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Response and Replicability: Building disaster-responsive communities


Calamities of recent memory remind us yet again of nature's terrifying strength. The Philippines may have dodged a bullet with the dissipated passage of tsunami waves from the recent Japan earthquake, but we have yet to learn the lessons of typhoon Ondoy. With congested urban areas, clogged waterways, and hazardous constructions, Metro Manila remains unprepared for a disaster of the first degree. Last year, the Design Against the Elements competition was held with the mission of identifying best practices in sustainable design and building the world's first disaster-responsive community. Spearheaded by My Shelter Foundatiom, wirh support from its multisectoral partners, United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), Climate Change Commission, the local government of Quezon City, and San Miguel Properties, the competition drew over a hundred local and international entries for the professional and student categories. Winners were awarded recently, with the top honors and a $10,000 cash prize going to Danish architect Johanna Ferrer Guldager. Flood-resistant, community fostering Guldager's winning design effectively utilized the site's proposed terrain bu creating landscape canels that leads to a main natural catchbasin for rain and floodwater. The housing clusters are "stackable" modules with steel framing and bamboo walls. These structures are raised — for less flooding — and positioned in a way that will not face primary wind direction at 90 degrees. Each cluster will have their own community area, with a room for meetings, emergency storage, and waste management facility; the community as a whole, also has planned public spaces and daycare facilities to be shared by everyone. "This proposal is the first step to build a platform for a new social direction for the survivor, the community and the architecture...in decreasing the effects of natural hazards, we will be able to increase the possibilities for future development and growth of a sustainable community," says Guldeger in her project brief. Guldager successfully integrated major principles of sustainable design, notes Arch. Amado de Jesus, chair of the UAP Green Architecture Movement. "Top elements of green design include use of local materials an natural elements, minimal impact of development on the site." Income generating, energy saving Another crucial aspect of sustainable design is energy efficiency, and competition judges recognized designs that promised efficient use of energy resources. Philippines-based Italian architect Romolo Neri received a special prize for a coral colony inspired community. "(My) projects always have nature as its inspiration, and I chose corals because they possess a natural adaptation for light." Neri proposes to install photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the structure, and harvesting the electricity of approximately 1.5 hectares of solar panels. These panels wll be installed early in the construction phase, with the possibility of selling the electricity to the utilities provider and offsetting construction costs with the proceeds. "There are many competitions, but it's very hard to find one that will be implemented. If you are unable to come up with a design that is not financially sustainable, then it will never be built," says Neri. By integrating an income (and energy) generating mechanism into his proposal, Neri hopes this serves as an incentive for builders and property developers to adopt his design. Open-source, but on the shelf Competition entries will be compiled into an encyclopedia to serve as a resource of for architects, real estate developers, and community planners, while the winning design, now dubbed "The House of San Miguel" will be used in developing a model community in Quezon City. There is, however, no clear timetable for the implementation of these succeeding phases. "The city government of Quezon City has already committed to donate land for the project, and some meetings have already been held, but there is no set schedule yet," says San Miguel Properties Sales and Marketing Head Karen Ramos. The company's involvement in the competition falls largely under the competition phase, but they remain open to the idea of further involvement in the building phase. SMP's own greenbuilding efforts are currently focused on integrating basic green architecture principles — like natural lighting and ventilation — in their own properties. "Sustainable design should not just be available to the upscale market, but also to the lower classes. After all, these are the communities that are hit the hardest by disasters," says de Jesus, noting that the point of the competition was to show that this was possible. When asked about possible costs of building Guldager's design, de Jesus noted that there are a number of factors he is not privy to, and cannot give an educated guess. "The design may have to be modified to accommodate the land provided by the Quezon City government. One also has to consider whether they will be building in phases. This will affect the costs of construction, but there are ways to manage the expense." De Jesus believes that public-private partnerships may be the way to successfully implement such an ambitious project. Or perhaps even through NGOs and their group builds. "Perhaps the bayanihan spirit can come in, and communities can build this on their own." The modular design of the housing enclaves is simple enough to be replicated. Greening the market While the House of San Miguel may lay claim to being the first disaster-responsive community when it finally gets built, the property market has been venturing into sustainable building practices, through the efforts of the Philippine Greenbuilding Council, a coalition of government, academe, business, and professional organizations that seek to to mainstream sustainable design in the property sector. The PGBC's flagship initiative is the Buildings for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence (BERDE) rating system, which seeks to standardize measurements of environmental performance of buildings. "For the longest time, the industry has been using foreign systems, like LEED or Green Star," says chair Arch. Christopher dela Cruz. " BERDE is the first locally developed system, as such it takes into consideration, some of the country's more pressing environmental concerns." The system benchmarks were developed after studying data and country rankings on environmental performance from various intergovernmental organizations, including the World Bank, Asian Institute of Management, and the intergovernmental panel on climate change. BERDE assesses properties in eleven areas: management, land use and ecology, water, energy, transportation, indoor environment quality, materials, emissions, waste, heritage conservation, and innovation. BERDE assessment is strictly voluntary. "There are existing building codes that companies must adhere, but in practice, it seems to promote performance at the mandatory minimum;" says dela Cruz. By providing premium ratings to overachieving properties, BERDE hopes to push the market to steadily increase industry standards. BERDE has already launched rating systems for new and existing buildings, and have plans to come up with similar ratings for educational institutions in communities, after receiving inquiries. "This is the most ambitiuous collaborative project for sustainability in the industry, and we're glad that the market is responding very well." That said, dela Cruz is quick to point out that PGBC is not lobbying for BERDE to be enacted into law in its current format. "Economic levels vary greatly among the regions, and imposing stringent sustainability ratings like BERDE may have a broad economic impact on poorer registrations. Perhaps this should be calibrated, cities and towns should be expected to perform at a level commensurate to their economic means." He also recommends creating an incentive scheme, such as technology or tax rebates for properties with good environmental ratings. — TJD, GMA News

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