1. Social and Environmental Assessment and Management:
TPS’s policy is to minimize the impact on the local environment while contributing to maximize socio-economic benefits to the local economy in the country of operation. Serena hotels and lodges aim to contribute to the local economy through the training of skilled manpower, the promotion of artisans and craft industries, and through sensitive conservation and development of the surrounding area. Prior to the creation of new facilities in sensitive areas, thorough environmental impact studies are carried out and special programs are developed to protect the environment. These measures have earned the Serena Hotels numerous environmental awards.
TPST operates in compliance with assessment and permitting requirements imposed by the local regulatory authorities. No formal Environmental and Social Impact Assessment was undertaken for the Serena Hotel in Dushanbe, because this was not required by the regulations in Tajikistan. However, the project was designed and developed by experienced professionals from a Canadian company and as described below, low, the project is being implemented in a manner that limits environmental and social risk.
TPST has outsourced construction operations including structural, mechanical and electromechanical works to a contracting company which operates under established quality, health and safety management systems in compliance with the relevant international standards. The contractor company holds certifications to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 as well as OHSAS 18001 and regularly audited by the British Standards Institution (BSI). The construction contractor has developed project-specific accident prevention, safety and security and environmental management plans and has designated staff to oversee compliance with these plans, both for its own employees and for sub-contractors. The contractor’s management efforts are largely independent from TPST. The Company will appoint a staff member or a sub-contracted inspector to enhance its oversight of the contractors’ and sub-contractors’ compliance with the social, environmental and OHS management rules during construction.
IFC has observed through several projects with TPS that experienced staff are recruited and retained for the management of engineering, environmental and social issues in its properties. TPST plans to replicate this practice in Dushanbe and will recruit or designate an environmental officer to establish the environmental management structure at TPST, and to provide ongoing management of environmental, health and safety matters during the operational phase of the project.
2. Labor and Working Conditions:
TPST operates in compliance with the labor regulations of Tajikistan and International Labor Organization (“ILO”) conventions. Tajikistan is a member of the ILO; therefore country regulations include clauses about workers’ organizations, non-discrimination and equal opportunity, and prohibition of forced labor. As part of the agreement, union rights are available to the employees. Nonetheless, there are no union members so far. There are appropriate mechanisms for employees to express grievances both for own and contractor employees. The minimum age of employment is 18 for all staff. Working conditions and terms of employment are properly communicated to the employees. The construction employees work six days per week in two shifts and receive 100% supplementary payment for overtime work.
At the time of IFC’s visit, there were approximately 170 employees working on construction, composed of 50% Tajik and 50% Turkish nationals. In the peak period of the construction work, the number of employees is expected to reach 300. Local employees live in and around the city of Dushanbe while foreign workers are accommodated in a labor camp where the conditions of living are in general appropriate.
The contractor company operates an established health and safety management system in line with the OHSAS 1800. Safety, security and emergency management plans addressing project-specific risks are available. Electricians, crane operators and hot work technicians are all certified and each employee receives induction training on health and safety rules before starting work. Regular meetings are held with the employees on health and safety issues. The contractor will ensure that health and safety plans and procedures, definition of employment terms and conditions are available to all workers in their native language. All employees of the actual contractor are covered by social and medical insurance and will also be available for other possible contractors and sub-contractors who will work in TPST’s operations. All employees pass through medical examination before hiring and there is a permanent occupational physician on-site. A regular medical inspection program will also be established and further training and awareness campaigns for health and safety promotion will be provided.
Even though the current contractor has established certified health and safety management systems, TPST will also monitor compliance through regular inspections to make sure that social, environmental, occupational health and safety rules are always respected throughout the construction of the project. The regular inspections will include enforced used of personal protective equipment, provision of trainings, implementation of work permit rules, noise monitoring, preventive maintenance tests, monitoring of overtime periods and other health and safety requirements.
3. Pollution Prevention and Abatement, Conservation of Resources:
3.1. Resource Conservation, Energy Efficiency and Emissions to Air
At the time of design conception, three alternative energy sources were considered: electricity, gas and diesel, with gas being the first preference. Studies revealed that gas and oil were mostly from imported sources, while diesel supply was more reliable than the gas supply. The cost of equivalent unit energy of diesel is about five times compared to that of electricity. The electricity generation in Dushanbe is predominantly by hydropower and is therefore, green power. As a result, for reasons of logistics, economics and environment, electricity was selected as the primary source of power. This will be provided from the national grid, in addition to the use of diesel generators for back-up purposes. There are a number of on-going constructions of hydroelectric power stations in Tajikistan and substantial improvement of power supply is expected by the year 2010.
Space heating and cooling will be provided by a water loop heat pump system generally known to have energy efficient features. The heat pumps will be connected by a water pipe loop. The water in this piping loop will both as act as a heat source and a heat sink. The pipe loop will be network connected to a boiler heat source and a cooling tower through respective plate heat exchangers. Each of the heat pumps comprises all the components of a vapor compression cycle, i.e., a condenser, an evaporator, a compressor and an expansion device. Condensed water will be re-circulated within the system.
Water will be supplied from the city network and will be heated by two electrical boilers both for space heating and domestic usage. Each hot water generator will have a capacity of 750,000 Kcal/hr. Additionally, there will be two diesel based hot water generators, each with the capacity of 400,000 Kcal/hr for back-up purposes.
