Pop-up store supports sustainable living in Manila
ENVIRONMENTALLY CONCIOUS lifestyle options are now more accessible as Philippine GeoGreen, Inc. opens a new pop-up store in Makati City.
For 10 years, Philippine GeoGreen, Inc. — the authorized local distributor of products by Solatube Daylight Systems, Big Ass Fans, and Topps Products, Inc. — has been providing sustainable, energy saving, and cost-efficient solutions to commercial and industrial facilities. Architect and Philippine GeoGreen, Inc. CEO Liza Crespo ventured to build a partnership with the energy saving fixture brands after she was introduced to the products available in New York during her practice in construction-related industries. Since then, Philippine GeoGreen, Inc. has aimed at making sustainable living accessible to Filipinos. At present, the distributor plans to make sustainable products available to residential areas.
“The Philippines has the highest per kilowatt hour rate in Asia — it’s (sustainable living) not just because you just want to jump on the bandwagon... It’s more of a necessity because [energy usage is] more expensive. So, when people choose to live green or do energy saving [stuff ], it’s because they want to save money also,” Ms. Crespo told BusinessWorld.
The pop-up store is located at the second floor of Rockwell Power Plant mall’s new wing. It features a Solatube Daylighting System, Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG), and cost-effective traditional fans, among the products on display.
The Solatube Daylighting System is designed to allow natural sunlight from the roof to enter the room. Installation is done within two hours with no structural changes to the buildings. Adaptors connected to the tube on the roof are used to allow multiple tubes to be installed in various corners in one room.
The Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) extracts water from humid ambient air. With water vapor condensed by cooling the air below its dew point, the device makes water potable through multiple filtration stages.
Other products on display are the costeffective industrial and residential 52-diameter ceiling fans by Big Ass Fans.
“Rather than a very high rpm of a small fan to deliver a breeze, we increased the diameter of the fan — an aerodynamic shape with a foil in order to create a large coverage area around the big open space,” Big Ass Fans Asia Pacific managing director Brian Smith told BusinessWorld of the ceiling fans’ features.
“In a lot of ways, our fans are intrinsically green. We were looking for something that was practical, economical, and works the solution to the [common] problem,” Mr. Smith said, noting the need of providing comfort in unairconditioned areas.
Despite the availability and the decrease in costs of environmentally sustainable products, many people still have the misconception that this is a high-cost lifestyle. “It’s a misconception that consumers think it’s (sustainable living) expensive. There are so many options out there. It’s just a matter of figuring out what the best application is and what the best product is for your use,” Ms. Crespo said in a mixture of English and Filipino.
Ms. Crespo said that more pop-up stores are targeted to open in BGC, Taguig and Makati.
The pop- up store at the Power Plant mall is open until Sept. 7.
For information visit www.philgeogreen. com. —