35th UAP National Convention
The Power of Architecture
DREAM • C REAT E • T RANS FO RM
marks, plaques and/or certificates that easily inform the public that the
claims of a building developer are verified by a third party organization
and that the building has passed the rating system. These rating systems
continue to evolve to address technological advancement and best
practice in green building.
The following are some of the leading examples of green building
rating systems:
Rating System
Organization
Country
Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED)
US Green Building Council
(USGBC)
United States
of America
Building Research Establishment
Environmental Assessment
Method (BREEAM)
UK Green Building Council
(UKGBC)
United
Kingdom
Hong Kong Building Environmental
Assessment Method (BEAM)
HK Beam Society
Hong Kong
Comprehensive Assessment
System for Building Environmental
Efficiency (CASBEE)
Japan Sustainable Building
Consortium (JSBC)
Japan
Green Star
Green Building Council
Australia (GBCA)
Australia
BCA Green Mark
Singapore Building and
Construction Authority (BCA)
Singapore
SBTool
International Initiative for a
Sustainable Built Environment
(iiSBE)
Canada
Green Globes
Green Globes
Canada, U.S.
The PHILGBC and its Vision
The Philippine Green Building
Council (PHILGBC) is a national
not-profit organization that
promotes the sharing of knowledge
on green practices to the property
industry to ensure a sustainable
environment. The Council is
an alliance of building and
construction industry leaders from
both the public and private sectors
that shall be the non-partisan
venue to develop a nationally
accepted and recognized
green building rating standard.
Need for Measuring Environmental Performance
Relevant issues that may
affect how a building’s sustainable
credentials are to be measured
shall be discussed in this program.
The Council shall act as a referee
in determining the correctness of
the claims of project proponents
by developing the national green
building rating system. It shall be
an independent monitoring and
verification system that shall serve
as a third party certification. This
will level the playing field among
the building industry players since
all claims will be benchmarked
against a single rating system.
Businesses will use this mark as a
recognizable branding tool that
will enable buyers to easily identify
buildings that are performing
environmentally well. The program
shall be officially referred to as
Building for Ecologically Responsive
Design Excellence (BERDE).
A green building rating system encourages stakeholders to consider
the use of concepts, green building materials and technology at the
earliest possible opportunity to increase the chances of getting higher
ratings. The Philippines need to have a nationally recognized and industry
accepted rating system in order to measure the environmental impact
and performance of buildings.
The BERDE Program shall be
administered and implemented by
a multisectoral body to ensure a
socially and technically balanced
green building rating system. The
body shall be appointed by the
board of the PHILGBC from its
members. The PHILGBC may also
involve non-member organizations,
associations and companies that
Credits are given to every area/part of the building that shows good
environmental performance. These systems are a good way of validating
the developer’s claims of the good environmental performance of their
products. Certified assessors/auditors inspect, evaluate and benchmark
the building against a green building rating system to assess the building’s
level of sustainability. Property brokers are using the results (especially if
the building is rated excellent) of these rating systems to promote the
environmental friendliness of the building. Architects and engineers are
using it as a guide in improving the performance of their designs. Property
managers are using it to measure the performance of the buildings,
develop action plans, and to monitor and report performance.
In the Philippines, as the market matures into “green consumers”,
architects, engineers, real estate developers, and material suppliers are
using “green” credentials to attract the public into buying their products
and services. At the moment, these activities continue to confuse the
public because a rating system that will enable buyers to verify these
claims does not exist.
Organizational Setup
of BERDE
109