SEN. MARCOS LAUDS DPWH FOR LAUNCHING GREEN BUILDING CODE

SEN. MARCOS LAUDS DPWH 

FOR LAUNCHING GREEN BUILDING CODE

In line with his pro-environment advocacy, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. lauded the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for launching the Philippine Green Building Code (PGBC) today.

The code is a set of rules governing building construction based on the best environment-friendly building methods and practices compiled by the DPWH, working in partnership with the private sector and local government units.

At the launching ceremony, Marcos, Chairman of the Public Works Committee, hailed the code as a “very important part of our national contribution to the world’s climate change mitigation strategies.” He also acknowledged the contributions of all stakeholders in crafting the code.

“We hail this as a triumph of a mutual collaboration between government and the private sector,” said Marcos. “The result is a practical — and hopefully, equally effective — means of achieving a desirable and workable green building framework for initial implementation in the entire country, especially when we think of the rather long and tedious alternative: the process of law-making in Congress,” he added.

Marcos has been pushing for the adoption of rules for more environment-friendly buildings. He has filed Senate Bill 410, seeking to establish a National Green Building Code.

Unlike a law that needs congressional action to change, the PGBC is subject to the DPWH Secretary’s periodic review.

The code applies to all new construction or alterations of buildings with the following required minimum Total Gross Floor Areas: Residential dwellings measuring 20,000 square meters (sqm.); school, office, mixed occupancy buildings measuring 10,000 sqm., and malls measuring 15,000 sqm.

The code prescribes minimum requirements on energy efficiency, material sustainability, solid waste management, site sustainability, and indoor environmental quality.

Marcos advised the DPWH to remain strong-willed and brace for the “birth pains” that would surely accompany the implementation of the code.

Nevertheless, he expressed confidence that the public will soon realize the importance of green building practices in safeguarding the environment and its role in sustained economic development.

Marcos said the DPWH should put more emphasis on the enforcement of the code.

Likewise, Marcos said the DPWH could suggest to Congress the needed adjustments to laws to ensure that the Philippine Green Building Code “would evolve into a more effective and workable mechanism.”      

                

“Through the help of its champions of the environment, Congress will be able to respond in a timely manner—and hopefully, with a sense of urgency, as these efforts will all ultimately impact our continued survival as a people and as a nation,” Marcos said. /MP