On BusinessMirror: BPI extends loans to eco-friendly projects and programs

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Davao City – Ayala-owned  bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), one of the country’s largest universal banks, sponsored the staging of the first Mindanao energy efficiency (EE) forum held in Marco Polo Hotel Davao recently.

One of its clients under its Sustainable Energy Finance program, Italpinas European Design and Eco-Development Corp., presented its EE case for the real estate industry. In an interview, Italpinas Chairman Arch. Romolo Valentino Nati said there is a need to correct misimpression that green design or initiative is costly.

Funded through a loan with BPI, Italpinas has built an eco-friendly mix-use building in Cagayan de Oro City.

“The mix-use building offers the same price range with other buildings in the market. The building design provides natural ventilation and temperature control inside the building. Use of air-condition units is 60 percent of the total power consumption and with green designs the consumption of energy can be reduced,” shared Nati.

BPI provides funding for EE and renewable-energy projects for companies interested in pursuing green initiatives, and the savings they generate from energy consumption are used to pay for the loan.

“Energy efficiency is the most reliable and cheapest means to contribute to achieving energy security. Power shortages are prevalents in the country and energy cost is increasing. The benefits of EE projects are immediate than building a new power plant, which will take two or three years to operate,” said BPI Sustainable Energy Finance Head Nanette Biason.

 

Featured on BusinessMirror, 6 August 2013

On Business Mirror: European builders pitch for green tech, energy efficiency in PHL construction

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DAVAO CITY—European companies pitched for more aggressive application of energy efficiency and green technology in construction in the Philippines, and cited the natural environment and abundance of renewable-energy sources to back this technology.

The Filipino-Italian firm ItalPinas Euro Asian Design and Eco-Development Corp. said the Philippines is endowed with the natural fresh environment that could be tapped for natural ventilation of buildings, and the same structures, including industrial and other commercial operations, could be aided with more cost-saving, energy-efficiency solutions.

Romolo Valentino Nati, chairman of ItalPinas, told reporters at the sidelines of the energy-efficiency forum held in this city on Tuesday that green buildings and the application of green technology in other structures “should not scare investors over the addition of expensive materials and devices.”

Read more here.

 

– Manuel T. Cayon

Featured in Business Mirror, 27 July 2013

On Business Week Mindanao: Green tech to reduce energy consumption

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DAVAO CITY—To reduce the use of energy, it’s high time for real estate developers in the Philippines to go into green technology, said Architect Romolo Valentino Nati, chair of Italpinas Euroasian design and Eco Development Corporation.

Speaking at a press conference Tuesday at the sidelines of the 1st Mindanao Energy Efficiency Forum, Nati said that 60 percent of the country’s buildings is utilized on air conditioning units.

“We can reduce this with green building technology,” Nati said.

He confirmed that most of the developers in the country are hesitant to engage in green building technology in real estate because of the high cost.

Nati, however, said to avoid high cost, developers should not implement “too much technology because it would cost too much. If conceptualized, we can avoid high cost.”

Read the complete story here.

 

– Judy Quiros

Featured in Business Week Mindanao, 26 July 2013

On Manila Standard Today: ‘Bahay Kubo’-inspired designs for MRBs

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An Italian architect with an eye for endemic Filipino design models like the “bahay kubo” is fast making a name in the local and international real estate and green architecture industry.

Architect Romolo V. Nati, Chairman and CEO of ITALPINAS Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation (ItalPinas), said he sees the humble bahay-kubo as the quintessential sustainable house.

“We try to incorporate the bahay kubo green architecture concept into our designs,” Nati said of his Filipino team of architects.

ItalPinas built the first green medium rise building (MRB) complex in Mindanao – the Primavera Residences in Cagayan de Oro City.

Read the story here.

 

– MST News

Featured on Manila Standard Today, 16 July 2013

On Business Week Mindanao: Italpinas champions energy efficiency through green architecture in Mindanao Forum

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The designer and builder of Northern Mindanao’s first green building shares its advocacy for energy efficiency at the 1st Mindanao Energy Efficiency Forum (MEEF) scheduled for 23 July 2013 at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City.

Architect Romolo V. Nati, Chairman and CEO of Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation, will present “Energy Efficiency in the Real Estate Industry” as a ‘first mover’ designer and builder of Primavera Residences, a twin 10-story condominium at the Pueblo de Oro Business Park in Cagayan de Oro City.

“With Eco-Logic Architecture, the global warming and climate change compels us to move towards Energy Plus Buildings which are net producers, rather than net users of energy,” Arch. Nati said.

Read the rest of the story here.

 

Featured in Business Week Mindanao 07 July 2013

ITALPINAS partners with Habitat for Humanity for Pagatpat housing project

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CAGAYAN de Oro City’s first mover in green buildings has partnered with a locally based NGO in support of the latter’s mission to bring people together to build homes, communities and hope.

ITALPINAS Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation (ITPI), an Italian-Filipino company specializing in designing and developing innovative eco-friendly real-estate projects signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Philippines (HFHP) last May 31, 2013 at ITPI’s head office in Makati City.

“Our advocacies complement each other’s vision and mission of providing eco-friendly, sustainable and affordable houses,” Mr. Nati said.

Read the complete story here.

 

– bwm

Featured in Business Week Mindanao, 16 June 2013

On the Philippine Star: Low-ost Housing Developers Seek BOI Perks

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MANILA, Philippines – Two property developers have filed applications with the Board of Investments (BOI) to qualify for incentives for their mass housing projects.

In a published notice, the BOI said P.A. Metro Residence Builders, Inc. (PAMRBI) “is applying for registration with the BOI as an expanding developer of low-cost mass housing project (East Residences-Ortigas II) with a capacity of 212 low-cost mass housing (condominium) units on a non-pioneer status with project site at Ciudad Grande II, Monaco Street, Ortigas Extension, Pasig City.”

Italpinas, Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corp., meanwhile wants to qualify for incentives as an expanding developer of low cost mass housing project Primavera Residences Tower B, which is located at Pueblo De Oro Business Park in Cagayan de Oro City on a non-pioneer status.

The Primavera Residences Tower B will have a total capacity of 142 units.

 

More of the story here.

– Louella D. Desiderio

Featured by the Philippine Star, 25 April 2013

On Business Week Mindanao: Italpinas Growing Fruit Trees for Sendong Victims

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Green Earth

THE award winning developer of Primavera Residences is extending its advocacy for an eco-friendly lifestyle from design and construction to actively growing fruit trees to help curb global warming.

Last March 16, 2013, Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation, joined hands with Habitat for Humanity (HFH) Philippines Community Development/Partnership Department to undertake the planting and growing of fruit trees in two of Habitat’s resettlement sites for Sending victims: Calaanan 2B and Calaanan 3 Extension.

“We are undertaking this tree growing activity with HFH Philippines as part of our commitment to promote a sustainable lifestyle,” said Romolo V. Nati, Italpinas chairman and president. “Beyond constructing the first real green building in Northern Mindanao with Primavera Residences, we wish to share our advocacy for a sustainable lifestyle with other like-minded organizations like HFH Philippines and their home partners who were victims of Sendong.”

“This is part of our mission to create a safe, clean and green environment,” said Melva B. Gontinas, ComDev / Partnership Building, HFH Philippines. HFH Philippines has constructed permanent concrete houses for its home partners affected by the Tropical Storm Sendong flash flood in the two sites. “This is just a beginning, we will continue with the advocacy of growing trees for all HFH Philippines construction sites for a safe, clean and green environment that is resilient from man-made and natural calamities.”

One hundred (100) fruit bearing seedlings of five varieties (Rambutan, Nangka, Guyabano, Marang and Mango) requested by the home partners were provided by Italpinas under its Social Responsibility Project dubbed “Go Green, Plant a Tree”, said Gladys Ivy M. Echano, Italpinas Sales and Marketing Director.

Some 30 of Italpinas’ office staff, accredited brokers and their sales personnel joined the HFH Philippines CDO team for the whole day activity.

“We wish to invite other organizations who advocate a sustainable lifestyle to join forces with us so we can share our vision for clean and green living not only within Uptown Cagayan de Oro but in other areas as well,” said Mr. Nati.

Featured in Business Week Mindanao, 11 April 2013

 

On Gold Star Daily: Italpinas plan cited among Asia’s top nexgen clean energy projects

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A new project by the designers and developers of Cagayan de Oro City’s first eco-friendly building has been cited as one of the top 10 clean energy projects that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions across Asia annually by nearly 1.1 million tons.

Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation’s new project was among those presented to investors at the CTI-PFAN Asia Forum for Clean Energy Financing (AFCEF-3) held February 22 at Singapore.

“We are very happy to be recognized among Asia’s elite clean energy projects for the next generation,” said Architect Romolo Valentino Nati, Italpinas chairman and chief executive officer, upon receiving the citation for Italpinas new project which officially finished fourth in the final ranking.

Over 100 financiers, clean energy experts and representatives of financial institutions from across Asia and overseas participated in the Forum. The meeting was organized by the Climate Technology Initiative’s Private Financing Advisory Network (CTI PFAN), a global multilateral initiative dedicated to connecting clean energy businesses with financing and “bridging the gap” between clean energy project developers and investors.

 

Read the full article here.

Featured by Gold Star Daily, 12 March 2013

On Business World: Cagayan de Oro Development gets ‘green’ loan

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Italpinas EuroAsian Design and Eco-Development Corp. has received a P180 million “green” development loan to partially finance the construction of its Primavera Residences Tower 2.

The loan agreement was signed in January by Romolo V. Nati, chairman and Jose D. Leviste III, president, on behalf of Italpinas and by Alfonso L. Salcedo, Jr., executive vice-president, and Mario B. Palau, senior vice-president for the Banks of the Philippine Islands (BPI).

Sustainability

“BPI advances its sustainable energy finance by continuing to support the energy[-efficiency] investments of its clients,” the bank said in a recent statement.

“In collaboration with International Finance Corp., the four year old innovative financing approach fund various efficient and renewable technologies all over the country,” it added, referring to the World Bank Group’s private sector investment arm.

BPI is the country’s third biggest universal bank in terms of assets, with over 809 branches and 2,542 automated teller machines nationwide, according to the statement.

‘Promising’

Italpinas’ business plan for Primavera Residences, on the other hand, was cited as one of the promising “clean” energy investment opportunities in the Philippines during the Philippine Clean Energy Investor Forum held at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Metro Manila in 2010.

This year, the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) – a public-private partnership initiated by the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI), has cited Primavera Residence’s eco friendly design.

CTI-PFAN cited Italpinas’ new project as the only finalist from the Philippines for this year’s selection of 38 eco-friendly projects across Asia.

Primavera Residences is the first “green” building in Cagayan de Oro City that integrates into its design eco-friendly features such as rooftop solar panels to generate part of the two buildings’ electricity supply and reducing power use by maximizing natural light and wind ventilation.

Located at the Pueblo de Oro Business Park in uptown Cagayan de Oro City within the master-planned 360-hectare Pueblo de Oro Township, Primavera Residences is a P450-million 10-storey twin-tower condominium that was designed by Mr. Nati, an Italian architect, and developed by Italpinas, a corporate member of the Philippine Green Building Council.

The Primavera Residences Tower 2 will provide 167 residential units.

Construction, currently underway, is scheduled for completion by June.

 

-RMDB

Featured by BusinessWorld, 7 March 2013