Abstract

Architecture has evolved almost countless of times, and all those evolutions are accompanied
with their purpose of why it evolved in that way. Pyramids were made to honor gods, medieval
castles were designed to counter attacks, gothic churches to intimidate people, etc. But in 21st
century issues concerning the changing and the deterioration of the environment were raised as
the world witness apocalyptic natural disasters which is believed that man has greatly
contributed to. A lot of researches and efforts were made to try to slow down the deterioration of
the environment, and one of that is applied to one of the humans basic necessity, the shelter.

Nowadays, different dwellings or buildings are applied with certain technology or standards so
only a smaller amount than its expected contribution could be contributed to the deterioration of
the environment. Being sustainable and green are a part of the standards since architecture was
practiced, although it was more likely a choice back then. Until today, being sustainable is still a
choice, but more and more architects and designers preferred to apply these standards to their
works in order to create such buildings that may help reduce the carbon footprint of their
buildings, this urges other designers to live with a new era of architecture, a sustainable and
green architecture. And to further support and attract others to use these standards, several
award giving bodies were formed, and of the most recognized awards is the LEED Certification
or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This award does not only give prestige to
the owner of the building and its architect, it also produces several benefits for the building itself.

And as LEED Certified buildings are becoming more and more in-demand. Other attempting
builders and designers should have a model of their own whether its local or international.
These buildings should be their guide and inspiration in building a more feasible, sustainable and
green future projects. One local project will be discussed, researched, and justified by how it was
considered as a model of the future architecture by the LEED.

0|Page
 Zuellig Building: The Greenest of the Green

Introduction
In the late 1950s the Makati has become the Metro
Manilas modern central business district. The
infrastructure of Makati was an improvement over the
cramped space in downtown Manila, where most
commercial establishments had their offices in the 19th
century. The first known batch of companies who settled
in the north part of the Pasig River to Makati was F.E.
Figure 1 The Label of the Company established by Zuellig, Inc which is the predecessor of the now Zuellig
F.E Zuellig
Pharma Corp., founded by Dr. Frederick Edward Zuellig,
a businessman from Switzerland. Today, more than fifty
years after its settlement with in Makati, the Zuellig Group steps up to the demands of the 21st
century with a new office tower that excels in design and environmental credentials.
Brief History
The company who owned the famed building started as an import-export trading company in the
early 20th century. In that time Frederick Zuellig was attracted with the prospects of trade in the
Far East, he migrated as a youngster then. In the early 1900s, he took over a firm named Lutz y
Cia then incorporate it to F.E. Zuellig, Inc., the first office was placed on the Muelle to Binondo
in a commercial Bahay na Bato1. In time, Zuelligs enterprises expanded and diversified beyond
its traditional trading activities. In 1960, the Zuellig Company moved from Binondo to a functional

1
The Bahay na bato, the colonial Filipino house, is a type of Filipino architecture popularized in 1800s which is
built with a stone walled ground floor and wooden second floor, it has 3 transitions from the 19 th century up to the
20th century.

1|Page
office building at the intersection of Ayala and Buendia
Avenues. Although modest in size, the concrete structure
with its aluminum brise soleil2 faade served as an early
landmark in what is known today as The Wall Street of
the Philippines.
After half a century, the Zuellig Corporation ranks among
the countrys leading corporations particularly in the
healthcare and insurance sectors. The company decided to
acquire and develop an empty lot at the corner of Makati
Avenue and Paseo de Roxas, overlooking the Ayala Figure 2 Old Zuellig Building at Buendia, Makati.
The said site is now purchased by the FEU to
Triangle and is surrounded by the gleaming skyscrapers.
establish a new campus at Makati

The Designers
Through their affiliate
Bridgebury Realty
Corporation, wanted their
new building to do more
than just gleam and scrape
the sky. They wanted a
building that would
feature world-class green
architecture and provide
premium-grade office
space to satisfy the
requirements of
Figure 3 The Coscolluelas, standing from left to right is Gil, Gary, and William Coscolluela
sophisticated corporate
tenants. To achieve this
building goal, they had chosen a powerhouse team of architects and designers.
The team was headed by the Famed American Firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merill (SOM), and
William V. Coscolluella & Associates (WVCA) which is a famed Filipino architectural firm.

SOM is one of the well-known architectural firm in the world. They are famous by their trade mark
in doing high-rise buildings such as Burj Khalifa, Rockwell Center, One world trade center,
Zuellig, etc. The company is known for their
modern international-style or "glass box"
skyscraper designs. As one of being well-known in
the world they gathered lots of recognition of their
firm. Like, Architecture Firm Award from
2
A perforated screen or louvers, for shutting out direct or excessive sunlight

2|Page
the American Institute of Architects. As of now, SOM firm still doing boundless in the field of
architecture and construction. They have a lot of project lined up this year and for the upcoming
year.

