Megaworld Corporation, the country’s top residential condominium and business process outsourcing (BPO) office building developer, is proving to be a pioneer once more by being the first to install solar panels in a BPO office project — One Campus Place in McKinley Hill Cyberpark, Fort Bonifacio. The project is set to be completed soon.

Megaworld has commenced the installation of a 30-kW solar power generating system, one of the biggest in the Philippines. Solar panels capture the sun’s energy and convert it to electricity.

“This is clean energy that reduces dependency on fossil fuels and has zero carbon emissions,” explained Megaworld FVP Jericho Go. Sealed, maintenance-free, gel-valve regulated batteries will be used; therefore, no acidic or toxic fumes will be emitted. Highly sophisticated electronics, on par with European and American systems, will have better cooling, higher efficiency, and electronic instead of mechanical changeovers.

“In light of the recently concluded UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali and the urgent need to address this issue, designing a green building is one of Megaworld’s contributions to environmental conservation and the prevention of global warming,” added Go.

“Since the building is partly electrified by solar power, this will cut down demand for electricity from power stations. This will mean less burning of fossil fuels in power plants and fewer carbon emissions. At the moment, 90 percent of the world’s energy comes from conventional sources: coal, oil, wood, and nuclear power. But these have caused serious environmental damage. While One Campus Place is only one building, this is Megaworld’s first step in the right direction to help combat global warming.”

According to the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released just before the convention, world temperatures could rise from 1.1 to 6.4 C during the 21st century. This will probably result in sea levels rising by at least 7 inches and in more frequent warm spells, heat waves and heavy rainfall. Droughts, tropical cyclones and extreme high tides will likely increase in occurrence.

To install the solar power generating system at One Campus Place, Megaworld hired a consultant from India, which has been using the system for 15 years now. Prominent Indian BPO companies such as Wipro and Infosys use renewable energy.

Solar power is not the only green aspect of One Campus Place. Its windows will be double-glazed, thus insulating the rooms from heat and noise. Each building will be oriented in a north-south direction, hence controlling heat convection and radiation from sunlight. Large north-south windows will allow natural lighting. The much fewer east-west windows, on the other hand, will be installed with lightweight aluminum sunscreen.

Air conditioning will be done per zone through variable refrigerant flow. In lieu of a centralized cooling tower and chilled water pump system, there will be a self-modulating, localized condenser that will be turned on only when cooling of a particular area is required.

Since One Campus Place will have only six office floors, there is projected less need to use the elevators. Instead, staff will be encouraged to take the wide stairs. This will translate not only to energy conservation but also a healthy working environment.

“We will likewise conserve water,” added Go. “The restrooms will be installed with waterless toilet fixtures, or self-enclosing automatic top closets, which are expected to save half a million gallons of water a year. For landscape irrigation, an underground cistern will collect and filter treated rainwater for use in watering the plants.”

True to being a green building, One Campus Place will be encircled by lush trees and landscaped gardens typical of a campus setting, making it ideal for refreshing breaks and perking up employees’ innovation.

“With the strong response to One Campus Place, Megaworld is closely studying the addition of environment-friendly features in our upcoming BPO building projects,” Go declared.

Located in a gated one-hectare complex with maximum security, One Campus Place consists of two six-storey building. Each building will have 10,600 square meters of prime office space. Building-by-building addition will follow the BPO firm’s expansion requirements and timeline.

Since its location, the 14-hectare McKinley Hill Cyberpark, has been declared an Information Technology Park, One Campus Place locators will be entitled to incentives, including income tax holidays of up to eight years.

McKinley Hill Cyberpark is part of the 50-hectare McKinley Hill Village, the largest mixed-use township development of Megaworld to date that offers residents and locators a total Live-Work-Play-Learn environment.

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