Green technology advocates are warning the public against misleading claims of “green” adaptation in property development.
While being green is suddenly “in” for most real estate developers in the country nowadays, people should not readily believe such claims, said Felino Palafox, Jr. urban planner and property development consultant.
Palafox told Malaya Business Insight that “greenwashing” –- a misrepresentation that a product is environment-friendly –- is happening in the local property sector with some developers claiming their developments to be green to lure buyers and clients.
Billboards and posters of a number of ongoing projects in areas like Fort Bonifacio and the Makati and Ortigas central business districts (CBDs) claiming green participation are all over Metro Manila.
Palafox said this is where credible certifying body organizations, like the Philippine Green Building Council (PhilGBC), should step in as they play an important role in protecting the public against deceptive claims by those pretending to construct green buildings.
Based on PhilGBC’s description, “green building” is the practice of designing, constructing, operating, or reusing buildings in an ecological and resource efficient manner; focusing on the promotion and practice of sustainable site development, improvement of indoor air quality, use of efficient energy, and improvement of water management, and utilization of green materials, among others.
PhilGBC has developed the Building Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence (BERDE) standard for local developers to suit the Philippine setting.
If taken from PhilGBC’s point of view, developers should adhere to these standards for their projects to be called “green.”
The PhilGBC is an organization established by real estate stakeholders that promotes and ensures an ecologically and economically sustainable manner of a structure’s design, construction and operation in the country.
“That’s why we need certifying bodies like the PhilGBC with BERDE, and also the green eco-labeling,” Palafox added.
PhilGBC though is not the only organization that provides standards for developers to adopt. The others are the US-based US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) pushed by the US Green Building Council; the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREAM) of the UK Green Building Council; the Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method (BEAM) of the HK Beam Society; Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE) of Japan’s Sustainable Building Consortium; Green Star by the Green Building Council Australian; Green Mark by the Singapore Building and Construction Authority; SBTool by the International Initiative for Sustainable Built Environment; and Green Globes of the Green Globes which is implemented both in Canada and in the US.
Globally, LEED and BREAM are the two most adapted standards by developers.
Palafox said that local green organizations PhilGBC and the Philippine Green Ecolabeling are supposed to report greenwashing in buildings and products, respectively. Wider dissemination of information is also needed to educate the public on green buildings.
Some local projects have so far been certified as green development.
One such project, which met the BERDE standard is Net Lima in Fort Bonifacio of the Net Group.
Ramon Fernando Rufino, vice president The Net Group said that for Net Lima, the company incorporated designs like sun shading and a full glass curtain wall, which reduce energy use particularly on air-conditioning and fiberglass fuel storage tanks with built-in leak detection for generators used during power outages, which compared to industry standard steel tanks, reduce the risk of leaks and contamination and also have a life span twice as long as its steel counterpart and can easily be repaired and serviced.
Condensate water from air conditioning is also collected for use in landscaping, cleaning, and other needs for the building.
Also part of the BERDE standard, all members of the project team are required to be a member of PhilGBC, according to Rufino.
In Zuellig building’s case, the structure will make use of certain methods in construction as well as materials and operations that will protect the environment and also result in savings like pollution prevention feature, water efficient landscaping, carbon dioxide monitoring and an indoor air quality and temperature regulator, among others.
But despite the sudden proliferation of authentic green buildings and green projects in major CBDs, Palafox noted that that the state of the country’s green building industry is still far behind compared to the rest of the world, saying that “we are just starting in the Philippines.”
“We can follow best practices in Singapore, Japan, United Arabe Emirates, the US Europe, and Australia.
“The Philippines can do it, we have the knowledge, experience and expertise.
We can start by having green architecture for new government buildings, retrofit existing buildings…the government must be the exemplar, not the exempted,” Palafox said.
Palafox said that private sector must be required to do the same but with incentives. Advocates of climate change, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local government units are also being challenged to take the lead.