WVCA is an Architectual firm based here in the Philippines. Established by William V.

Coscolluela, PIA in 1957.

They are the one behind in a variation of local projects that include commercial/industrial and
mixed-use developments, residential, educational & recreational projects. They also participate as
design consultant in overseas projects in Guam, Malaysia, Singapore, Taipei, Saipan & Mainland
China. WVCA Firm runs almost fifty years in the industry. They are also one of the famous firm
here in the Philippines.

LEED Certification
On the advice of the architects, Zuellig Adopted the LEED protocol of
the US Green Building Council (USGBC) as basis for the design and
construction of the building as USGBC was established to promote
sustainability-focused practices in the building and construction industry
since 1993. It was then that ideas were shared for an open and balanced
coalition spanning the entire building industry and for a green building
rating system, which would later become LEED. Since the rating
systems unveiling in 2000, it has become an international standard for
environmentally sound buildings, certifying hundreds of thousands of
Figure 4 The USGBC certifies
the prestigious LEED award square feet per day. LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design, is a globally recognized rating system for green buildings.

What is LEED?
The LEED measures the design and construction
of the building in following key areas: sustainable
site development, water savings, energy
efficiency, materials selection and indoor
environmental quality. From homes to corporate
headquartersat all phases of development,
LEED certification is applicable. All projects
applying and qualifying for LEED certification
earns points across several areas that address
sustainability issues. Buildings can qualify for

3|Page
four levels of LEED certification: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

LEED does not only certify buildings but also professionals thru LEED credentials. A LEED
professional credential signies that youre a leader in the eld and an active participant in the
green building movement. With jobs specifying the need for green building expertise, a LEED
credential shows a clear commitment to professional growth, while underscoring your value to
LEED project teams and sustainability-focused organizations.

Journey to LEED certification

Zuellig is designed to comply with the LEEDs
strict standards and protocols but before that the
Bridgebury Realty Corporation, the owner-
developer of Zuellig Building engaged with firms
of such as Langdon Seah (LS) as quantity surveyor,
lead by Archt. Carla Cruz, a LEED Accredited
Professional. Two other firms were responsible for
the implementation which are DCI (Design
Coordinates Incorporated) as project manager and
Leighton as the General Contractor. The three
firms work closely together to achieve the LEED
compliance of the building. And to validate and
verify the compliance of specs, DCI and Forssman
Pacific jointly work with it, Forrsman Pacific is
also the one who commissioned the building.
One LEED provision done by the the CM is for the
delivery trucks to be thoroughly cleaned, the dirt
from their wheels removed before being allowed to
leave the construction site then the water run-off
Figure 5 Construction of Zuellig Building from cleaning will head to a sedimentation tank
that will filter out the sand, soil, and dirt to prevent
them from flowing into the drainage; these are diverted and disposed of in the sewers. Another
compliance during construction is where DCI has adopted the use of nets in curb gutters for all the
sites to prevent sand and debris to mix with water and cement which later solidifies inside the
drains, which in time contributes to flooding. DCI also implemented a strict segregation and
recycling of construction debris which is said to be one of the most difficult task to apply.
According to Engr. Darneil Perez of LS, their target is to prevent at least 50% of waste volume or
weight generated in site for ending up in landfill, he said that this should be reused, recycled or
donated. Then their next target is to reach it to 75%.
After efforts, in 2009, Zuellig Building was awarded by the USGBC with a pre-certification at
Gold level under its LEED-CS (Core and Shell) program. Given the projects high tally of LEED

4|Page
points, the project team is confident that the final certification can be upgraded from LEED-CS
Gold to LEED-CS Platinum which is the most prominent, globally recognized standard for green
buildings, achieved only by some in Asia and never was attempted in the Philippines.
Pre-certified as LEED Gold, the Zuelligs building current
score back then has already exceeded the points required
to be certified Gold, and is on the way to achieve Platinum,
the highest kind. Jose Salvacion, president of DCI said
they were challenged, as they only need 2-3 points to
achieve Platinum award, Salavacion wants Zuellig to be
the first LEED Platinum Awardee in the Philippines.
And on June 2013, USGBC upgraded the title given to the
Zuellig Building to LEED-CS Platinum, this makes the
building as first one in the nation who is entitled with it.
Now, the building ranks among the worlds most
sophisticated green buildings and is providing measurable
benefits in terms of energy savings, water conservation,
and superior indoor air quality. The protocol covers all
aspects of design and construction, from the double piping
for plumbing, rainwater harvesting, materials chosen for
the interiors and exteriors, the handling of solid and liquid
Figure 6 The Artist's Perspective of the LEED waste, to the specification and layout of artificial lighting.
Platinum Awardee Building
Moreover, this LEED-CS award paved the way for the
individual tenants to obtain an LEED CI (Commercial Interiors) certification for their office fit-
out. Other than LEED, the Zuellig Building also won an award from MIPIM ASIA 2012 as one of
the three top real estate projects in office and business development together with Tianjin Global
Financial Center and 50 Connaught Road Central.

