our business responsibly and environmental protection is a fundamental part of this commitment.  

As described in the ING Business Principles, which can be found on the ING corporate website, ING Group supports the belief that healthy economic growth and environmental care are two sides of the same coin. We believe that globally active companies like ING have an important role to play in contributing to sustainable development. 

Group environmental statement

All ING business units are expected to raise employee awareness of environmental issues and encourage environmentally responsible behaviour. ING Group publishes an annual corporate responsibility report that includes statistics about ING’s care for the environment and describes our progress in preventing, managing and reducing our environmental impact. ING complies with all relevant environmental protection laws in the countries where it does business. In addition, we have identified three areas we believe we can control most effectively in order to reduce our impact on the environment. They are energy consumption, business travel and paper consumption. 

Energy consumption

Given the international debate on climate change, the rationale for ING’s focus on energy consumption is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The most effective measure to cut cost and reduce emissions is to limit consumption. ING therefore supports the importance of further implementing in-house energy efficiency programmes. In addition, ING encourages all business units world wide to purchase energy from renewable or sustainable sources if, and where, available and feasible. 

Business travel

Energy used for business travel is mainly generated through the burning of fossil fuels. Reducing business travel is the most effective way to reduce costs and carbon emissions.

It is ING’s policy to only make business trips if other forms of communication, such as video conferencing, e-mail, fax messages or telephone calls, are inadequate. 

Paper consumption

ING uses vast quantities of paper for its internal and external communications. To limit our impact on the environment ING aims to reduce paper consumption, by making greater use of electronic communications like the internet, intranet and document imaging. ING Medical Properties Trust’s website allows unitholders and potential investors to read various communications via the web, which further minimises the amount of paper used. As outlined in the Chairman's report, in the near future, unitholders will be able to elect to receive publications from the Trust as a web link, via email notification, reducing paper, printing, production and postage costs.

Where printing is required, ING encourages business units to use environmentally friendly paper that is non-bleached (ECF and TCF) and originates from sustainable sources. ING Medical Properties Limited uses a range of environmentally responsible paper stock for all printed unitholder publications.  ING Medical Properties Limited, as a part of the global ING Group (“ING”) subscribes to the ING environmental statement that recognises that certain natural resources are finite and must therefore be used responsibly. he range, called Novatech, is manufactured using Elemental Chlorine Free pulp sourced from sustainable, well-managed forests. Oxygen bleached, dioxin and acid free, Novatech is produced by Nordland Papier, a company certified under ISO 14001 environmental management systems and registered under the European Union’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme.  

Our building management policy

ING Medical Properties Limited, as a responsible manager, wants to ensure that where possible each of the Trust’s investments has initiatives to achieve environmentally sustainable features in the individual building strategic plans. We consider the initiative to produce and maintain environmentally responsible developments a fundamental requirement of any project, be it a new development or a refurbishment.

This view is supported by tenant demand for environmentally sustainable accommodation that:

•  Provides a reduction in operating costs;
•  Provides an improved environment for the occupants;
•  Mitigates the functional obsolescence of an investment; and
•  Results in increased tenant demand for the Trust’s assets, and an enhanced property value.

The Manager is committed to finding new and innovative ways of making the Trust’s new and existing buildings more environmentally sound and sustainable. ING (NZ) Limited is a member of the New Zealand Green Building Council, the non-government organisation comprising industry leaders who are committed to developing market based solutions that help deliver efficient, healthier, innovative and environmentally sustainable buildings for New Zealand. 

To date, the primary application has been with the development of Ascot Central, where a number of green building design initiatives formed part of the development. Ascot Central was awarded a Green Star New Zealand – Office Design four star rating in April 2009. In order to achieve this, a number of innovative sustainable building strategies were considered and selected for this project and materials were chosen for durability, recycled content and low or zero air emissions. 

Ascot Central’s design initiatives include:

• Rainwater harvesting
• Bicycle racks
• Sensor lighting
• Waste recycling
• Building materials
• Efficient and effective services