Township office projects promote sustainability

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly listed developer Megaworld Corporation declared its township projects as a model program that promotes sustainability during the 1st Sustainable Building Technology Conference held last Nov. 11-12 at the SMX Convention Center.

In the presentation of its Sustainability consultant, Edmond Maceda, township developments were cited as a model for sustainable land use planning. According to Maceda, Megaworld’s townships promote “densification over sprawl” and transportation connectivity. A small township, at 50 hectares or less, promotes walkability from the home to the mall or office. It also has an abundance of public transport and depending on the project location, access to mass train lines.

Since the township residents are encouraged to live, work, play and shop in these compact urban centers, they individually consume less electricity and water, buy a lesser quantity of items and discard less trash and spend far less time in automobiles. Thus, by living in a compact city thousands of individuals make their contribution towards lessening greenhouse gas emissions, according to Maceda.

He identified four of Megaworld’s township projects where these benefits are now being realized: Eastwood City in Quezon City, McKinley Hill and Forbes Town Center in Fort Bonifacio and Newport City across NAIA Terminal 3. Soon, more residents will realize the benefits of township living in Manhattan Garden City at the Araneta Center and Cityplace in Binondo.

The township model will be replicated in Megaworld’s other upcoming projects, specifically Bonifacio Uptown and McKinley West, both also located in Fort Bonifacio.

Megaworld also shared its experience in sustainable property management, citing one of its office buildings as a case study. Its 1800 Eastwood Ave. office project, loaded with green building design features, won the ASEAN Energy Award in 2009.

The award-giving body noted the building’s lighting management features, elevator use, waterless urinals and collaborative efforts with tenants for electricity optimization. The building’s spacious lobby maximizes the use of natural lighting, thus, only a few fixtures are on at daytime.

Towards the end of his presentation, Maceda shared with the audience presentation materials from the International Green Building Conference in Singapore last year. He also encouraged them to browse through leading sustainability sites such as greenbiz.com, facebook.com/green and green.yahoo.com. He also shared a link to the company’s corporate site: www.megaworldcorp.com.