FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BUILDING GREEN – THE GOVERNMENT FORUM

BERDE Green Building Rating System issued for Comment.

MAKATI CITY, Philippines. – January 26, 2010 – The Philippine Green Building Council (PHILGBC)
and the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) jointly opened today the Building Green – the Government
Forum. Building Green is the conference series initiated by the PHILGBC to open the dialogue on
sustainability in the property sector.

Opening the conference is Derek Page, Director of the UKTI. Mr. Page outlined UKTI’s continuing
support to the work of the PHILGBC, as part of its commitment to assist countries like the Philippines in
addressing carbon reduction.

Jointly welcoming the participants to the Forum are Makati City Councilor Jejomar Erwin Binay and
PHILGBC Chairman Christopher de la Cruz.

Councilor Binay, during his speech, highlighted the work of the City of Makati in promoting
sustainability and its efforts in the development of policy to support green building. “Our residents
continue to enjoy a healthy environment because we always make sure that environmental policies are
effectively enforced and that every environmental program and project is successfully implemented” said
Mr. Binay. “Makati remains at the forefront of the nationwide campaign to mitigate the various threats
posed by global warming not only on the environment, but on the national economy and the country as a
whole” he added.

Mr. de la Cruz, in an effort to engage government to do its share by developing effective policy, he
reiterated the need to establish policy instruments that will help develop the green building market. “With
the mandate to provide basic services, government has been a major and consistent contributor to the
demand of new building stock” said PHILGBC Chairman de la Cruz. “Buildings for new offices,
education, recreation and healthcare facilities are continually designed and built to keep up with the
demands of an ever increasing population” he added.

Pampanga Representative Anna York Bondoc, the green building champion in Congress, highlighted
ongoing efforts to promote green building in the House of Representatives to address the escalating
concerns on environmental degradation and its recognized consequence – global warming and climate
change. Presented was House Resolution 1545, a resolution adopting the policy of green building at the
House of Representatives. In the said resolution, all operation and maintenance practices, future
renovation, expansion and future construction at the House of Representative shall be Green Buildings.

The Government Forum brought together the green building champions from government, industry and
the academe to discuss issues and challenges in making BERDE an effective green building policy
development tool. BERDE was released today for comment to incorporate the expertise and insight of
PHILGBC members.

The Forum was chaired by City Net Secretary General, Ms. Mary Jane Ortega.
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

About the PHILGBC

The Philippine Green Building Council (PHILGBC) is a national not-for-profit organization that promotes the sharing of knowledge on green
practices to the property industry to ensure a sustainable environment.

As an alliance of national leaders from both the public and private sectors, the Philippine Green Building Council shall take the lead in ensuring
that industry designs, builds and operates buildings in an ecologically and economically sustainable manner that will pave the way for the
Filipinos to live, work and play in safe, healthy and productive environments. For more information about the PHILGBC, you may visit
http://www.philgbc.org/

About the BERDE

BERDE – The Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence is the National Green Building Rating System developed by the
PHILGBC.

BERDE is developed by a non-partisan forum composed of the nation’s leaders in industry, professional institutions, academe, and government.
This forum shall be the stage in the ongoing debate on how to measure a building’s sustainability credentials. BERDE will help in determining
the correctness of the claims of the project proponents

BERDE shall be a consensus driven; third party certification, monitoring and verification scheme that will enable all property market players to
benchmark against a single green building rating system, thus leveling the playing field.

BERDE will guide decision makers in industry in designing, constructing and operating greener buildings. Businesses will use BERDE as a
recognizable environmental branding tool that will enable property buyers easily identify buildings that are performing environmentally well.

About the UKTI

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the British Government organisation that helps UK companies succeed in international markets and assists
overseas companies to bring high quality investment to the UK. For more information about the UKTI, you may visit
http://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/.

Contacts: CHRISTOPHER CRUZ DE LA CRUZ MA. ANNA GALANG TUNGOL

Chairman and President Executive Director
Philippine Green Building Council Philippine Green Building Council
(+632) 8970045, (GMT+08:00) (+632) 4896829, (GMT+08:00)
ccdelacruz@philgbc.org agtungol@philgbc.org
http://philgbc.org http://philgbc.org

REZA DADUFALZA To learn more about the PHILGBC, its conference series
Trade & Investment Manager Building Green or to schedule an interview with any of the
UK Trade and Investment officers and/or members of the Council please contact the
(+632) 858 2200, (GMT+08:00) PHILGBC National Secretariat at (+632) 4896829,
reza.dadufalza@fco.gov.uk (GMT+08:00).
http://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/
Copies of photos of the event are available. For requests please
email secretariat@philgbc.org .