Assessing Green Building System in Philippine Context

2019190157 1/28/2020

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CURRENT POLICIES AND RATING SYSTEM OF “BERDE” IN

ENSURING GREEN BUILDING IN PHILIPPINES

INTRODUCTION

The turn of the 21st century saw a surge in the demand to be “green”. The general public’s environmental
awareness, the demand from consumers at all levels for more energy-efficient products, and the
increasing prices of fossil fuels, have all conspired to put pressure on businesses to be more environment-
friendly. This new trend has also gained momentum in the construction industry and has helped create
structures and products that are more compatible with nature, less polluting, long-lasting, more efficient,
and with competitive costs. It has given rise to green certification initiatives that provide objective ways
to determine whether a building is complying with green principles or not.

Buildings and infrastructure have inevitable adverse effects on the natural environment. Effects range in
scale from local, such as displacement of ecological habitats, to global, such as greenhouse gas emission
ultimately leading to global warming and climate change. Various effects arise throughout the life cycle
of a building, from construction to operation and up to its eventual closure and decommissioning.
Construction and maintenance impacts are mainly brought about by the consumption of natural resources.
The operation of such, on the other hand, may also result to pollutants emission both directly and
indirectly. Green building practices and technologies seek to address these foreseeable adverse
environmental effects

The need for energy-efficient and eco-friendly buildings has given rise to green designs and green
building rating systems such as LEED in the U.S., Canada, India and the Philippines; BREEAM in the
UK; Green Star in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa; CASBEE in Japan; Green Building Index in
Malaysia; Green Marks in Singapore and BERDE in the Philippines. Even the biggest energy consumer
of the world, China, is realizing the need to be green for the long haul. It has introduced its own green
system called the Three-Star Green Building rating system. This chapter of the study aims to discuss and
assess the effectiveness of Green building rating system or BERDE towards the current policies of
Philippines in ensuring sustainable development in the country. The question here is: “to LEED or not to
LEED?” Or alternatively, “to go BERDE (green) or not to go BERDE?”
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WHY GREEN BUILDING IS IMPORTANT

Green building design is believed to have been around for thousands of years because buildings originally
were designed to meet climatic conditions (Yellamraju, 2010). According to Yellamraju, “Good building
design should be inherently green-oriented to maximize the benefits of sunlight and wind, with an
envelope that is designed in response to the local climate and with building systems and components that
are energy, water and resource efficient.” Yellamraju claimed that the resurgence of green buildings in the
21st century was due to the following factors: (1) increased awareness of contribution of buildings to
global climate change; (2) emergence of green building rating systems; (3) cost-effectiveness of building
green; (4) government incentives; and (5) availability of new resources, materials, and technologies.

The transition to “green building” is an important component of the wider transition to

a low carbon economy. Buildings are responsible for a significant share of energy-related carbon
emissions, accounting for 8.1 Gigatonnes (Gt) of the current total of 29.0 Gt (IEA, 2007). To tackle
climate change and reduce emissions – say to the 14 Gt level for the year 2050 in the International Energy
Agency’s Blue Map scenario (2010) – requires the radical ‘greening’ of buildings globally. It requires
green construction methods to be used for new buildings. Because many existing buildings will remain in
use, it also requires retrofitting existing buildings with energy efficient and renewable energy
technologies.

The development of green building has the potential to deliver many other benefits, beyond
that of carbon emission reduction. It brings other environmental benefits, including water conservation
and the use of materials with low environmental impact. In many cases, green building improves the
comfort of the occupants of buildings. It provides opportunities for enterprise, not only for construction
firms but also for businesses offering the technologies, materials and services required. Investment in
green building offers considerable scope for generating employment opportunities, a key public policy
concern in many countries. Many workers now unemployed possess construction skills relevant to green
building, but need retraining and upskilling.

The development of green building offers some elements of reassurance against the growing global
concern about energy security and energy price volatility. It links too with the growing
awareness about environmental issues among individual consumers.
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BARRIERS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF GREEN BUILDING

On the other hand, there are some barriers which are holding back the development of green
building. One is that the associated up-front costs may discourage investment, particularly where
the benefits are long-term or are externalized beyond the individual or organization making
the investment. Countries which offer their citizens subsidies on energy costs may also be
inadvertently discouraging moves to greener building methods (Saunders and Schneider,
2000). Multi-dwelling homes (where collective decision making is necessary) pose a particular
challenge to green building refurbishment (Golove and Eto, 1996).

There are also information asymmetries. Many consumers think that sustainable buildings
are more expensive, and in some cases not as attractive, as traditional ones. Knowledge
of green building makes it more likely that a householder will consider retrofitting, or that a
tenant will encourage their landlord to retrofit or even undertake basic work themselves. They may
also be more confident in buying a new home built to a higher standard of sustainability.
Deficiencies in the supply of skills and training for green building can function as an
important barrier to progress.

