Building Green - The Government Forum

“UK and the Philippines: Working Towards the Development of BERDE – The National
Green Building Rating System”
Makati Shangri-La, Manila

Opening Remarks of Mr. Derek Page,

Director, UK Trade and Investment
January 26, 2010

Thank you very much indeed for that introduction.

Hon. Anna York Bondoc, Mayor Hector Villanueva,

Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista, Hon Jun-jun Binay,
Architect Christopher Dela Cruz, Ms Mary Jane
Ortega, Mr Jason Pomeroy, distinguished panelists
and guests, members of the Philippine Greenbuilding
Council, good afternoon!

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this rather

historic event ; the first forum on Working towards a
Greenbuilding rating system for the Philippines, with
the support from the British government.

It is also our honour to again be working with the

Philippine Greenbuilding Council in its pursuit of a
sustainable, low carbon built environment. This time,
the UK and the Philippines are working in partnership
to help develop a local, greenbuilding assessment
method.

For quite a few years now, the UK has been

introducing a cleaner energy infrastructure and
applying measures to reduce our carbon footprint –
through for example the applications of greener
building standards, better design and materials, and
by using "greener" techniques in construction. This
eventually led to the formation of – BREEAM. Which
stands for the Building Research Establishment
Environmental Assessment Method, and is the
leading and most widely used environmental
assessment method in the world. This set the
standard for best practice in sustainable design and
has become the de facto measure used to describe a
building's environmental performance. We are
delighted to have with us today, UK experts like
Jason Pomeroy, who can share knowledge about this
system and assist in the development of your own
set of standards, known as BERDE – which, for those
who are not sure, stands for “Building for
Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence”

Today, we are hoping for your cooperation by signing

your commitment to utilise BERDE in your cities and
municipalities. This is a significant step to show the
government’s support in responding to climate
change and to promote a more sustainable
environment in the country. The international
momentum on tackling climate change is building
fast, with the transition to a low carbon, resource
efficient economy becoming a global environmental
and economic imperative. The Philippines is well
placed to move forward with local action towards a
low carbon future through initiatives such the one we
are witnessing today.

Finally, I just want to say that, as always, UK Trade

and Investment remains committed to promoting UK
companies overseas and in assisting local companies
in doing business with the UK. Please do not
hesitate to contact us if you need any help in finding
products and services from the UK.

Maraming salamat!