The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) headquarters or its head office in Manila received the Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence or BERDE 4-star rating from the Philippine Green Building Council (PhilGBC), the first government building “certified for improvements in operations.”
In a statement Friday, Nov. 22, the BSP said they bagged the BERDE certification last Nov. 6 from PhilGBC, a group that is part of the World Green Building Council global network.
PhilGBC, also a non-stock, non-profit organization, created the BERDE as a tool to “measure, assess, verify, and monitor the environmental performance of projects against building and environmental laws, regulations, and mandatory standards.”
Under BERDE, the 4-stars rating stands for “Country Leader”. The rest or 1 star means “Good Practice”; 2 stars means “Ideal Performance”; 3 stars are for “Exemplar Performance”; and finally 5 stars are for “World Class” practices.
To be certified as a BERDE 4-star is “proof that we walk the talk,” said BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr.
He noted that it is also a “testament to our belief in the importance of sustainability” but that the recognition is just a “small part of our overall drive to practice what we preach.”
PhilGBC Chairman Raymond D. Rufino, for his part, said that the certification is “a credible way to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability.”
PhilGBC promotes environmentally responsible buildings, districts, and cities. Aside for certifications for improvements or “Stage 3 – Operations”, it also gives out certifications for new constructions and fit outs, and for renovations, said the BSP.
PhilGBC Chief Executive Officer Christopher C. de la Cruz commended BSP’s efforts in improving the operations of the existing BSP Manila building as an eco-friendly structure. “This is the beginning of a new set of existing buildings that are transformed to be green,” he added.
The BSP prides itself as an independent institution with an “environmentally responsible and sustainable policies and work practices” based on its Sustainable Central Banking Framework that includes adopting green building principles for its own facilities to improve resilience to natural hazards.
The BSP head office in Manila has received awards in the past. In 2022, it was awarded with 5-star rating from the Department of Energy (DOE) following an on the spot energy audit in compliance with the "Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act."
Before that in 2016, the BSP was also among 10 recipients of DOE’s "Energy Efficiency and Conservation in Government Buildings" award.
Last December 2023, the BSP introduced a set of measures under its 11-point Sustainable Central Banking Strategy to mainstream sustainable finance as part of the country’s climate commitments and sustainable development goals.
Under the approved measures, banks are allowed to extend loans for eligible green or sustainable projects or activities with a top-up 15 percent single borrower’s limit.
The eligible projects or activities must meet any of the principles or eligible categories of projects as laid out in the 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan on Green Ecosystems, Health and Food Security; Republic of the Philippines Sustainable Finance Framework; Philippine Sustainable Finance Guiding Principles; ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance; or the Philippine Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Guidelines.