PHILIPPINE STRATEGIES TOWARD GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS

According to architect Miguel Guerrero, chairman of the Green Architecture Advocacy Philippines
(GreenAP), green buildings are structures that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient
throughout its life-cycle, from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and
demolition. “The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design
concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort,” stressing that it is more a philosophy rather a
design technic and requires close cooperation among architects, engineers, and building owners.

The Philippines faces two significant challenges with regard to environmental sustainability. First, energy
prices represent one of the highest energy tariffs in the world. Therefore, a significant part of the
population could face energy poverty. Also, the country is likely to be one of the most significantly
impacted nations in the world from climate change due to its long coastline and dependence on
agriculture. Since buildings use a third of all energy consumed, and buildings cause greenhouse gas
emissions, energy reduction in new building construction and operation is the subject of the recent survey
of buildings conducted in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao. The survey was done as part of the Green
Building Program of the International Finance Corp. in partnership with the Mandaluyong City
Government, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the WSP and the Philippine Green Building
Initiative as foreign and local consultants, respectively. The survey was conducted to develop smart green
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building policies which in turn will be used to develop guidelines and strategies for adoption by building
owners to conform to internationally accepted green standards.

Green building has been making strides all over the world and several countries have developed their own
green building rating schemes, like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design in the United
States. Locally, the Philippine Green Building Council is currently developing the BERDE rating system
and several buildings in Taguig and Makati cities have sought certification under the local standard.

There is no national law mandating to have green buildings. However, Quezon City has a green building
ordinance while other cities like Makati are currently studying the possibility of a similar ordinance.
Former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has proposed legislation, Senate Bill No. 3251, that seeks to establish
green building standards and rating system and provide incentives to builders and owners via tax breaks
and other benefits.

Last 2015, Senator Loren Legarda lauded the launch of the Green Building Code as part of government’s
long-term transition to a low-carbon economy, noting that green buildings play a huge role in reducing
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which are largely responsible for global warming. Speaking at “Green
Breakthroughs 2015” organized by the Philippine Green Building Initiative together with the Department
of Public Works and Highways and other aid agencies as the official launch of the Green Building Code,
Legarda stressed that the Code will be an important tool to strengthen resilience to natural hazards and
improve our sustainable development strategies from the national down to the local level. “The
Philippines is a minor emitter but even as we are taking steps to demand the world’s biggest polluters to
reduce their carbon usage for the sake of the planet, we cannot just wait for other parties to turn their
commitment into action. We need to take care of our own backyard so to speak, and in this case we need
to cut our carbon emissions, improve our environment and create sustainable communities if we build
green” she added.

Legarda also encouraged local government units (LGUs) to take proactive measures in building
sustainable communities by promoting resilience. “LGUs must prioritize resilience as part of their
political and sustainable development agenda and make reducing disaster risk their legacy opportunity. It
will make the communities more prosperous and secure than before. Initiatives could include making
schools, hospitals, and other critical public infrastructure resilient against disasters”.

DPWH has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group creating
the Technical Working Group to draft of the GBC.
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The TWG is comprised of duly authorized representatives from national agencies and professional
organizations, like Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR), Department of Energy
(DOE), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Interior and Local
Government (DILG), United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers
(PICE), Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines (IIEE), Philippine Society of
Mechanical Engineers (PSME), The Philippine Society of Sanitary Engineers (PSSE) and Geodetic
Engineers of the Philippines.

The DPWH chief furthered that keeping abreast with the international green building scene, GBC follows
the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification standard, a rating system for
the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes and neighbourhoods all
over the world.

More multinational corporations that want to set up local headquarters in the Philippines look for eco-
friendly skyscrapers. There is a mounting demand from the international business community, especially
foreign investors, on local locators to offer more green buildings. An increasing number of Filipino
building owners are retrofitting and upgrading existing buildings to improve energy efficiency and
environmental performance.

By adopting green building standards, the Philippines will be true to the advocacy of sustainable
development, which is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs.
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PHILIPPINES TO FOLLOW “BERDE” TREND

In the country, the counterpart of the U.S. Green Building Council is the Philippine Green Building
Council (PHILGBC). The PHILGBC was incorporated on March 22, 2007 as a national non-stock, non-
profit organization that promotes the sharing of knowledge on green building practices to the industry to
ensure a sustainable environment. The Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence
(BERDE) is the Philippines’ own green building rating system that is developed by PHILGBC and is
used to measure, verify, and monitor the environmental performance of buildings that exceeds existing
mandatory building and environmental regulations and standards. As part of its public-private partnership,
the PHILGBC is working on the BERDE Green Building Rating Systems with the Department of Energy
under the Philippine Energy Efficiency Project - Efficient Building Initiative. As opposed to the LEED
credit point system, the BERDE certification system has 11 categories as basis for certifying a newly
constructed building.

