Green buildings, green roofs and green walls. These are architectural and engineering strategies that the country needs to adopt in order to mitigate the impact of storms and floods, according to former senator and Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez.
By “green building,” Alvarez means an efficient and environmentally-friendly building that uses a minimum of energy. Glazed solar or wind panels can be installed to minimize the use of electricity and air conditioning.
A “green roof” is a rooftop garden or rain garden, that is partially covered with plants. It is equipped with a drainage and irrigation system that can store a large amount of water that can be recycled to flush toilets or do the laundry. The roof also improves the quality of air by filtering off dust particles, pollutants and carbon dioxide.
A “green wall” has plants vertically planted to absorb the heat. Both the green roof and the green wall reduce surface runoff.
Next to transport, buildings account for 30 to 40 percent of global energy usage and greenhouse emissions, Alvarez cited.
With climate change and disastrous calamities, green planning needs to be given a bigger push, said Alvarez
Christopher de la Cruz, an architect and president of the Philippine Green Building Council (PhilGBC), a Filipino nonstock corporation that promotes green initiatives, said green building technology has long been known. “However, we tend to forget some of the time-tested ideas in construction. We need to revisit them,” he said.
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