RL Commercial REIT (RCR), the real estate investment trust sponsored by Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Corp., achieved a new milestone as its Robinsons Cyberscape Gamma, an office tower in Pasig, has been officially named as the Philippines’ first EDGE certified REIT building. Cyberscape Gamma’s certification was awarded by the Philippine Green Building Initiative (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. “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,” said Ar. Amado De Jesus, PBGI chairman.

RLC senior vice president and general manager for Offices and RCR president Jericho Go said 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.

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.

RLC created its own roadmap towards a net zero carbon ambition by 2050 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 as part of its goal of shifting power requirements to RE sources by 2035.

Originally posted in Bilyonaryo.com