The Art of Building Green Homes

Filipinos value health. Many consider it a luxury.

Studies and research show that people spend 60 to 70 percent of their time at home. It was also found that majority developed health issues due to poor living spaces and exposure to toxins. Thus, looking for a green home comes as highly essential.

Mariposa Mews, a low-density midrise development located at the boundary of Quezon City and San Juan, is on track to be the only LEED for Homes Gold-compliant project in the Philippines.

Much like the BERDE Certification, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a building rating system given to projects that is healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving.

Mews was born of Gerrett Lim and his wife’s vision of looking for a green home in the Philippines, having moved back from Canada about seven years ago.

“What we noticed when we were shopping for homes here, is that there weren’t any healthy homes. There weren’t any green homes. That made us wonder, why? There were so many green developments and green offices. When you look at Makati or BGC, all of those offices built for the last 12 years has some sort of green rating on them, whether it’s LEED or BERDE. But when you look at the home sector, there’s no commercially available,” Lim, chief executive officer of Mews Development, told DAILY TRIBUNE.

Valuing health and energy efficiency is something they prioritize. He said, “A healthy home is what we’re looking for. That’s really the impetus for the project, to bring a green home to the Filipino market. We have green office spaces but where do we spend most of our time? At home. We’re hoping that this project pushes the envelope also for other developers to start thinking healthy or green being something to strive.”

Mariposa Mews only has 36 units spread over its eight residential floors. Units range from 81 sqm, 145 sqm, 155 sqm, 162 sqm and 166 sqm. There are two basement parking levels, rooftop amenities and landscaped gardens.

“There are only 36 homes available across eight floors. It was a very conscious effort to have low density development. Part of it is, the smart use of land is not necessarily maximizing profits. Part of it also is we want to have a certain exclusivity in the development. We also want to use the land property in such a way that it’s not just a single family living on a lot. At the same time, we didn’t want to abuse it like a 20-storey tower. The location being near Horseshoe Village near New Manila is quite sensitive to the density. We kind of struck a good balance,” Lim said.

Mariposa Mews is in development with Makiling Mews. Target completion is next month.

As it proudly pursues to be the first certified LEED for Homes, Mariposa Mews has sustainable features such as fresh air filtration, mechanical ventilation, low volatile organic compounds, eco-friendly and hazard-free materials and variable refrigerant flow air-conditioning.

Focus on being green

Energy costs. Having a green home means having a more efficient home.

Lim said, “We have efficient air-conditioning systems. We have a good building envelope, it blocks a lot of heat from coming in and blocks cool air from going out. The walls at Mariposa Mews is five times more insulated than a typical concrete hollow block wall. The windows are double glazed so it really blocks out the heat.”

Ventilation. Not a lot of developments have good ventilation, Lim notes.

“Mariposa Mews pump in filtered outdoor air from the outside into the units. We have five air cycles per hour. Every hour you have fresh oxygen coming in to the space as it being cycled out. Before it goes into the spaces, it’s filtered twice and also sterilized. So essentially, it is hospital-grade air,” he said.

Healthy materials. Each and every one of the materials used in Mariposa Mews was vetted for harmful chemicals. Each and every material was used wisely and selected for low VOC.

Lim continues, “What we don’t know is that homes and buildings in general have carcinogens in the products that it uses. When you step into a space and smell things? That’s actually harmful, cancer-causing material.”

Water is also another important aspect when buying a home. Since construction, Mariposa Mews reduced water consumption for the project by 35 percent. The property uses a rainwater catch basin system.

Mariposa Mews is located on C Benitez. It is close to a few schools such as Xavier School, Immaculate Conception Academy and Jubilee Christian Academy. It is also not far from EDSA, making it accessible to Ateneo and La Salle. In terms of hospitals, it is nearby St. Luke’s Quezon City and Cardinal Santos. For malls, there’s Greenhills Mall, Vera Malls and Robinson’s Magnolia.

“The Philippines has so many LEED or BERDE offices. But we are far behind residential development. The materials that are available for use on a residential scale here in the Philippines is quite limited. Certainly, in our experience, building this project comes across with a lot of challenges, specifically with materials available or even expertise available. In some unique cases, some issues with legal requirements and some old building codes here in the Philippines,” notes Lim.

Mariposa Mews is in development with Terra Solutions Realty. Target completion is next month.

“The demand is there. Filipinos value health. They consider health as a luxury. But the awareness of the consumer is not yet there. People don’t look for these features of a green home because they don’t know that it exists. People value it but they aren’t aware that we can do better,” Lim ends.