First green building in Greenhills reflects optimism in the green property market

MANILA, Philippines - BTTC Centre, a 12-storey office development by Hantex Land Corporation, was recently inaugurated and is now open to tenants looking for premium spaces. BTTC Centre is the first green building in the area to receive a Gold pre-certification for Core & Shell under LEED. It is also the first PEZA IT Center in San Juan.

This milestone in San Juan reflects the growing interest in developing sustainable and green buildings in the Philippines. CBRE Philippines shared that the surge in green buildings will support the robust growth of the country’s property market.

According to Rick Santos, CBRE Philippines chairman and CEO, the benefits of going green are evident not only for landlords, but also for tenants/occupiers. Santos further emphasized that the sustainability agenda will continue to grow in importance in the real estate sector. “As the outsourcing and offshoring sector gains strength in the country, we see more occupiers and developers prioritizing flight to quality, with green buildings becoming more the norm than the exception. Fortune 500 companies, multinational corporations, and even local firms now consider green initiatives as prerequisites in their day-to-day maintenance and operations,” says Santos.

While the development of green buildings is on its pilot stage in the Philippines, proven benefits may be drawn from a study conducted by the CBRE Global Network. For instance, while development of green spaces may entail additional cost at the onset, this investment in green building is recoverable and is expected in the long run through decreased operating costs, increased ROI through higher tenant/customer retention and renewal, rental premium, and increased building/asset value. 

Developers are thus becoming much keener in meeting these demands and are seen to be more willing to incorporate “green” features into their buildings, making them cheaper to occupy. This is made possible by technological advances, making it easier and cheaper to build sustainable buildings. Even if such features are not seen as “standard” for now, the same study believes that they will be a few years from now. Green buildings are therefore increasingly seen as “future-proofed” investments. “While there is currently no single agreed definition or measure of what constitutes a ‘green’ building, the tools that exist for assessing the environmental credentials of a building are becoming more widely used and accepted”.

Also, it was noted that from an occupier’s perspective today, occupying green buildings is an important step towards achieving corporate sustainability objectives. An energy-efficient building is still believed to offer real economic attractions to a tenant.  Quantifiable benefits include greater productivity of employees, less sick days, higher employee satisfaction rate in work-environment conditions. Additionally, there is an improved level of employee engagement in corporate activities and an enhanced corporate public image.