Makati, Philippines – Green buildings do not only make cities healthier environments to live in: they save money.
Resource speakers and organizers behind Build Eco Xpo (BEX) Asia 2017, which kicks off in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands from 12 to 14 September, preached this mantra at a kickoff event held in Manila this week. They expressed optimism that cities, particularly in Southeast Asian, are gradually embracing sustainable thinking as the number of green buildings double in the region every three years.
BEX Asia will be held in conjunction with Mostra Convegno Expocomfort (MCE) Asia, a regional HVAC-R, water and energy exhibition and International Green Building Conference (IGBC). The conference will encourage the sharing of ideas among stakeholders, policymakers and government agencies all over the world.
Faster pace of sustainability awareness a must
But the same resource persons acknowledged that the pace for more buildings piercing the Southeast Asian skylines with sustainability in mind, could be faster.
Lucille L. Sering, president of Greenwarehousel and former Philippines Climate Change secretary, pointed out that while major European cities such as Paris and London had a high percentage of green buildings (64 per cent and 68 per cent, respectively), Asian cities were only just making the switch.
BEX Asia data showed that only Singapore has a relatively high penetration (30 per cent) of green buildings. Beijing (11 per cent), Shanghai (15 per cent), Tokyo (8 per cent) and Hong Kong (4 per cent) are playing catch up.
Sering told the Manila Standard that a “short-term investment focus” in many Asian real estate markets is a key factor, as is a low level of awareness of the benefits of green buildings.
“The real estate sector clearly needs more insight into the business case for going green,” she said.
The benefits of green buildings include improving the health of occupants and boosting productivity, the economic return of premises that have reduced operational expenses, and the environmental benefits of lower greenhouse gas emissions, water use and waste.
Moving out of the “push phase”
But since awareness of these benefits has been low, so the industry has been reluctant to pay the upfront costs required to build a green building or convert an old one, said Mike Guerrero, founding member of Green Architecture Advocacy Philippines (GreenAP).
The green buildings market in Asia has only recently moved out of the “push phase”, he says, when it was led primarily by government regulation rather than market demand.
But as adoption accelerates, particularly in fast growing Southeast Asian markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and even the Philippines, so the need for government interference will diminish, he said.
What is needed now, said Guerrero, is for certifiers to get better at marketing green building labels to end users and real estate firms to speed up the rate of adoption.
Meanwhile, Choong Chow Neng, regional director of Singapore-based G-Energy Global, said constructing new green buildings will only cut a fraction of cities’ water and energy use.
“More than two-thirds of the buildings that will exist by the middle of this century have already been built in most cities, so the critical issue is how to get people to retrofit existing buildings, he said.
Changing the perception that green is expensive
The three resource persons agreed that the biggest obstacle to adoption is the perception that green buildings are prohibitively expensive.
But Guerrero said this perception can be reversed.
One simple solution, he said, involves natural ventilation. “If apartment building windows on the same wall are hinged to open in opposite directions, there is a resulting increase in windflow, compared with if they both open on the same side,” he said. “All condominium windows should be made to incorporate opposing hinges on the same wall to create airier living spaces,” he suggested.
Cooling cities down
What about parks? Guerrero highlighted its key role in urban sustainability and its cooling effects on cities.
He noted that a one-degree Celsius increase in temperature over 29 degrees Celsius in a city can increase mortality rates by two to four per cent among the population as a whole, with the elderly particularly at risk.
Concrete buildings, roads and the infrastructure of large cities have a tendency to absorb sunlight and raise temperatures, a phenomenon known as the urban island effect.
Green areas such as parks, rivers and wooded areas, besides making an area more attractive, tend to cool cities down.
Choong talked about his hometown in Jurong, previously an industrial estate in Singapore which is now a thriving mixed township. The area’s storm drainage areas had been beautified through a combination of careful planning and lush greenery, and is now appreciated by residents there.
The consensus among the resource persons was that greening does not have to be expensive, but it does have to be better communicated. As Sering said: “We need to make it easier to access information on green building design and operation. Where they can it be sourced, and how price-competitive is it?”
“If we have government-approved sites that make it easier for developers and building renovators to find and source green buildings-related materials – combined with easy pay-back calculators showing clients the potential savings over time, then we will be more likely to see better uptake of green buildings,” Guerrero added.
Change in mindset
This year, BEX Asia looks ahead to push forth a change in mindset to accelerate Asia’s green building developments. Topics such as sustainability in interior design, intelligent green buildings, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for intuitive and smart buildings will be discussed at the event.
Sering told the Manila Standard she has witnessed remarkable progress in sustainable buildings particularly in the Southeast Asian region. In the Philippines, the green building sector has seen promising growth over the past few years, especially in the number of certified sustainable buildings. There are a total of 245 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects in the market currently, and 61 have already received the certification.
For the Green Mark certification scheme originating from Singapore, there are two certified Green Mark projects in Manila, namely Citadines Salcedo Makati and Ascott Bonifacio Global City, with more in the pipeline. Leading to an estimated 20-40 percent savings on utilities for the average Filipino family, more developers are expected to make the switch to sustainable green buildings.