Architects SAY Cost of building ‘green’structures not an issue

CEBU, Philippines - Although “green architecture” is no longer regarded as fad but a necessity to adjust to climate change, Cebuano architects observed that there is a need for the Cebu market to let go of the misconception that  developing “green” building or residential units is expensive.

“It is in fact inexpensive to develop ‘green’ buildings or homes today  because we are rich in resources. There are a lot of ways to build green or sustainable structures and cost is no longer an issue,” said Architect Cris Cyril Abbu.

Abbu, whose company CHORA Designs introduced the “Floating House” concept which got the interest from the recently concluded International Symposium on Lowland Technology in Bali, Indonesia.

According to Abbu, the Cebuano market, including developers, contractors or builders, and the residential owners still need to embrace the concept of ‘green” development, and that they have to open their minds that it is not costly.

Architect Dioscoro “Cocoy” Alesna Jr., echoed Abbu’s observation  saying that although there are already a lot of options to build inexpensive “green structures”, the market in general still need to erase the impression of high cost involved in this particular development.

To push this particular technology to the local market, Abbu and Alesna   are now incorporating “green” designs to their projects, although there is a need for a strong collaboration and acceptance from the developer and the contractors.

“It’s not expensive to design or build a “green” structure. We can use low and local resources to develop an environment friendly and sustainable building and houses,” said Alesna.

Alesna said that designing or developing a green building for instance, will not only involved the design or materials used in the construction, but also the entire life cycle of the building, which include the incorporation of energy, and water efficiency, among others.

“There are simple and low-tech ways in building a green building or green houses,” said Alesna, only that the market in general has detached from traditional way of designing, and developing buildings.

One of the barriers which hampered architects to introduce “green architecture”  is the lack of appreciation from the market in general, Alesna said.

The customers, including developers and contractors are already aware of the need to build “green” structures, all they have to do now is open their eyes to options that will erase the impression of high development costs.

Based on a report published by UK’s online construction directory, the building industry is currently responsible for almost 40 percent of global greenhouse emissions.

Cement and steel industries, on the other hand, that provide materials for building construction are deemed resource intensive, thus, giving a big blow to the use of natural resources. (FREEMAN)