Filinvest REIT, the real estate investment trust backed by Filinvest Land, received a Circle of Excellence Award for Best Sustainability Company of the Year during the 13th Asia CEO Awards 2022.
FILRT was the only REIT company honored at the recent awarding ceremony attended by renowned and influential business leaders from different industries.
FILRT has won the award for two years in a row, the only back-to-back winner for the category.
The award recognizes organizations that achieved important success in environmental progress and demonstrated leadership and commitment to sustainability.
Asia CEO Awards also considers accomplishments that drive environmental progress and impact global sustainability. FILRT, the country’s first sustainability-themed REIT listed on the bourse, gained the recognition after a thorough evaluation by the Asia CEO Awards’ esteemed board of judges.
“We are proud to once again receive the Circle of Excellence Award for Best Sustainability Company of the Year from Asia CEO Awards. Our consistent win since our company was listed in the stock market shows our steadfast commitment to leading the charge for sustainability in the REIT and BPO industries. This would not have been possible without the hard work of our teams, the support of our tenants, shareholders, and partners who are taking this journey towards green and sustainable offices with FILRT,” said Filinvest REIT Corp. president Maricel Brion Lirio.
Green portfolio
FILRT boasts of a portfolio that consists of 17 Grade A (highest quality) office buildings, which include green and sustainability-themed features. Of these, 16 are in Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City in Alabang. Filinvest City, a 244-hectare mixed-use and integrated city is the first and only central business district (CBD) in the Philippines to receive LEED® v4 Gold for Neighborhood Development Plan certification thanks to its township-wide green and sustainability features. Filinvest City is also the first CBD in the Philippines to receive a three-star Berde certification.
Two of the FILRT properties in Filinvest City–Axis Tower One and Vector Three–among the country’s few LEED Gold-certified developments.
Rounding up the portfolio is Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu–a 1.2-hectare joint commercial development of FILRT with the Cebu Provincial Government.
Sustainability features
Office buildings inside Northgate Cyberzone, a PEZA-accredited IT park, are cooled by the country’s largest district cooling system.
The DCS can realize efficiencies on power consumption by up to 40 percent and water consumption by up to 20 percent. It also helps the buildings within Northgate Cyberzone, and consequentially its locators, to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
The company said that FILRT embarked on a long-term journey towards transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy. To date, 26 percent of the total energy consumption of FILRT buildings is on 100 percent renewable energy. Advocating for a greener lifestyle, all FILRT properties also have bicycle parking facilities to help reduce the use of motorized vehicles and encourage greener modes of transport. Electric jeepneys likewise ply the streets of the neighborhood to offer low-carbon transport for the commuting public.
“Our energy management approach revolves around the two key focus areas of energy efficiency and using renewable energy whenever economically feasible. We are committed to moving forward with a wider breadth of sustainability features and solutions sought after by multinational BPOs and ROHQ companies. We strongly believe that the future of the offices sector lies in sustainability. This is why the Filinvest group is committed to creating green and sustainable developments. FILRT’s growth strategy is founded on green, high-value assets that attract tenants who share Filinvest’s journey towards a future in real estate where environmental sustainability is embedded in everything we do,” said Brion-Lirio.