Robinsons Offices leads the industry in green-building

MANILA, Philippines — Robinsons Land Corporation, one of the country’s leading property developers, continues to lead the industry in sustainability and green-building as it consistently designs its office buildings to be more responsible and efficient in managing energy and water resources.

With a wide geographical reach of over 700,000 square meters across 30 prime office buildings located in 10 key cities nationwide, Robinsons Offices has consistently pursued world-class, sustainable, and innovative office spaces that support business growth and overall economic development.

Towards its goal of minimizing its carbon footprint, Robinsons Offices has been redefining the office landscape with 3 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) certifications in its belt while expecting more from its new and upcoming office towers.

“LEED is the most widely used green building rating system,” says Jericho P. Go, President and CEO for RL Commercial REIT, Inc. (RCR) and SVP and General Manager for Robinsons Offices. Mr. Go adds that LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement, and it is backed by an entire industry of committed organizations and individuals paving the way for market transformation.

Being LEED certified makes a building more attractive as there is increasing demand for green office spaces with sustainability features, highlighted by a LEED certification, from multinationals with growing ESG (environmental, social, and governance) requirements for their workplaces.

Both Robinsons Offices’ Giga Tower and Tera Tower have LEED GOLD certifications while the twin Exxa and Zeta Towers are LEED Silver certified.

GBF Centers 1 and 2, currently under construction and to be completed in 2023, are designed with the intention of applying to be LEED Gold certified. RLC’s Cybergate Iloilo Towers 1 and 2 are also currently pursuing LEED certifications.

Exxa – Zeta, Giga and Tera Towers, and GBF Centers 1 and 2 are all located in Robinsons Land’s Bridgetowne Destination Estate.

Meanwhile, RLC’s Cyberscape Gamma is the country’s first EDGE Certified REIT (real estate investment trust) building. EDGE is a green building certification system focused on making buildings more resource-efficient.

“Ever conscious of our role as an instrument of change for the welfare of the environment, we are committed to building greener office towers and apply for LEED certification for our ongoing and upcoming Metro Manila projects as well as some provincial offices,” shares Mr. Go.

With sustainability in mind, Mr. Go said “We plan to install solar panels on our existing buildings that meet the minimum requirements. We also plan to enroll with independent power producers to provide us with electricity coming from renewable energy sources.”

Aside from green energy sources, RLC is also aiming to be more responsible in its use of water through the installation of rainwater harvesting facilities to reduce water consumption for cleaning and watering of plants.

“We will also incorporate rainwater harvesting facilities in the plans and designs of office towers that we will be building in the future,” said Mr. Go.

For instance, Giga Tower was LEED Gold after RLC restored a third of the building site by using native or adapted vegetation to conserve existing natural areas and provide habitat and promote biodiversity.

Outdoor water use was reduced to 62 percent from the baseline by having native and adaptive plants which consume less water. On the other hand, indoor water use was reduced to 45.90 percent by installing low-flow and low flush plumbing fixtures.

Also among the numerous sustainability features incorporated into the designs of Robinsons Offices is the use of energy efficient LED lighting fixtures, energy-efficient finishes such as solar-reflectant glass in its windows, and daylight sensors at parking areas.

Energy meter and advanced sub-meters were installed to support energy management and identify opportunities for additional energy savings by tracking building-level and system-level energy use.

RLC has also invested in low-carbon resilient spaces to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It has also been able to reduce the so-called heat island effect by having all parking under cover and having compliant Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) for all paving and roof area.

To further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Robinsons Offices has installed bicycle racks to encourage office workers to use their bikes instead of commuting to work in private cars or public transportation. It has also made its developments pedestrian friendly with shaded pathways to make it more conducive to walking.

There is also marked waste reduction due to the buildings’ Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) which includes compartments for mixed paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, metals, batteries and electronic wastes.

The Gokongwei Group which counts RLC among its core members, also has its Juan Goal for Plastic sustainable plastic waste management program with the aim of encouraging a circular economy as a long-term solution for the world’s plastic waste problem.

RLC also implemented the use of non-CFC refrigerant (R-410A) to reduce stratospheric ozone depletion.

Go noted that RLC has created its own roadmap towards a net zero carbon ambition by 2050. This is in line with the global push to limit global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius.