AboitizPower Green Office Building

Location: 214 Ambuklao Road, Obulan, Beckel, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines

Owner: AboitizPower- formerly HEDCOR, INC.

Program: RGC&A has been on the job as development consultant for the master planning and development of the HEDCOR, INC. Beckel site for over a year now. The most major struggling point was the challenge posed on how the existing facilities-- which includes (among others): main office building, engineering building, audio-visual room, storage building, fabrication facilities-- can continue to be maximized. As all of these are less-than-ideally scattered over the generous site.

 

Solution: This first building intitiative is programmed to be the start-up development under the RGC&A-guided thrust for an integrated site development, and is intended to showcase the AboitizPower impetus towards sustainable design and green building. It is hoped that the subsequent on-site developments will be "greener" than this first outing.

The following briefly describe the "green-essences" which RGC&A has been able to build into this project.

• ENVELOPE- reinforced concrete as structural frame and cement hollow blocks (cmu) as main building enclosure material, have been chosen-- being natural insulators.
• DAYLIGHTING- is maximized through the use of large widows which run from sill all the way to the ceilings. The lighting/electrical demand of the building can be kept to a minimum.
• FLUORESCENT LIGHTS- are integrated into office ceilings to act as support illumination during cloudy or dark days. Light switches are integrated in a manner which will allow for half of the lights (within each area or room) to be initially turned on, and the other half added-on only if and when necessary.
• GREEN ROOFS- aside from guranteeing against internal heat gain, also serves as rainwater collectors and retainers. Excess water is channeled downwards and towards the site rear where it can be used to water plants and returned into the aquifer.
• SOLAR SHADING CANOPIES- are integrated at the middle-third of the window height, for protection againts harsh sunlight during certain times of the day. Inside, the specially designed window system-assembly is integrated with built-in curtain blinds which can be lowered when needed.
• HARNESS OF PREVAILING WINDS- Front windows face/channel in the SouthWesterly- "Habagat" prevailing monsoon winds (prevalent from May to mid-October) and the Rear windows face/harness the NorthEasterly- "Amihan" prevailing monsoon winds (prevalent from mid-October to April). Prevailing winds are channeled into the building interior through the top row of awning windows (above the solar shading canopies) which will assure the continual agitation of warm air inside the building envelope.
• CROSS/STACK VENTILATION- integrated through the use of generour headroom height and high awning windows (mentioned above), to assure of efficiently ventilated workspaces; assuring that building premises remain conducive to work.

With this project, RGC&A has been afforded the opportunity to pioneer Green Architecture intitatives in the Northern Luzon area of the Philippines.