DAVAO CITY—European companies pitched for more aggressive application of energy efficiency and green technology in construction in the Philippines, and cited the natural environment and abundance of renewable-energy sources to back this technology.

The Filipino-Italian firm ItalPinas Euro Asian Design and Eco-Development Corp. said the Philippines is endowed with the natural fresh environment that could be tapped for natural ventilation of buildings, and the same structures, including industrial and other commercial operations, could be aided with more cost-saving, energy-efficiency solutions.

Romolo Valentino Nati, chairman of ItalPinas, told reporters at the sidelines of the energy-efficiency forum held in this city on Tuesday that green buildings and the application of green technology in other structures “should not scare investors over the addition of expensive materials and devices.”

“We do not necessarily have to add expensive materials or acquire devices to make your buildings and residences green. It’s in the design that would use locally available materials, and to structure the building to allow natural ventilation and entry of natural light from the sun and the environment,” Nati said.

He said the issue of cost of materials has been proved wrong in the buildings they have designed in the Philippines, and by those put up by other Filipino construction and real-estate companies.

“The cost of the units in these green buildings is almost the same as those you can avail yourself of from other buildings,” he said.

Noel Verdote, operations officer of Sustainable Energy Finance unit of International Finance Corp. (IFC), confirmed that clients of construction-design companies often balked at the idea that it would be costly for them to erect a green building.

“In some cases it may be expensive, but in the long run, the building owner would find that it would be cheaper to maintain and operate,” he said.

IFC, part of the World Bank group, said it already worked with city officials of Mandaluyong in Metro Manila to amend its building code to improve the safety aspect of structures and to ensure better durability in cases of natural calamities.

“The amendment provisions may not have a direct bearing on the push for green technology, but the main feature of improved safety that required better construction and support, and the installation of electricity and acquisition of household or commercial machines may actually support the accommodation of a green design,” Verdote said.

“What the amendment code would like to achieve are items that are still on the wish list of many of us,” he said.

Meanwhile, the French firm Schneider Electric Philippines said several Filipino companies engaged in different business ventures and operations have adapted the concept of more energy-efficiency measures.

Ian de la Rosa, sales manager of Schneider Electric Philippines, said it was not difficult to persuade corporations and even local governments to adapt the various line of technology products and solutions that they want adapted to their different needs.

The company, he said, offers solutions to the needs of utilities companies and the putting up of infrastructure, industrial and machines solutions, data centers, and both residential and non-residential sectors.

“We have solutions to traffic management and street lighting, for instance, as we have solutions to road transport and safety,” he added.

De la Rosa said the energy-efficiency solutions have become necessary assistance to sectors of electricity and communication, such as business-process outsourcing.

The European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines sponsored the Mindanao Energy Efficiency Forum at a hotel in this city on Tuesday.

In Photo: Ian de la Rosa, sales manager of Schneider Electric Philippines, talks of wide potential for energy-efficiency measures among Philippine industries at the recent Mindanao Energy Efficiency Forum in Davao City.  

Source: Business Mirror (www.businessmirror.com.ph); News; 27 July 2013