Building Green Imperative Forum: Moving Towards a Greener Future

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Philippines is regarded as among those that are most vulnerable to uncontrollable and unpredictable weather patterns due to its archipelagic positioning. Being a developing nation and third world-country makes our vulnerabilities even more on a wider scope due to limited resources.

We therefore need to implement measures that everyone needs to follow in order to reduce the damages that may occur during natural disasters like flooding, earthquakes and other similar natural disasters.

The Building Green Imperative Forum is part of a concerted effort to help local government units (LGUs)  and their officials make the necessary adjustments and decisions to make our basic structures models in energy and resource use for good health, comfort, utility and durability, and above all for environmental protection and conservation.

The Building Green Imperative Forum invited speakers like Vice-President Jejomar Binay and Senator Loren Legarda

At the forum were Vice President Jejomar Binay gave the keynote speech, Senator Loren Legarda as the Plenary speaker, and Heherson Alvarez reading the speech of President Benigno Simeon Aquino.

Hans Shrader, Senior Programme Manager of the International Finance Corporation gave the Welcome Remarks.Architect Amado de Jesus, President of Philippine Green Building Initiative (PGBI), was the host and moderator of the event.

Speakers from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) shared their initiatives and actions leading to green building initiatives. There were also other speakers coming from the LGUs.

Hans Shrader, Senior Programme Manager of the IFC

Senator Heherson Alvarez, Commissioner of Climate Change Commission

Vice President Jejomar Binay as Keynote Speaker

Senator Loren Legarda, Chairman on Climate Change

The afternoon was spent mostly on the workshop and Plenary, including the Synthesis and closing remarks from Engr. Laurentino Punsalan.

The topics that were discussed in the forum were extremely vital and pivotal to the way we build our infrastructures, especially the tall buildings that seems to almost reach the skies. We need to be able to make establishments that are both pleasing to the eyes and takes advantage of the possibilities that nature  can bring to effectively make use, conserve, or become as an alternative, of natural sources of energy, ventilation, water, and other necessities.

We are hoping that the designers, developers and other major players and stakeholders can help in spreading information and widespread acceptance of these green building codes and standards. The movement of PGBI, IFC and the Climate Change Commission (CCC) are highly commendable.