THE Philippine Green Building Council (PHILGBC) officially released this month the new version for its Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence (Berde) rating system, hoping it will lead to the development and certification of more green building projects in the Philippines.
Officially known as version 2.0.0, PHILGBC CEO Christopher de la Cruz said the new version seeks to make Berde more dynamic and relevant to the current environment. He added comments on drafts for version 2.0.0 of Berde for renovations will commence this month 2018. He said the PHILGBC plans to officially release the second version before year-end.
“Berde is implementing a modified semantic versioning for the development of tools. This allows the swift response and updating of the different Green Building Rating schemes to ensure that Berde continue to be relevant and responsive to our environmental priorities and aligned with local and international laws and standards,” de la Cruz said.
Berde version 2.0.0 was released in November 2017 during the annual PHILGBC National Convention.
The Berde GBRS—Renovation is the green building rating scheme developed for existing building projects that has undergone renovations to improve the building’s design and operations.
The framework for Berde version 2.0.0 includes energy efficiency and conservation, water efficiency and conservations, waste management, use of land and ecology, management, green materials, transportation, indoor environment quality and emissions.
Further, Berde version 2.0.0 includes the official release of the following Berde Green Building Rating Schemes (Berde GBRS): Berde GBRS—New Construction—v2.0.0, and Berde GBRS—Operations—v2.0.0.
To enable more people to understand the Berde concepts, de la Cruz said the PHILGBC used a simplified language and clearer requirements. “With the adoption of plain English in the development of Berde, version 2.0.0 features clearer requirements, and simplified documentation for compliance with the different credits under Berde,” de la Cruz said.
“User guides for new construction and operations has also been released as additional support for project teams in their pursuit for Berde Certification,” de la Cruz added.
It has also introduced a more efficient process for Berde Certification. Version 2.0.0 features improved efficiency and quality of delivery for the Berde Certification process, while still ensuring the confidence and trust in the assessment and rating of green building projects provided by the PHILGBC.
To ensure it is par with global standards, de la Cruz said Berde is developed in line with international standards development best practices and standards, and harmonized with national and international building and environmental standards.
According to the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC, 2013), Berde is developed in harmony with the Quality Assurance for Green Building Rating and “guided by internationally recognized methodologies for developing standards and by the Quality Assurance for Green Building Rating Tools.”
Under the Quality Assurance for Green Building Rating Tools (WorldGBC, 2013), national green building councils are guided by the WorldGBC to test rating tools through pilot projects to establish and evaluate whether credits, processes, and procedures are appropriate and effective in delivering rating activities for green buildings.
There are currently 38 building developments registered for Berde certification. This represents a total gross floor area of 1.4 million square meters of registered Berde projects. Companies that trust Berde for their building projects include: Maynilad Water Services, Mañosa Properties, Arthaland Corp., First Balfour, HT Land Corp., Ayala Land Inc., Filinvest Land Inc., Laguna Lake Development Authority, The Net Group, De La Salle University, Monocrete Construction Philippines, Aseana Holdings, Keyland Corp., Filinvest Alabang Inc., Cebu Land Masters, Prescon and RSP Lim Construction Co.
The first projects to register under Berde version 2.0.0 are the Latitude Corporate Center project in Cebu City and Astra Centre project in Mandaue City of Cebu Landmasters Inc., and the Mandani Bay Quay Towers 1 and 2 project of HTLand Inc. in Mandaue City, Cebu.
The PHILGBC is a coalition of private- and public-sector leaders representing more than 300 organizations committed to promoting green building and sustainability in the property sector.