Alvarez urges construction sector to put up 'green buildings

In the wake of his fresh appointment as Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change, former senator and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez urged architects, engineers, and other stakeholders in the construction sector yesterday to make ‘Green Buildings’ and help in efforts to curb the impact of global warming in the country.

According to Alvarez, the construction boom of high-rise condominiums and commercial buildings worldwide is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, thus, compounding the threat of global warming.

“When we talk about greenhouse gases, only factories, power plants and cars come to mind. What are not thought of as an environmental menace are our commercial and residential buildings and apartment complexes,” Alvarez said.

He said that buildings all over the world consume 70 percent of the world’s total electricity supply and account for 39 percent of all GHG emissions.

Alvarez also asked government agencies to help increase awareness on the building environment’s effect on the natural environment, when he spoke at the 16th Construction Show in Manila 2008, held at the SMX Convention Center at the SM Mall of Asia.

“Buildings have a huge effect on the environment, from the consumption of energy and the wasteful use of raw materials, to the production of greenhouse gases,” Alvarez, founding chairman of Earth Savers Movement, stressed.

Alvarez attributed the booming construction sector to “technological innovations” over the past 150 years that resulted in the development of construction materials such as structural steel, air conditioning, vinyl floorings and sidings, reflective glass, and panelized prefab construction items that allowed for taller and larger buildings.

These technological innovations resulted in bigger buildings, and led to structures put up farther away from the cities that their effect on the environment were compounded by the use of motor vehicles that emit GHGs.

Alvarez urged architects and construction industry leaders to “employ environment-friendly and energy-efficient systems” in the construction of new buildings that “would enhance and protect ecosystems and biodiversity, improve air and water quality, reduce solid waste, and conserve natural resources.”