THE global temperature has skyrocketed the past couple of years, with 2014 and 2015 earning the notoriety of being the hottest years of the millennia on record. Despite being so used to the scorching heat for long stretches of the year, we, Filipinos, are definitely not immune to the extreme jump in temperature the rest of the world has been experiencing.
As the combined forces of El Niño and climate change looms, most of us would rather take refuge in the cool confines of shopping malls in the city. From what I’ve observed, some malls are not just havens for people to keep cool, but have also taken the necessary steps to help lower their impact to the environment by making the shift to use clean and sustainable solar energy. One of the foremost movers in this renewable-energy revolution has been the Sy-led SM Prime Holdings, which started adapting to climate change by helping clean and renewable solar cut into the Philippine mainstream. Partnering with solar-power systems provider Solar Philippines, the development leaders today are paving the way for the other players to do their part in reducing the country’s carbon footprint.
Bright future for a growing partnership
It all started when the partnership turned one of the country’s largest leisure establishments—SM City North Edsa—into the world’s biggest solar-powered mall in 2014. The said property boasted 5,760 solar panels and 60 inverters that covered more than 12,000 square meters.
According to SM Supermalls President Annie Garcia, the 1.5-megawatt (MW) of electricity generated by the solar panels of SM North powered 16,000 light fixtures, 59 escalators and 20 elevators. Apart from this, it can also help generate P2 million of savings per month, can operate for more than 25 years and, most important, can offset 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide emission, which is the equivalent of planting 200 trees.
The partnership didn’t just stop with SM North Edsa. Last year the two institutions doubled down on clean energy with SM Mall of Asia (MOA), SM City Dasmariñas and SM City Xiamen in China. The 2.7-MW MOA Solar Carpark, in particular, was nearly twice the size of the 1.5-MW SM North Edsa Solar Carpark, thus, making it one of the world’s largest on-site solar projects. The MOA Solar Carpark was comprised of 10,426 solar panels, 40 inverters and was said to have the ability to offset an estimated 80,000 tons of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years. It even warranted a visit from former US Vice President candidate Al Gore earlier this month during his trip to the Philippines to educate civic leaders about climate change.
Blazing the trail
SM’s solar-power project is an excellent example of how adapting to climate change can help curb its effects. SM’s solar powered malls also demonstrate how sustainable solutions can go hand in hand with profitability, as shown by the money they can save per month on the electric bills. In light of this, other mall developers took notice of the transformative effects of solar energy in North Edsa and MOA, and started following SM’s lead in welcoming renewable energy as an ally.
After SM, it was the turn of some of the biggest real-estate developers in the country—the likes of Ayala Land Inc., Robinsons Land Corp. and DoubleDragon Properties Corp.—to link up with Solar Philippines and make renewable solar energy a prominent pillar of their mall development projects. Robinsons Place Palawan and Ayala’s Marquee Mall in Pampanga already boast of Solar Philippines’s solar panels to power their buildings. DoubleDragon Properties also had its CityMall in Roxas City outfitted with solar panels, and is now aiming to energize 100 CityMalls all over the country by 2020.
It’s really great to see that what started as a mere tie-up with SM Prime Holdings and Solar Philippines has opened up the opportunities for other property developers to embrace the positives of renewable energy. For us to really fulfill our promise to reduce carbon-dioxide emission en route to reaping the benefits of a sustainable future, we’re going to need the collective efforts of the players from different sectors to make the move toward renewable energy. Real-estate companies, in particular, need to start thinking that commercial developments, like malls, can be agents of sustainable change through renewable energy, and it’s indeed great news that some have already made it a priority pillar in their future projects.
Image credits: SM Cares