RL Commercial REIT (RCR), the real estate investment trust sponsored by Robinsons Land Corporation, announced that its office tower Robinsons Cyberscape Gamma has been officially named as the Philippines’ first EDGE CERTIFIED REIT building.
The certificate for Cyberscape Gamma was awarded by the Philippine Green Building Initiation (PBGI) after an assessment of its audit report.
EDGE or Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies is an international green building certification system that focuses purely on energy, water, and embodied energy in materials for a quantitative approach to sustainability.
An innovation of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, EDGE was created to respond to the need for a measurable and credible solution to prove the business case for building green and to unlock financial investment.
PGBI Vice Chairman Ar. Amado De Jesus, Jr. extended their congratulations to RLC upon achieving final EDGE certification for Robinsons Cyberscape Gamma in Pasig City.
“Our assessment confirms the auditor’s report that Robinsons Cyberscape Gamma’s resource-efficient design will result in reductions of 34 percent in energy, 31 percent in water and 69 percent in materials’ embodied energy compared to a local base case,” he noted.
“This is an important milestone for Robinsons Offices and especially for RCR,” said RLC Senior Vice President and General Manager for Offices and RCR President Jericho Go.
He added that RLC is looking to increase the impact of its sustainability initiatives, while delivering value to the business, by incorporating sustainable development features in all its properties to fight climate change.
Cyberscape Gamma’s EDGE certificate shows that it successfully reduced energy consumption because of its lower window-to-wall ratio, use of high-performance glass, fresh air pre-conditioning system, efficient lighting, and power factor correction.
It also has water-saving measures such as the installation of water-efficient faucets and urinals and a rainwater harvesting system. The building also uses material-efficient floor and roof slabs, window-glazing, and interior and exterior walls.
“Together with IFC, we rely on the expertise of those in the industry so that we are continuously advancing the capabilities of EDGE and increasing our standard in marketplaces around the world,” De Jesus said.
As an internationally-recognized green building certification system, EDGE can be deployed to fulfil the requirements of prominent global standards.
The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) includes EDGE as a qualifying certification system for improved scoring for the GRESB Real Estate Assessment and the GRESB Developer Assessment. GRESB is the global standard for ESG benchmarking and is used by investors to obtain data on the ESG performance of real assets.
The International Capital Markets Association recognizes EDGE as a qualifying certification system in its green bond principles, which are a set of guidelines recommended for issuing a green bond.
The Climate Bonds Initiative includes EDGE as a qualifying certification system to achieve the Climate Bonds Standard and Certification Scheme. EDGE certification fulfills both residential and commercial requirements for the allocation of proceeds from green bonds.
Go said “RLC continues to engage green-certified contractors and/or consultants, as well as establish guidelines on landscaping, to achieve carbon neutrality and improve resiliency.”
Furthermore, RLC has created its own roadmap towards a net zero carbon ambition by 2050. This is in line with the global push to limit global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Robinsons Offices is likewise committed to harness clean and renewable energy (RE). It intends to use clean power in all its current and future office projects, in line with its goal of shifting power requirements to RE sources by 2035.
