BUILDING

ENVIRONMENT
CERTIFICATION
A building environment rating system is needed to evaluate the environmental performance
of a building and to encourage market migration towards sustainable design. The rating system
must be:

·         credit-based, allowing projects to earn points for environment-friendly use of the building /
structure and actions taken during planning, design, construction and occupancy.

·         flexible, such that projects need not meet identical requirements to qualify.

·         consensus-based and  market-driven in order to  accelerate the development and
implementation of green building practices.

The Consulting Architect in this area of practice must have much more than the basic
knowledge of Green Architecture and Environmental and/or Sustainable Design and sufficient
knowledge of the governing environmental laws and environmental investigation processes and
procedures under international protocols such as the Philippine Solid Waste, Clean Air and
Clean Water Acts, DENR administrative issuances and the like.

What is a green building?

The World Green Building Council describes these structures whose design, construction, or
operation “reduce or eliminate negative impacts, and can create positive impacts, on our climate
and natural environment.”

Aside from being a house or an office, a green building can be any kind of structure, too, such
as a school, a hospital, as long as they contain features that have an “efficient use of energy,
water and renewable energy, such as solar energy,” and “consider the environment in design,
construction and operation,” among others.

While some developers have been quick to market their projects as a ‘green’, don’t immediately
believe it as there are requirements that have to be complied with before a building is truly
green.

Taking LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, is a worldwide, third-party green
program that certifies green buildings. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC),
it serves to “enhance environmental awareness among architects and building contractors, and
to encourage the design and construction of energy-efficient, water-conserving buildings that
use green resources and materials.”
The USGBC also touts LEED to be the “globally recognized standard for the design,
construction and operation of high-performance green buildings and neighborhoods.”

The LEED certification process is broad, but generally measures nine key categories of a green
building project, which could be in the form of houses, commercial buildings, interior
renovations, schools, or neighborhood developments:
•Sustainable Sites •Water Efficiency •Energy and Atmosphere •Materials and Resources
•Indoor Environmental Quality •Location •Awareness and Education •Innovation in Design
•Regional Priority
A project is then awarded with any of the four levels of LEED certification, depending on how
many points it has achieved, which are: Certified (40 to 49 points); Silver (50 to 59 points); Gold
(60 to 79 points); and Platinum (higher than 80 points.) LEED claims to have certified over 2.4
million square feet of properties, and that includes the Empire State Building in the US and even
in our country such as the Zuellig Building in Makati.

Going BERDE

Meanwhile, here in the Philippines, the Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence,
or the BERDE program, was created in 2009 by the Philippine Green Building Council
(PHILGBC) “as an appropriate response to the Philippine building industry’s need to proactively
address the negative impacts of climate change.”

Working in a similar way to LEED, BERDE serves as a “tool to assess, measure, monitor, and
certify the performance of green building projects.”

The program assesses a project based on the same categories also found in the LEED process,
like Water and Energy Consumption, and Indoor Environment Quality, to name a few, but
BERDE gives a project the following ratings: Minimum practice (one star, 51 to 60 points
earned); Good practice (two stars, 61 to 70 points); Exemplar practice (three stars, 71 to 80
points); World Class (four stars, 81 to 90 points); and World leader (five stars, higher than 91
points).
One of the most notable BERDE certified buildings in Metro Manila is the Arya Residences in
BGC. The upscale residential condo has also received a Gold certification from LEED in 2016,
making it the first residential building in the country with two green building certifications.
 Highly Sustainable Office
Buildings in the Philippines
Several office buildings in the Philippines are now LEED or BERDE certified, built with
efficient systems for saving energy and water, managing waste, and recycling.

Zuellig Building 
Makati

The Zuellig Building is the first building in the country to get a

gold level LEED-CS (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design – Core and Shell) certification, which
has now turned Platinum. A game changer in the
architectural field in the Philippines, it is a 33-floor, all-glass
building with low-emissivity (Low-E) glass system that helps
lessen solar heat gain while maximizing natural light. This
floor-to-ceiling panel allows daylight to illuminate almost 90%
of the building’s interior. It has a dimming system to adjust
the intensity of the light; and heat, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to
regulate outside air flow ensuring superior indoor air quality. These control systems help
reduce the building’s overall energy consumption by 15 percent.

The building, installed with premium drainage and irrigation system, also has a rain
catchment facility which recycles water condensation, saving nearly 29 million liters yearly.
ArthaLand Century Pacific Tower 
Taguig

ArthaLand Century Pacific Tower is the newest glass-and-steel

building to rise in BGC. The design of this visually refreshing glass
building makes it look transparent from the outside. Double-glazed
Low-E glass panes keep heat out while letting in natural light. Also
contributing to its eco-friendly nature are the rainwater collection
system and low-flow fixtures.

ArthaLand Century Pacific Tower is both LEED Gold certified and

BERDE registered.

Laguna Lake Development

Authority Building 
Quezon City

Laguna Lake Development Authority is the first-

ever government green building in the Philippines.
This project earned a LEED certificate and a
possible three-star rating from BERDE.

The stilted building is connected by bridges with ground-level parking space to lessen its
ecological footprint and avoid damaging the existing biodiversity. The building maximizes
the natural daylight through shallow widths and light shelves, also reducing the need for
electric lighting. Air conditioning cools only 69 percent of the building, although all rooms
have the option for natural ventilation. The building’s design also includes a rainwater
catchment system.