BPI sets new banking milestone with green building certification of Iloilo and Katipunan branches
(L-R) Thuy Thu Bui, IFC Senior Country Officer for the Philippines; Aileen Ruiz-Zarate, IFC Senior Investment Officer; Jean-Marc Arbogast, IFC Country Manager for the Philippines; Engr. Ramon Aguilos, Philippine Green Building Initiative EDGE Program Director; Jose Teodoro "TG" Limcaoco, BPI President and CEO; Eric Luchangco, BPI Chief Finance Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer; Ma. Cristina "Ginbee" Go, BPI Executive Vice President and Head of Consumer Banking
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has set a new milestone in the country’s sustainable banking operations as BPI Iloilo Solis and BPI Loyola Katipunan became the first two bank branches to earn Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certification of World Bank Group member International Finance Corporation (IFC).
EDGE is a green building certification with quantitative metrics, providing cost-effective strategies to reduce energy use, water use, and embodied energy in materials. BPI has three more branches in the pipeline for EDGE certification.
“Next year, we have 25 branches planned for re-construction to also achieve EDGE certification. This forms part of our vision to lead in sustainable business practices in the Philippine banking industry and build a better Philippines—one family, one community at a time,” said BPI Head of Consumer Banking Maria Cristina L. Go.
The certification of BPI Iloilo Solis and BPI Loyola Katipunan branches was issued by Philippine Green Building Initiative, Inc. (PGBI), an IFC-accredited certification body.
In a recent joint letter, PGBI President & Chairman Leandro A. Conti and PGBI EDGE Program Director Ramon D. Aguilos congratulated BPI for the achievement, noting, “Our assessment confirms the auditor’s report that BPI Iloilo Solis resource-efficient design will result in reductions of 22% in energy, 23% in water, and 76% in materials’ embodied energy compared to a local base case.”
As for BPI Loyola Katipunan, PGBI’s assessment confirmed the auditor’s report that its “resource-efficient design will result in reductions of 25% in energy, 31% in water and 84% in materials’ embodied energy compared to a local base case.”
Since 2017, BPI has been guiding real estate project owners on complying with IFC EDGE’s resource efficiency standards.
This forms part of BPI’s long-standing commitment of embedding sustainability in the conduct of business to generate positive value for the society and environment.
In line with this, BPI also continues to harness the power of technology by adopting a phygital approach—a combination of physical and digital channels—to provide banking clients with wider variety of services and experiences. With advanced digital capabilities in place, the bank enables clients to consciously support sustainability through paperless banking, thereby reducing their carbon footprint.
In view of its cutting-edge sustainability innovations, BPI has reaped eight (8) sustainability-related awards as of October 2022, the most in a year among Philippine banks.