The Buildings Design and Green

Features
General Design
The 7 Billion peso 33-storey all-glass tower
gleams throughout the CBD as the greenest
building in the nation, it is fronted by a
generous corporate plaza and is flanked by
a two-storey annex which contains a bank
branch on the ground floor, food court on
the second, and a rooftop garden. It sits on a
6000 square meter foundation with five
Figure 7 Exterior look of Zuellig Building
basements and leaves an expansive 2500

5|Page
square meters for a private garden and the plaza. It has a gross leasable area of 62,800 sqm, with
59,000 sqm dedicated for offices only. The 32nd floor gives access to greenery, fresh air and
viewing points of Makati.
Upon entering the 33-storey building
complex through the plaza and steps
into a grand lobby on the buildings
eastern side. This entry and plaza is
comfortably shaded from the hot
afternoon sun. The lobby is a
rectangular two-storey hall with clear
spatial definition leading visitors and
tenants to lifts and lobbies. The
interior design is restrained but
luxurious in a contemporary
minimalist style. A row of dark Figure 8 Indoor Garden at Zuellig
Macassar ebony wood veneer finished
angular pillars partnered with grey granite floorings against the white Sivec marble walls greets
guests at the main lobby.
The Laza, a food plaza within an adjoining annex houses variety of food and beverage stalls. It
has a view of the verdant Ayala Triangle Gardens, an open air terrace, the designer furniture and
as well as rich palette of materials and colors.

Green Features
Its interiors benefit from the generous
natural light because of the depth of the
building and its average proximity to
the glass faade. The faade was
finished with 28,000sqm of floor to
ceiling low-emissivity (Low-E)
Viracon glass with the patterns known
as ceramic frits which aids in solar
mitigation without blocking the CBDs
breathtaking view. The ceramic frits
which is the accent of the building
against its glass was inspired by
vernacular bamboo screens and
Figure 9 Zuellig Building's main lobby
flowing water, it appears and
disappears depending on ones point of
view, the time of the day, and weather conditions. The glass was installed by the worlds leading
faade and glazing specialist, Permasteelisa. According to Bluprint Magazine, during the day time

6|Page
the buildings interiors is still cool somehow even
though there are no air-conditioning units. The
vertical frits are concentrated at the southwest portion
of the building to shield the building from hot
afternoon sun.
Apart from the buildings usage of Sivec marbles
which are souced from Macedonia, Greece, it also
reused materials for its interiors, at the entrance, of
the Zuellig Offices, a portion of adobe wall which
came from the old F.E Zuellig Building on Buendia
Ave. with the firms traditional brass lettering.
Portions of wall within the show suite are cladded
with recycled wood.
While designed to take natural daylighting and to
maximize its utilization, the Zuellig Building was
equipped with sensors which control lighting and air-
conditioning levels for optimum energy efficiency.
Motion sensors at the buildings core monitor physical
movement matches the lighting level to the activity it
detects. Carbon Dioxide sensors are also installed in
order for the air-conditioning unit to adjust the fresh air
requirement of a room depending on the number of the
spaces occupancy.
Lux sensors along the perimeter of the floor monitors the
level of natural light coming in, and activate artificial
lights only as needed. Engr. Darneil Perez said that the
lighting in the building is at 0.88 watts per sqm while at
other buildings reaches 1.0 per sqm.
The Zuellig building was designed to save a whopping
75% of the non-potable water by using a gray water
recycling system which is later used for flushing and
irrigation in addition to the buildings sewage treatment system and efficient water features.
At the rooftop, solar panels are placed which generates an annual output of energy ranging from
32,538 to 32,802 Kwh, lessening the buildings consumption of fossil fuels. These panels are
designed to generate electricity for 20 long years.
The Zuellig Building also geared up for the future, with the help of Meinhardt Philippines, a large
shaft that could be easily used to pull through the large equipment such as chillers, transformers,
etc. so when the time comes the mechanisms are needed to be replaced, it will be easy for workers
to remove and move it. The shaft has a dual purpose, ventilation for the Generator and also a hatch
which leads to the basement and within it is a hoisting beam for easy transport of loads.

7|Page
Sources:
http://www.usgbc.org/
http://wikipedia.org
High-Rise ZEITGEST, Paulo Alcarazen, BluPrint Vol. 5: Extreme Spaces, 2012, p.84
markdanielgonzales@wordpress.com/TheWhiteTigersPage

8|Page