Vivant COREnergy Inc. and its partner, JEG Development Corp. (JDC), has launched a 37-kilowatt peak rooftop solar installation that powers the daytime energy demand of the 22-storey JEG Tower at One Acacia in Cebu City.
The JEG Tower grid-tied solar project is designed to produce 77 megawatt hours of energy annually while avoiding 30 metric tons of carbon dioxide emission each year even as it saves 12 percent of the building’s electric consumption in common areas from ground floor up to the 6th-floor.
The parties did not reveal the project cost but Tomas Tan, JEG Realty Corp. general manager, said the JDC did not spend for the development of the facility as it only buys the power produced by COREnergy’s facility “at a much cheaper rate than the utility provider is charging.”
“More than what it means to be the first commercial building to provide solar energy is our contribution and commitment to the community and our environment. This thrust is in line with our green initiatives as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certified building. As other developers see how easy and affordable it is to power their own buildings with solar energy, we all can contribute in the preservation of a cleaner and greener city of Cebu,” Marko Sarmiento, JDC president, said.
Sarmiento also expressed hope that the practice becomes an industry standard as JEG Tower is the first commercial high-rise building in Cebu powered by solar energy that received the highest score in Cebu City under the LEED rating system for green buildings.
The LEED is an internationally-recognized green building certification program developed by the US Green Building Council that serves as proof that the design and construction of a building surpassed the standards on efficient resource use, increased energy savings, reduced carbon emissions and improved indoor environmental quality.
COREnergy said the JEG Tower solar project is its fifth operating distributed solar project in Cebu.
“What we’re offering to the market and specifically to the real estate industry is access to energy solutions specifically solar widely accepted as an option to reduce and manage cost effectively. In terms of market, COREnergy has offices in Cebu and Manila. However, we do cover the entire Philippines and we aspire to support the needs of various industries throughout the country,” said Al Douglas Villaos, COREnergy president, during the briefing.
Villaos said the company also eyes more projects of the kind, adding that real estate is among the niche industries the business looks to partner with.