The locally-developed Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence (BERDE) is seen to
become the building standard in the Philippines after getting adopted by another government agency.
BERDE of the Philippine Green Building Council (PhilGBC), however, recently won over the
Department of Energy for its standard on energy efficiency under the Philippine Energy Efficiency
Program (PEEP), which is being funded by the Asian Development Bank. This means every structure that
DOE puts up, it would use BERDE in its efforts at contributing to the reduction of pollutant in the
environment, BERDE will be its measuring stick.

BERDE fills the gap in the guidelines for the efficient building initiative (EBI) subcomponent under the
Efficiency Initiatives in Buildings and Industries component of PEEP. This will streamline existing green
building rating initiatives in the building sector.

The DOE will be the second agency to adopt BERDE after the Department of Education which is now
using it for as guidelines for “green” schools. BERDE uses a star-rating system where the highest rating
received is five-star. BERDE takes note of a structure’s level of performance in terms of energy use
efficiency, waste disposal, available open space, as well as disaster preparedness, among others. BERDE
is also piloted in several office buildings and residential buildings, particularly the Net Lima office
building of the Net Group, and the Arya Residences of Arthaland Corp.

With the adoption of BERDE by the DOE, it is expected that it will be institutionalized as the standard in
evaluating and rating green buildings in the Philippines. It is seen to level the playing field in an
environment where different green building standards are available.
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According to Ramon Rufino, chairman of the Philippine Green Building Council (PhilGBC) said the
Philippine government needs to implement tax breaks or incentives to encourage more stakeholders in
low-carbon and sustainable construction. Tax incentives and access to huge fund assistance have
encouraged British investors to develop research technology on low carbon and sustainable construction,
a similar government action that Philippine developers also want to be implemented in the country.

Among the country’s leading green architect, Carmelito Tatlonghari, said it is only Quezon City that
implements tax breaks of 20 percent on real estate for developers of green-technology designs. He said
the Green Architects Movement (GAM) in the Philippines are working with the Climate Change
Commission, an attached body of the Executive department to implement a mandatory tax break for all
cities and municipalities to encourage developers of commercial, industrial, residential and even roads to
use low-carbon and sustainable-technology designs.

Ramon Rufino said the Philippines will see more green buildings certified by the Building Ecologically
Responsive Design Excellence (BERDE) as the organization tries to improve the evaluation process of
the BERDE rating system. Rufino also added that there has been an increasing number of projects
registered for the BERDE certification despite slow process with an additional 30 projects under
registration for the certification, proving that green buildings are indeed trending in the Philippines. With
the improvement, PhilGBC expects to have around 20 to 30 BERDE-certified buildings per year.

The processing time for the certification is the main challenge for PhilGBC. Improving the system has
become the organization’s main priority. The certification covers all types of developments from
residential, retail, to office buildings, with office and residential being the majority of buildings certified
by the system. Most of the building developments are in Metro Manila, with a few in Cebu and Davao.

Green construction developments will definitely become a standard for all the city’s developer in the near
future with grow rate increasing in Metro Manila and gradually spread throughout cities and
municipalities in time.
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ASSESSMENT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF BERDE RATING SYSTEM

Every country’s experience and conditions are different including climate, technology level and laws.
LEED is a US-centric rating tool though they have been rewriting the latest versions to make it more
global, but BERDE is built to consensus.

BERDE is gaining influence in the area of policy development. Some sector support mandatory green
building amendments to the National Building Code, but in some cases BERDE should remain a private
sector-led and voluntary system. BERDE should always be above and beyond the minimum requirements
of the law. BERDE must have to adjust with more stringent requirements.

Some cities and municipalities in Philippines have their own green building certification ordinance
heavily borrowed from BERDE. But LGUs cannot sustain the certification because their building officials
are already loaded. They can hardly check compliance of every building permit applicant. While BERDE
is developed by PhilGBC, the actual assessment of buildings is conducted and professionally managed by
a third party auditor. This ensures the integrity of the process placing it beyond the reach of corporate
greed and government corruption. There are also green building rating tools crafted by other private
organizations, but only BERDE may claim to be representative of the construction and property industry.
The rest were developed by certain groups in the industry like architects and engineers.

