Green is more than just a color.

For Worldbex Services International (WSI), it best typifies the global challenge being faced by the building and construction industry to be cognizant of the impact of all their endeavors to the environment and eventually think of innovative ways to their resolution.

This is the motivation behind the recent 16th World Building and Construction Exposition (Worldbex 2011), themed “Emerging Technologies and Design Toward a Holistic Paradigm,” held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, with a focus on sustainable and green architecture.

“This year we chose green because it’s the way to go. We have this need of sustaining our future generation, especially with what happened in Japan. Fortunately, it’s very timely that we have already incorporated green designs in such exposition. Because times are changing and also our climate, we saw the need to incorporate safety measures and guidelines, as well as sustainable structures that could withstand disasters,” WSI marketing director Jon Richmond Ang told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

Worldbex is the country’s biggest and most-attended construction trade fair in the country. In a statement, WSI founding chairman Joseph Ang said that “it has been a trail blazing in the industry by delivering professionals and end-users a venue for the world’s best precuts and construction’s finest.” He added, “The show is not just a meeting ground, but also a medium to catalyze change and uplift the standards of every Filipino home.”

Replicating the success of its previous editions, Worldbex 2011 proved to be a crowd-drawer exposition, posting a total of 138,000 visitors—both local and foreign. Not only that it attracted horde of trade guests and the public to come in and see what’s in store for them, but also the industry players to showcase their products and services. In fact, this year’s event featured around 1,000 exhibitors—more than 800 of which were homegrown companies, while the rest were foreign firms—surpassing 800-plus exhibitors in 2010.

“To date, this is the biggest group of foreign exhibitors. And surprisingly when we did the rounds in the fourth day of the exposition, most of our exhibitors would tell that they have already reached their sales quotas,” the Ang boasted, citing that indeed Worldbex is an effective trade and networking venue.

Green all over

GIVEN the chance to describe their experience of the show, every participant would say that he/she painted the town green visiting the five-day Worldbex 2011. This was because all the adjacent venue places—the World Trade Center, The Tent and the Philippine Trade Training Center—were dominated by this color exterior- and interior-wise.

“So if you can see outside, it’s something fresh for Worldbex—the green carpet, the grass and even the [nature-inspired background] music. Everything jives to the theme,” noted Ang.

In order to meet the sustainable design concept, the entire exposition incorporated recyclable materials in the design of the lobby walls. According to Ang, they used locally made environmental paint with antibacterial elements or without toxic ingredients.

As for ecological features of the exhibit, he said Filipino-owned companies Apo Floors and Emerald uPVC Pipes and Fittings showcased their respective eco-friendly products. Apo exhibited its eco roofs, while Emerald showcased its PVC pipes, which are made of recyclable plastic materials.

True to green building concept, Matimco Inc. introduced such principle to visitors via its “House of Wood,” which sits on the main lobby of the WTC as the centerpiece, surrounded by landscapes. The green home features various sustainable Matimco products as applied in each section of the structure.

Student competition

This year’s Worldbex also catered to a younger demographic. For the past few years, Ang revealed that they have been targeting older architects, interior designers and engineers for the event. “But now we saw the need to target students as well, because they would be the future architects, interior designers and engineers, as well. That’s why we also have this Obra Maestra to cater to them,” he said.

Opening the first day of the exposition, Obra Maestra is an interschool competition organized by WSI and Wilcon Builders Depot. Seven universities and colleges in the country that offer interior-design programs participated in this contest, including University of Santo Tomas (UST), University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman, University of the East, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology, St. Scholastica’s College and Mapua Institute of Technology.

“Green design is incorporating recyclable materials or, if not, sustainable materials in the foundation or in the structure of the building or a house. This is very evident in the Obra Maestra, especially in the winning entries,” Ang stressed.

UST’s ìLiving Room Moduleî was declared the best module design due to a fact that it used a lamp or chandelier, which afar looks like a fixture made out of capiz but actually it’s made out of plastic spoons. UP-Diliman, on the other hand, claimed the runner-up accolade as its “Powder Room Module” incorporated plants in the design.

Seeing the success of such a competition, Ang disclosed that this would eventually become part of their annual exhibit starting next year to be opened for more schools nationwide.

Recognitions were also bestowed to the exhibitors themselves. Matimco won the award for large-scale special design, while Ricad brought home the laurel for small-scale special design.

“We chose these booths because they incorporated smart spaces with green architecture. It was both innovative and sustainable as the booths showcased their products highlighting usability and creativity. They really jived very well with the grandeur and excellence of Worldbex 2011,” Ang said.

Another milestone that took place during Worldbex 2011 was the release of the maiden issue of the Builders magazine. This first-ever Worldbex newsletter aims to bring in the latest trends and construction fleets unto a different level. It is catered for professionals, architects, interior designers, engineers, end consumers and partners who have become part of the success of Woldbex through the years.

Asked about the success of this year’s Worldbex, Ang, who is also the editor-in-chief of the Builders magazine, said that everybody was surprisingly happy for the new concept.

“Every year the challenge for Worldbex is to be better. So for next year, I promise that it’s going to be better as well than this year. The theme will be ‘Building the Future.’ It’s all about incorporating modern, out-of-the box concepts into construction designs. Expect that it’s going to be fresher, brighter and younger,” he stressed.