Italpinas Development Corp. (IDC) has pledged to participate in IFC’s Building Resiliency Program. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working in more than 100 countries, using its capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries.
What is Building Resilience Commitment? The Building Resilience Commitment, an initiative under Building Resilience Index, is a call to action for businesses and organizations to collaborate and improve the resilience of our buildings and cities. This initiative aims to promote a greener, more resilient, and the inclusive Philippines.
“Building Resilience Index provides guidelines to developers to implement the actions necessary for mitigating natural disaster risks for their buildings, and to quantify the costs and impacts of these measures,” said Ommid Saberi, Global Lead and Product Manager, Building Resilience Index, IFC
As a staunch advocate of building resilience, Architect Romolo Nati, chairman and CEO of IDC, has agreed to participate in the program.
IDC already has 2 EDGE-certified projects and is currently building in Cagayan de Oro and in Sto Tomas, Batangas. The company is also aiming to build more sustainable mixed-use buildings around the country using passive green design features, a characteristic of Primavera Residences and Primavera City in Cagayan de Oro and Miramonti Residences in Sto Tomas.
The Building Resilience Index evaluates location-specific, climate-related risks across water, wind, fire, and geo seismic hazard categories for real estate projects and portfolios and assesses the resilience measures that have been implemented. The Building Resilience Index is currently in the pilot phase and the Philippines was selected as the pilot country late last year. The Philippines has recorded the fourth-highest number of disaster events linked to natural hazards globally in the last 20 years and is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change.
Recent cyclones and the resulting floods – the worst the country has seen in almost half a century – have also exacerbated the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in significant damage to buildings, businesses, and livelihoods.
Italpinas Development Corp has always been a first mover and wants to be one of the first also for this project. The first of its kind in the world, the Building Resilience Index makes it easy for various stakeholders, including developers, locators, homebuyers, financial institutions, investors, insurers, and governments to assess, improve, and disclose the resilience of buildings. More news to come for a better Philippines.