Cagayan De Oro joins world’s famous environment-friendly buildings (Environment)
- Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=8&rid=795240
- Thursday, August 20, 2015
- By Mark Francisco [(PNA), CTB/CD/MF]
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Aug. 20 (PNA) – This trading hub of about 800,000 people in Northern Mindanao joins the ranks of the world’s famous metropolis that builds environmentally friendly buildings, an executive said Thursday.
The US Green Building Council has stamped a platinum certification in Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) of the newly constructed seven-floor Pioneer House here, which opened on August 7 2015.
Sally Ong Pac, executive vice president and property administration head of the Pioneer Group of companies, said that the certification is important for LEED which is the world’s premier benchmark for high performance environmentally sound buildings.
“With the elevation of Pioneer House in Cagayan De Oro City into a LEED “platinum status,” the city joins the ranks of more than 100 such buildings in the world, including Bank of America Tower in New York, Taipei 101 and Asia Square in Singapore,” Ong Pac said.
Ong Pac said that Cagayan De Oro City now has the most number of LEED-certified buildings in the country. The 19-storey Limketkai Luxe Hotel garnered a LEED gold certification in 2012, a first in the country.
Thirty-one other structures elsewhere in the nation followed suit.
In 2013, the 33-level Zuellig Building in Makati City was able to snatch enough points to clinch a platinum certification, a level higher than gold.
Then Wells Fargo Center Philippines Building A, located in Taguig City, also grabbed a platinum a year later.
When Pioneer Group announced the construction of its new Cagayan de Oro home in 2013, company officials have already targeted in mind a LEED platinum certification. It would be the first outside Luzon.
According to Ms. Pac, Pioneer House CDO contributes 55 percent less drain of rainfall because of its treatment facility.
The trend for LEED certification in the Philippines is expected – Mandaluyong City passed an ordinance in 2014 providing incentives for green buildings.
Other notable LEED structures here are Pilipinas Shell Administration Building, Nuvali One Evotech and Forbes Media Center.
However, all of these received only silver status.