Constellation Energy goes into green architecture

MANILA, Philippines - Constellation Energy Corp. (CEC) is expanding its business interests to green architecture, its top official said yesterday.

CEC is building Mindanao’s first eco-friendly building in Cagayan de Oro City through a partnership with ItalPinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corp. (ITPI), said CEC chairman and ItalPinas president Jose Leviste.

“Constellation Energy’s venture into green architecture is but a natural consequence of our company’s full thrust in exploring multi-technology renewable energy (RE) projects,” said Leviste. CEC has RE service contracts with the Department of Energy (DOE) for several geothermal, wind and hydroelectric projects all over the country.

The project is a P45-million mixed-used twin-tower condominium, which features eco-friendly design features, an inner courtyard and cross-ventilation layout among the units for natural airflow and illumination, said Italian architect Romolo Nati, ITPI chairman and chief executive officer.

The 160-unit Primavera Residences Tower A, which was completed last year, boasts of shaded façades to reduce direct sun illumination on the windows to bring down internal temperature of each unit. The building is equipped with photovoltaic solar panels on the rooftop for renewable energy production.

“With ItalPinas, we put our money where our mouth is by going to great lengths to put up eco-friendly and sustainable building,” said Nati, who also sits as vice chairman of CEC.

Leviste said Primavera’s “passive design elements” had resulted in the reduction of energy consumption in air-conditioning expenses for their building residents.

Set up in 2009, ItalPinas has partnerships with ICCP (Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines) Group of Companies, the leading independent investment bank in the country and the owner of a land development estate in Northern Mindanao; Habitat for Humanity Philippines; Pueblo de Oro Development Corp.; and FODC (First Oriental Development Corp.), a triple A contractor specializing in green building construction.

CEC, meanwhile, is a subsidiary of EnerAsia Renewables Corp. of Canada, with various investors and partners in Canada, Singapore, Italy, Australia and Hong Kong.