Arthaland marks another first for PH

It’s another exceptional distinction that clearly puts Arthaland Corp. in a class of its own.

The country’s pioneer and game changer in sustainable, green developments was awarded a LEED Platinum certification under the LEED for Neighborhood Development for its 8.1-hectare Sevina Park in Laguna—a prestigious testament to Arthaland’s commitment to continuously strive for higher levels of sustainability in every project it undertakes. Not only is it the highest level of certification granted by the US Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), it also makes Arthaland the first and only developer in the country to receive one for its mixed-use community.

“We’re excited about it and quite proud of this achievement because Arthaland is the first Philippine developer to receive the LEED Platinum award under the LEED Neighborhood category for our Sevina Park project in Laguna. LEED basically provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient and cost saving green buildings. The LEED Neighborhood category was engineered to inspire and help create better and more sustainable, well connected neighborhoods,” Christopher Narciso, Arthaland EVP/head of business and project development, said in an interview with Inquirer Property.

‘New normal’

Certainly, Arthaland’s LEED Platinum certification came at the most opportune time.

Apart from putting this boutique property developer well ahead of the green game, this certification was awarded when more people are starting to recognize and realize the indisputable benefits of sustainable, green features in the era of the “new normal.”

What are now considered to be priorities that would allow a community to thrive in the new normal—more open spaces, natural lighting and ventilation, energy and water efficiency, better indoor air quality, health and wellness benefits—are just some of the standards that have to be met to secure a LEED certification.

“The pandemic puts these (considerations) at the forefront of everything. All of a sudden, the spotlight is on healthy, sustainable buildings and green developments which offer resiliency to a building and its occupants. The market will prioritize certain requirements when they look at real estate properties, whether residential, commercial or office. And Arthaland, as a developer, is the only one with a purely sustainable and green portfolio. We will continue to develop that way and even continuously improve on how we do things and introduce higher levels of certification, better features that promote sustainability, well-being and convenience,” Narciso said.

So while many are going back to the drawing board to restrategize to better adapt to the new normal, a handful of companies like Arthaland had already future-proofed their projects for this era. Clearly, Arthaland developments are the kind of communities that are well-poised to thrive and remain resilient because here, green practices and sustainability measures are simply the norm.

“A sustainable and green design provides for a more convenient lifestyle while observing those safety and health protocols,” Narciso noted. “We have a saying in Arthaland that you need to have a sustainable, healthy environment in order for you to live a healthy lifestyle. You need to take care of your environment, you need to have a community which makes it easier for the residents and the people who work there to observe a healthy lifestyle—from having clean air, water quality, open spaces. And now, for example, we’re talking about social distancing but for you to properly observe social distancing, there has to be sufficient space.”

Upping the ante

In the case of Sevina Park, this mixed-use premium neighborhood further ups the ante for how communities should be under the new normal. How so?

Narciso explained that among the features that allowed Sevina Park to bag a LEED Platinum certification include having a large rainwater collector, a sewage treatment plant, 60 percent green and open spaces, district cooling in several areas within the development; planting of endemic and endangered trees; and using renewable energy system as well as electric shuttles for point-to-point transport.

A LEED neighborhood, he further noted, requires for the structures within it to be LEED certified as well. Hence, the Sevina Park villas, configured as two, three and four-bedroom homes, will be aiming for a LEED and/or EDGE certification.

“We’re going to be the first ever in the Philippines to have LEED certified homes. We will seek for that certification for our four-bedroom villas,” he added.

Sustainable, green lifestyle

And it also follows that when you have a green development like Sevina Park, the lifestyle of its residents will follow. This means that living in Sevina will entail a commitment to lead a sustainable lifestyle as well.

“The sustainability of the community goes beyond the physical structures. Of course it helps that we design everything, from the start, to be a sustainable and green community. Part of the sustainability program is how the residents, locators and property managers actually use the entire community, how they carry out their lifestyles in the community. We have the community guidelines, which highly encourage future residents to adopt a more sustainable, green lifestyle once they move to Sevina Park. These will also help promote the individuals’ well-being and health,” Narciso explained.

There is no doubt that Arthaland’s unwavering commitment to sustainability, wellness, health and resilience has enabled it to further raise the benchmark for sustainable upscale living. In creating and growing such an impressive green development portfolio, Arthaland offers premium, resilient communities well primed for the future—amid and beyond the pandemic.