IFC awards 1st EDGE certifications in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has awarded its first EDGE resource-efficiency certifications in the Philippines to two housing projects of Imperial Homes, a local developer of both low-cost and high-end buildings.

IFC’s EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) is a building certification system created for emerging markets. It is part of IFC’s green-building program to promote resource efficiency in buildings by adopting designs that help reduce materials, water, and electricity consumption. This is an important initiative in the Philippines where buildings consume 63 percent of the country’s energy supply, according to 2013 data from the Department of Energy.

Imperial Homes is the first company to achieve EDGE certifications in the Philippines for two of its housing projects in Batangas, a city south of metropolitan Manila: Tiarra Premiere Homes and Delsey Homes. Compared to a similar house built according to current construction practices in the Philippines, a Tiarra-designed home is expected to save 32 percent in energy use, 28 percent in water, and 38 percent in building materials, while a Delsey-designed home will save about 42 percent in energy use, 20 percent in water, and 26 percent in building materials.

“Imperial Homes has a set a good example in the Philippine market by achieving our EDGE certification,” said IFC Resident Representative Jesse Ang. “We hope more companies will follow its lead and build more resource-efficient buildings in the country, especially with the number of commercial and residential buildings increasing fast, which will lead to a higher demand for resources such as water and electricity.”

IFC’s green-building program is expected to cut 1.9 million metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions in the Philippines and save 38 billion Philippine pesos a year by 2030.

IFC’s work to promote green buildings in the Philippines is delivered in partnership with the Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).