'Green tech' bill filed in Congress

Camarines Sur representative Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo has filed a bill in Congress which is proposing the institutionalization of advanced energy and green building technologies in the country.

“The country should prepare the next wave of design and construction professionals to improve the energy efficiency and productivity of our nation’s buildings,” stressed Arroyo, author of HB 5220, now pending in the Committee on Higher and Technical Education chaired by Aurora representative Juan Edgardo Angara.

HB5220 is entitled an “Act Authorizing Higher Education Curriculum Development and Graduate Training in Advanced Energy and Green Building Technologies.”

Arroyo recalled that during the latest Annual General Membership Meeting of the Philippine Green Building Council (PhilGBC) held in Makati City, British experts from building and design companies shared their latest and most innovative environmental technologies with local counterparts.

“Part of its global commitment to address alarming trends of climate change, the United Kingdom was reportedly seeking to bring to countries like the Philippines cutting-edge environmental technologies particularly in building designs,” Arroyo said.

Dato, together with Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is proposing that such initiative be worked out by mandating the Department of Energy (DOE) to partner with the Commission on Higher Education in awarding grants to university programs related to design and construction of high-performance buildings.

High-performance building means a structure that integrates and optimizes all major high-performance building attributes, including energy efficiency, durability, life-cycle performance, and occupant productivity.

Arroyo cited John Chick, director of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), as saying that technology sharing is timely since the PhilGBC is currently working on a set of standards for the Philippines called Building Ecologically Responsive Design for Excellence (Berde).

Arroyo’s HB 5220 specifically states that in awarding grants, the DOE should give priority to university programs in design, architecture, landscape architecture, and city, regional, or urban planning.

“This would improve the ability of Filipino engineers, architects, landscape architects, and planners to cooperate in the incorporation of advanced energy technologies during the design and construction of buildings,” Arroyo pointed out. — Newsbytes.ph