Going green has its rewards, especially for Treetops Executive Residences, managed by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung Hospitality Management Services.
It has won them the prestigious Green Mark Gold Award, an accolade awarded by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). Treetops is the first building under the service apartment industry category to receive this accolade.
Beyond meeting the stringent criteria – which include energy and water efficiency, environmental protection, indoor environmental quality assessment – Treetops has in place practices to ensure guests enjoy a better quality of life.
On the concept of being “green”, Mr Tay Hock Soon, general manager of Treetops Executive Residences, said: “We believe it is not confined to just the wellbeing of the earth and its environment; it also covers the wellbeing of human health.
“With the increased attention on adopting a green lifestyle, we feel the focus should go beyond the basics of providing lavish living by providing state-of-the-art facilities and outstanding interior and exterior decor; it is also about going back to nature and to seek the purest state of the essential needs in life, which is to improve the quality of life for our guests and staff.
“I agree with this statement I once heard: ‘We have a choice not to drink dirty water but we do not have a choice not to breathe in polluted air’.”
At Treetops Executive Residences, the air-purifying system installed is so effective that a staff member who used to get weekly asthmatic attacks no longer suffers from it.
“When staff health improves, so does productivity,” Mr Tay said.
“From a marketing perspective, it is good branding as we received positive acknowledgement from guests who applaud our efforts. It has also made us the preferred choice of guests who are aware of our cause and know that their overall wellbeing is being taken care of,” he added.
Treetops Executive Residences is working to get BCA’s highest award, the Green Mark Platinum status.
They have started an initiative to reduce electricity usage by installing heat-recovery systems that produce hot water for the rooms, a rainwater recovery system to reduce water consumption, installing energy-saving light bulbs and purifying the swimming pool water so that fewer chemicals are used.
Source : Today – 4 Jun 2010