Business Writing Sunselect Property Group

Question: Discuss about the Business Writing for Sunselect Property Group. Answer: Introduction: Sunselect Property Group (SPG) is an established property developer. It is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the leading property development companies for more than 50 years. SPG has been developing commercial and residential properties in all over Australia and has been very successful. It has a diversified developmental business. SPG has covered the development of residential housing and apartments, commercial properties such retail and industrial properties, ownership and management of investment property and general property management. However, in the initial years, sustainability of the projects was not in the priority list of SPG. That led to decline in their popularity, especially in the last decade when sustainability became a major issue in the world (Bebbington, Unerman and O'Dwyer 2014). Hence, to improve their image and goodwill, the company has given efforts to modify their CSR profile. Now, developing sustainable projects has been the primary agenda of SPG. SPG has started the development of a sustainable housing project, named The Greenfields Development. It is a low-rise, high density housing project, aimed at providing affordable and energy efficient housing. It promotes sustainable living. Sustainability has become a key issue in the world. Every organization must contribute to save the environment for the future generation. It is responsibility of the companies, named as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). SPG has focused on three key areas of sustainability for this housing project; those are energy efficiency, water consumption and management and waste management (Crane, Matten and Spence 2013). Restoring Resources: Energy Efficiency: SPG has aimed at developing energy efficient housing for the people. It has planned for using less of finite sources and more of infinite or renewable energy sources. The energy consumption increases the emission of greenhouse gases, which contributes in the global warming. As per the record of Climate Change website, households account for one-fifth of the greenhouse gas emissions of Australia. A household include many features, which consume energy, such as, heating and cooling (40%), lighting (8%-15%), hot water supply (21%), appliances (33%), entertainment and home office equipment (10%) and home automation (McGee 2013). All these are integral parts of an average household. The Greenfields Development project of SPG commits to increase the energy efficiency of the housing by handling the sustainability issues. Water Consumption andManagement: Water is another important factor of living. Hence, using and reusing water is a goal for SPG for sustainability objectives. Water is most essential utility for a household. Since, the resource is not abundant everywhere, it should be used carefully to reduce the waste. It has been found that when the water is free or cheap, the level of wastage is maximum. Hence, water consumption and management is a vital part of the sustainability agenda of the company (Willis et al. 2013). The waste water management is also important. Reusing the water reduces water bills, uses of fewer water resources, cut down the water pollution. However, the waste water treatment facilities must be adequate and equipped with modern technologies so that waste water management becomes cost effective (Fane, Reardon and Milne 2013). WasteManagement: The environment is polluted from the vast amount of wastes from households and industries. Hence, waste management is crucial for sustainability. SPG is committed to reduce waste and reusing those whenever possible through implementation of new systems of waste management. In Australia, around 42% of the total solid waste is building waste (Reardon et al. 2013). Minimizing the waste can result in significant amount of environmental, social and economic benefits. The three Rs of waste management are: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Reduce consumption of resources by developing smaller houses help to conserve the scarce resources effectively for future generation and reduce waste. The Greenfields Development of SPG is a low rise, high density housing project which fulfils this agenda. Reuse existing buildings and raw materials help to decrease the demand for new resources and hence saves money and wastes of resources. Since, a housing project involves huge amount of energy and resources, hence, reusing the materials from existing but abandoned or old buildings can help to minimize wastes and save resources and money. Recycle of resources which have no more life or left over also help to reduce wastes and lower the demand for new materials (Guerrero, Maas and Hogland 2013). SPG has applied all of these steps of waste management in their new housing project for incorporating sustainability. Recommendations: Following the major sustainability responsibilities, SPG can take the measures mentioned below: For Energy Efficiency: Incorporation of energy efficient LED lighting in all the future housing and commercial projects. Using more of renewable energy sources such as, solar, wind and water. Plan to achieve minimum 5 star NABERS Energy tenancy rating for each of the corporate tenancies, and 5 star NABERS Energy portfolio rating for all commercial properties by 2020 (Hylan, d Lyons and Lyons 2013). Reducing energy intensity in all companies by 20% by 2020. For Water Consumption and management: Reusing the waste water for every new developmental project by 2020. Reducing water intensity in all companies by 20% by 2020. Decreasing water intensity in all existing commercial and housing properties by 1.5% per year. For Waste management: Plan to achieve 90% recycling rate across all types of business by 2020. Development of waste management plans for all existing housing and commercial projects by 2020. Implementing operational waste management plan for all corporate offices of SPG by 2018. Conclusion: In the modern world, where climate change, global warming are major issues, the sustainability of environment have taken the top position in the list of CSR of every organization across the world. SPG is no exception. It has started to incorporate the sustainable developmental plans in its business. For all the new property developmental projects, SPG includes the sustainability issues like energy efficiency, water consumption and management and waste management as the top priorities. Thus, the new project The Greenfields Development is a housing project of SPG which addresses the sustainability issues of business. References: Bebbington, J., Unerman, J. and O'Dwyer, B., 2014.Sustainability accounting and accountability. Routledge. Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L. ed., 2013. Corporate social responsibility: in a global context. In: Corporate social responsibility: readings and cases in a global context, 2nd ed. Abingdon: Routledge. Fane, S., Reardon, C. and Milne, G., 2013. Wastewater reuse. 1st ed. [ebook] YourHome. Available at: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/sites/prod.yourhome.gov.au/files/pdf/YOURHOME-Water-WastewaterReuse.pdf. Guerrero, L.A., Maas, G. and Hogland, W., 2013. Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries.Waste management,33(1), pp.220-232. Hyland, M., Lyons, R.C. and Lyons, S., 2013. The value of domestic building energy efficiencyevidence from Ireland.Energy Economics,40, pp.943-952. McGee, C., 2013. Energy. 1st ed. [ebook] YourHome. Available at: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/sites/prod.yourhome.gov.au/files/pdf/YOURHOME-Energy-Energy.pdf. Reardon, C., Fewster, E., Harkeness, T. and Alviano, P., 2013.Waste Minimization. 1st ed. [ebook] YourHome. Available at: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/sites/prod.yourhome.gov.au/files/pdf/YOURHOME-Materials-WasteMinimisation.pdf. Willis, R.M., Stewart, R.A., Giurco, D.P., Talebpour, M.R. and Mousavinejad, A., 2013. End use water consumption in households: impact of socio-demographic factors and efficient devices.Journal of Cleaner Production,60, pp.107-115.