The maximum power demand for the hotel, consisting of 12,750 m2 of total built-up area, is estimated to be 1560 kW. The power requirement per square meter will therefore be 120 watts. Two transformers, each with the capacity of 1250 kVA and two back-up diesel generators (500 and 250 kVA) with acoustic enclosure will be set up. Low sulfur content will be part of supply criteria for the diesel. Air emissions from the diesel generators will be monitored as part of the preventive maintenance and pollution control program, and a treatment system for flue gases will be installed in relation to the level of emissions.
As previously mentioned, given the fact that the major source of electricity is hydropower in Tajikistan, the direct and indirect air emissions from the project operations are expected to be insignificant. On the other hand, the current country context of electricity shortages, especially in winter, requires efficiency in energy use. The project includes a number of mechanisms to reduce electricity consumption such as key card system for room lighting, maximized use of energy efficient lighting systems such as CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights) and LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) for indoor lighting in guest rooms and public areas as well as for external lighting, dimming control and smart lighting in public areas. Solar lighting for outdoor lighting will also be considered wherever possible.
Even though water is one of the resources the country possesses in great abundance, water conserving fixtures will be used wherever applicable. The current estimated daily raw water requirement is estimated as 90 m3 and TPST will consider additional water and wastewater reuse opportunities. TPST will further review its design and construction to apply green building requirements in accordance with the international LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standard or similar programs.
Under the light of protection of natural resources principle, TPST has signed an agreement with the governmental authorities committing to protecting the trees on Rudaki Avenue in Dushanbe where the project is located.
3.2. Hazardous Materials, Wastes and Effluents Management:
Both hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated from the construction operations are sent to the municipal facilities as agreed with the relevant authority. TPST will commission an expert to conduct an asbestos survey at the one remaining old building currently used as offices, which remains from previous ownership. No decision has been yet taken by the Company as to whether this building will be part of the hotel facilities after refurbishment, or whether it will be demolished. In either case, TPST will implement safety measures according to the survey results prior to refurbishment or demolition activities and will inform relevant authorities as necessary. Any obsolete technical equipment such as transformers or air conditioning units in that remaining building or anywhere else on the construction site, which may include CFCs or PCBs will also be carefully examined and disposed of in a safe manner.
Asbestos, CFCs, PCBs or other persistent organic chemicals will not be used in construction or operation of the hotel. Pesticides selection and management will be in compliance with IFC requirements during the operation so that use of Class I compounds categorized as extremely toxic by the World Health Organization will be avoided. Any other compounds banned by international regulations will not be used at the site. Best available techniques will be selected and implemented for laundry and dry cleaning facilities to operate in the safest manner. A hazardous materials management procedure will be established for appropriate selection, purchasing, storage and handling of chemicals which will be used on the site. The only bulk chemical is expected to be diesel oil for the back-up generators, which will be stored in two tanks with secondary containment, each with a capacity of 20 tons.
Effluents arising from the construction operations and from the relevant labor camp are discharged to the city sewerage system. For the operational phase, oil and grease from catering operations will be segregated and disposed appropriately. Even though it is not currently required by local regulations, TPST will include installation of a treatment system essentially composed of a biological oxidation unit or an equivalent technique with auxiliary facilities as necessary into the project design to ensure that project effluents meet IFC’s pollution control requirements for surface waters.
4. Community Health, Safety and Security:
Dushanbe city is situated in a high risk seismic zone. This has been taken into consideration in construction design within the context of geologic survey relevant to the project site and TPST will provide IFC with relevant documentation by a competent professional to confirm adequate design and construction.
The nine storey hotel building is designed to meet local and NFPA life and fire safety standards. In this respect, rooms and areas accessible to the public will have smoke and fire detection systems with addressable zoning. Sprinklers, hose reels, dedicated water reservoir to the fire fighting system and building structure including appropriate egress arrangements will be installed. TPST will provide IFC with life and fire safety master plans prepared by a suitably qualified professional, showing how building design will meet local and NFPA fire safety codes, and after completion of construction, will provide confirmation that the building was constructed in compliance with the master plan, thus it meets relevant codes. Emergency plans will be documented and implemented according to the local and internationally agreed standards. To address medical emergencies, professional medical staff will be available 24 hours a day.
There will be water treatment facilities which will be designed based on the raw water characteristics of the city water supply. The system will consist of primary multimedia filtration followed by softening. For drinking water, a reverse osmosis and an on-line UV treatment will be installed.
Food safety management system will be established according to best practices in the hotel industry as it is the case for operational Serena Hotels and will be in compliance with internationally recognized standards. A strong preventive maintenance program will be established and documented for the operational phase of hotel. This will include but not be limited to the regular maintenance of fire safety systems, safety checks of critical equipments such as pressurized vessels, controls of HVAC, water treatment and other cleaning systems, legionella control procedures, pool safety and other hygiene monitoring programs.
Throughout the construction, health and safety measures taken include tests of construction machines, controls of dust release, traffic rules and access to the site. TPST will impose noise monitoring to be performed in order to implement if necessary, further measures to minimize disturbance to the surrounding area. The security of the construction site and of the relevant labor camp is ensured by a team composed of 13 members who are not armed. For the operational phase as well, the security control systems and organization will be set up in compliance with the IFC requirements as it is actually the case for operational Serena Hotels.