If BERDE rating or accreditation system does not prosper here in the Philippines, it will be to our
disadvantage. The rest of the world is now adopting their own green systems—all for the purpose of
saving the environment and creating healthy buildings. BERDE rating system, like most rating systems, is
voluntary. It is designed as a recognition scheme. We need to have an effective way in the market to
recognize leaders in industry that are doing good for the environment.
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RECOMMENDATIONS ON GREEN BUILDING CODE

Green building code should reward a good outcome of a sustainability goal, and not the
degree of compliance from a list of predefined strategies. If the true goal is sustainability, and
not a “five star rating", then green building code’s rating tools should be structured in a way that
encourages project teams to pursue performance targets, after a thorough understanding of every credit’s
intent and the environmental or socio-economic issue that it represents. In this way, point shopping would
be minimized and the charge of creative interpretation of this intent to
strategies and unique design solutions will be transferred to the project team.

Given this, then, project teams must be afforded enough flexibility to explore
whatever strategies and solutions they deem appropriate to the project context as long as the
performance target is met. All projects are different, and therefore a design strategy that
works in one building may not necessarily work or is even applicable for others. Providing
project team’s flexibility then should encourage innovation, resourcefulness, and thoughtful
design process. A possible good outcome of this structure is if it promotes design solutions
that easily addresses more than one performance target while still being cost effective.

If we define sustainability as the ideal state, then a building's green performance

should be measured by how well the project achieves the goal as benchmarked from the ideal
state and not by a bare minimum - so long as it is achievable. If we were to be strict with this
definition, this means that projects should not be rewarded for the mere fact that it does less
harm. It also does not necessarily mean to say that they would forfeit that credit if the desired
state is not achieved 100%, only that the number of points and the level of certification must
be a direct proportion to the extent of how well the desired state was achieved. Bonus points
may be awarded if it performs more than what is expected.
Furthermore, the weight of each credit must be carefully evaluated from a thorough study of
the corresponding weight of its environmental and socio-economic impact in the Philippines
context.

More often than not, rating tools focus too much on numbers, percentages, and that
which is scientifically quantifiable. However, we realize now that what is quantifiable does
not automatically mean it is effective, in the same way that what is non-quantifiable is
automatically ineffective. There are many attributes of good design that are intangible and
run deeper than just a credit compliance because of a story behind it, or the rippled positive
effect it created outside the boundary of the project site. In the case of Biophilia, for example,
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or determining and restoring the "Story of Place", both of which may bring a far more
powerful, meaningful, and long-term impact than a mere energy-efficient equipment, and yet
it is the latter that is listed as a credit. Rating tools should consider to seek out ways to reward
projects that go beyond that which is "tangibly green", either through detailed narratives and
documentations or occupant surveys.

CONCLUSION

In order to align the Green Industry with the broader goals of sustainability, we must
first evaluate how we currently define it - and strive to define it correctly. In the process of
doing so, we must come to terms with the fact that true environmental sustainability should
be defined in its most perfect state, and in no way should we bend this definition to suit what
is conveniently achievable for the industry - thereby giving ourselves a false sense of security
that "doing less harm" is enough.

When we distil the definition of sustainability to mean permanence, we may realize that this
principle and goal is actually universal and remains true in any scale, and in any country or
ecosystem. But as soon as we translate this goal to a conscious action, all strategies and
design decisions must be as "local" as and as self-sufficient as possible.

Green Rating Tools, regardless of how well their framework is conceived, continue to
play a very important role in the Green Industry since they are the most prominent means to
quantify the greenness of a building. In the absence or in the fragmented interpretation of
what is truly sustainable, then the easier way is to pursue green certification so that the
project team need only follow through a check-list of requirements in order for this "Green"
distinction to handed over to them. As the take-up rate of these tools pick up, it becomes
increasingly important that the Green Industry scrutinize their rating tools and improve them
so they serve as an effective leverage towards sustainability. An immediate concern for the
industry, therefore, should be to develop these tools to support a new methodology that
changes the way we design and think so that it is no longer fragmented and superficial, but
thoughtful and integrated.
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REFERENCES

Marianne Therese Amores (28 November 2014). Towards a Better Alignment of Green Building Rating
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Roderick Abad (2017). The Filipinos’ ‘green’ scare. Retrieved from

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2017/07/08/the-filipinos-green-scare/

Del Mundo, I. A. (2012, August 5). The architect as nation builder. The Philippine Star. Retrieved from
http://www.philstar.com

Eliseo A. Aurellado (2015). The Greening of the Project Management Cycle in the Construction Industry

Asia Green Building (2013). Philippines rewards industry for complying with nations voluntary Green
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recognizes-industry-for-berde-building-projects-in-the-philippines/

Asia Green Building (2012). Philippines: BERDE soon to be national standard. Retrieved from
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