In a more pressing call to mitigate the impact of climate change, businesses are facing an added responsibility to make sure that their operations and outputs lessen — if not totally remove — greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon emissions.
Real estate commercial and residential developer JEG Development Corporation (JDC) has been doing its share by integrating sustainability features in JEG Tower @ One Acacia, its flagship high-rise commercial tower in Cebu City.
The latest of these features will be solar panels, which are set to be installed by the end of this month, making JEG Tower the first commercial development in the city to use solar energy.
The installation of the panels is made possible by a 20-year power purchase agreement with Vivant Corp. subsidiary COREnergy for a zero cash-out solar photovoltaics (PV) plant.
JEG Tower @ One Acacia is set to utilize a 40 kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar PV system from over 100 pieces of polycrystalline PV modules installed on the crown of the 22-storey office and retail building.
The solar PV system will be able to supply electricity to fully or partially power the building’s lower ground floor up to the 6th floor. Tomas Tan, JEG Realty General Manager, further explained how the panels will power the tower.
“The building will be utilizing solar power to pump water from the cistern tank to the water tank above the roof deck, run all the electrical systems in the main lobby including the turnstiles, run the systems in the fire command center, run back of the house systems and/or the building manager’s office,” Mr. Tan detailed in a statement, adding that the building will use the generated energy in real time, requiring no electric storage.
“No batteries or net metering system is required since the power generated by the solar PV system will be immediately used to run the building,” he added.
For Marko Sarmiento, JEG Development Corporation and JEG Realty President, using renewable energy like solar to power JEG Tower is an opportunity worth taking.
“It is an important milestone for our company since it makes us the first developer in Cebu to have a solar roof deck installation on a high-rise office building. It is also consistent with our vision to be innovators in the industry,” Mr. Sarmiento said in another statement.
Sourcing out solar energy used to be a challenge, Mr. Sarmiento continued. Still, with suppliers like COREnergy, the developer can now fulfill its commitment to using a safer, environment-friendly energy option more affordably.
“Anything we can power through a sustainable source is a great benefit for a building. Beyond energy consumption, this further emphasizes the efficiency of our energy model and ultimately helps us lower carbon footprint,” JDC’s Brand Manager Ayla Gomez added.
Prior to installing solar panels, JEG Tower has energy-efficient features, including a recycling space for a materials recovery facility and a dedicated 20% of the estate to green spaces, among them a green rooftop that provides restoration of habitats that will support local flora and fauna.
Going above sustainability standards, JEG Tower ensures ozone protection by using R-410A, a hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant in air conditioning applications that does not contribute to ozone depletion. The tower also implemented an erosion and sedimentation control plan during construction.
For these earlier features, JEG Tower was recognized by esteemed bodies. The development was named the Best Commercial Green Development at the 8th PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards in 2020. The following year, it achieved a LEED Gold Certification from the US Green Building Council.
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