Green developer ArthaLand to “greenify” Cebu’s business
Publicly listed ArthaLand Corporation, the country’s green developer, is set to change the Queen City of the South’s business environment into green with the introduction of Cebu Exchange. This Php 8B-project that is soon to rise along Salinas Drive in the Cebu IT Park area is registered under the USGBC LEED and the PHILGBC BERDE green rating programs.
“Targeting dual green building certification for Cebu Exchange means putting together the best of both worlds. There are certain factors that are unique to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program that are important to the building’s efficient operations and there are elements measured in BERDE (Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence) program that are specifically suited to our tropical environment. Cebu Exchange will put together the best practices of these certification programs to optimize operating efficiency for Cebuano businesses,” shared Angie de Villa - Lacson, ArthaLand’s president and CEO.
Global Standards for Cebu
The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program is a globally recognized green building standard measurement that has been adopted by 140 countries and territories to that ensure the built environment’s green measures are strictly calibrated and implemented.
LEED recognizes best-in-class strategies and practices on care for the environment. To be certified, building projects need to satisfy prerequisites and earn points based on intelligent selection of the building location, water and energy usage efficiency, responsible use of materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality, among others.
Meanwhile, in the country, the Philippine Green Building Council monitors and calibrates developments that are registered under its BERDE program.
BERDE is the national voluntary green building rating system in the Philippines that is used to measure, verify, and monitor the environmental performance of buildings that exceeds existing national mandatory regulations and standards. According to PhilGBC, it employs consensusdriven, multi-stakeholder collaboration processes in order to determine the high standard of evaluating and certifying buildings as truly green and sustainable.
Cebu Exchange Greening Efforts
To ensure resource efficiency for the building’s locators, Cebu Exchange will feature green elements such as efficient building envelope, water efficient plumbing system, lowenergy air-conditioning system, efficient lighting system, use of low-emitting materials, and allocation for LowEmitting & Fuel Efficient Vehicle (LEFEV) parking. With its strategic location, the project is well connected to the rest of the community, thus requiring less use of motorized vehicles.
According to experts and property analysts, certified green buildings are preferred by multinational players as required by their home offices. “ArthaLand is the only Philippine developer that puts sustainability at the core of all its projects. This is why we know that the expertise that we bring to Cebu and the rest of Visayas and Mindanao will further boost the region’s business viability,” de Villa - Lacson underscored.
“Cebu Exchange will change VisMin’s real estate landscape. Cebu Exchange will be the future of business in the region,” she emphasized.
Boost for Sugbuhanon Business
The information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) designed Cebu Exchange is seen to accommodate at least 13,000 seats which translates to about 40,000 business process outsourcing (BPO) agents for three-shift operations.
The numbers mean an estimated annual income of Php 7.2B for Cebuanos and the rest of VisMin who will be directly employed by companies that will choose to locate in the Grade-A building. This does not include the thousands of jobs to be generated while the project is being constructed at the Cebu IT Park area.
According to Frost & Sullivan, there is an additional three or four jobs that are generated for every direct job in the information technology and business process management industry.
“The project will be a boost to the Sugbuhanon businesses,” Lacson reiterated, “we also target home-grown enterprises and IT-BPM allied services who need quality space. With Cebu’s economic growth surpassing the national average, there is so much potential here. We want to be a strong partner of this growth.”
Four floors in Cebu Exchange will be dedicated to retail spaces to serve the needs of its tenants and the community.
ArthaLand is a boutique developer of sustainable, world class projects. It rests on a solid backing by CPG Holdings, Inc. (CPGHI), its biggest shareholder. CPHGI is led by the Po family of the Century Pacific Food Inc., the country’s largest canned food company which owns market leader brands such as Century Tuna, 555, and Argentina, among others. ArthaLand’s other major shareholder is international investment firm, AO Capital Group.
ArthaLand’s other projects include top-end LEED Gold certified residential condominium, Arya Residences, as well as LEED Gold pre-certified premium office building, ArthaLand Century Pacific Tower. These projects are both located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.