Environmental, Social and Governance Report 2020-21 22 23 Our Net-Zero Journey Introduction Materiality Environment, Social and Governance Sustainability initiatives ESG frameworks Water Water Consumption Overview in 2020/21 HKUST recognizes that responsible water use is important but also a complicated issue. Systems can be affected by water consumption, usage, addition, and discharge, and other impacts stemming from operation. We also recognize the importance of acting toward ensuring our use of water doesn’t undermine the system and availability of water for people and the ecosystem that depend on it, minimizing our negative footprint. In HKUST our two main water sources come from potable water and seawater. For potable water, it is clean and drinkable water from the Hong Kong Water Supplies Department which are used around the HKUST campus. On the other hand, seawater mainly comes from Clear Water Bay, and it is mainly used in toilets on campus or at student halls. InYear 2020/21, total potable water consumption reached 336,162 cubic meters, (m3), or 336 million liters, which is equivalent to 133 Olympic sized swimming pools. The water consumption per person was 17m3, which was a 12% reduction compared to last year. Canteen and commercial, and main academic buildings were where consumed the most water, represented 26% and 24% of overall potable water consumption. Water Use is Environmentally Responsible and Socially Equitable HKUST has achieved a steady reduction in water consumption each year after setting the HKUST 2020 Sustainability Goal in 2014. The reduction in 2019/20 was significant since less people were on campus due to the pandemic. However, the reduction has become less significant during year 2020/21 which may be caused by students returning to campus for study on the latter half of year 2021. Graph 4 (Potable water consumption breakdown in HKUST in 2020/21) Cubic Meter 2013/14 0k 50K 100K 150K 200K 250K 300K 350K 400K 450K 500K 2015/16 2014/15 2016/17 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2017/18 Measure Names Carteens and Commercial ChengYuTung Building Conference Lodge LSK Campus Main Academic Buildings Number of Records Public facilities campus Staff Quarters Student Housing Graph 5 (Potable water consumption distribution in HKUST in 2020/21) Table 8 (Total Water Consumption and Reduction at HKUST) Carteens and Commercial 25.08% ChengYuTung Building 4.57% Conference Lodge 0.49% LSK Campus 6.47% Main Academic Buildings 24.34% Public facilities campus 4.57% Staff Quarters 16.19% Student Housing 17.57% Year 2014 / 15 2018 / 19 2019 / 20 2020 / 21 TotalWater Consumption (Cubic Meters) 406,158 395,899 342,669 336,162 Reduction compared to Year 2014 / 15 (Cubic Meters) 0 20,259 63,489 69,996 Reduction compared to Year 2014 / 15 (Cubic Meters) 0 20,259 63,489 69,996
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