SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
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'14 
FEB 20 PZ :36 
SENATE 
S.NO. 2133 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
CREATING THE GREEN BUILDING CODE COMMISSION 
TO DRAFT TI-IE NATIONAL GREEN BUILDING CODE 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article 2, Section 16 provides: 
The State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a 
balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of 
nature. 
Buildings and development have significant environmental impacts on our natural 
resources. Buildings, and the transportation infrastructure that serves them, replace 
natural surfaces with impermeable materials, creating runoff that washes pollutants and 
sediments into surface waters. Urban runoff constitutes a major threat to water resources, 
as it has been identified as the fourth leading source of impairment in rivers, third in 
lakes, and second on estuaries. The energy used >to heat and power our buildings leads to 
the consumption of large amounts of energy, mainly from burning fossil fuels - oil, 
natural gas, and coal - which generate significant amounts of carbo? dioxide (C02), the 
most widespread greenhouse gas. Buildings in the U.S. contribute 38.1 percent of the 
nation's total carbon dioxide emissions. 
Reducing the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions produced by buildings is 
therefore fundamental to the effort to slow the pace of global climate change. Buildings 
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may be associated with the release of greenhouse gases in other ways, for example, 
construction and demolition debris that degrades in landfills may generate methane, and 
the extraction and manufacturing of building materials may also generate greenhouse gas 
emissions. Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that 
are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle 
from siting, to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and 
deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design 
concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. Green building is also known as a 
sustainable or high performance building. l 
Some practices, such as using local and renewable materi~ls or passive solar 
design, date back millennia - the Anasazi in the Southwest built entire villages so that all 
the homes received solar heat in the winter. The contemporary green building movement 
arose out of the need and desire for more energy efficient and environmentally friendly 
building practices. The oil price increases of the 1970s spurred significant research and 
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activity to improve energy efficiency and find renewable energy sources. This, combined 
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with the environmental movement of the 1960s and 1970s, led to the earliest experiments 
with contemporary green building. The United Nations conferences in Rio,2 Brazil and 
Johannesburg3 South Africa brought the issue of sustainability to the forefront in 
international circles. Subsequently, the organization has defined goals that buildings 
should seek to achieve in order to obtain green building recognition. These six goals are: 
increase in reliability; increase in indoor air quality; decrease in natural resource use; 
considerable decrease of energy costs over the lifetime of the building; improving 
1 http://www.epa.gov/greenbnilding/pubs.about.htm 
2 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 
J World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johamiesburg, South Africa. 
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comfort due to improved energy efficiency in bUildings; and rise of employment as a 
result of increased activity in energy improvements in buildings. 
These benefits will theoretically take care of any type of increase (typically 3-5%) 
in construction costs, and making improvements will have a direct positive impact upon 
life cycle costS.4 This bill seeks to create the Green Building Commission to draft a new 
Green Building Code which shall be submitted to Congress within two years from 
approval of this measure. 
4 http://www .eoearth.orglarticle/Green _ Building_Standards. 
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SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
) 
) 
) 
'14 
FEB 20 P2 :36 
SENATE 
S.NO·2133 
RECEIVLll In : ... t~ 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House a/Representatives a/the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
AN ACT 
CREATING THE GREEN BUILDING CODE COMMISSION 
TO DRAFT THE NATIONAL GREEN BUILDING CODE 
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SECTION I. The Green Building Code Commission. - The Green Building Code 
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Commission is created to be composed of the following members: 
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a. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources; 
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b. Secretary of Energy; 
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c. Secretary of Science and Technology 
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d. Two (2) members from the acade)11e. who must be licensed engineers by 
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profession; 
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e. Two (2) members from the construction industry who must be licensed engineers 
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by profession; 
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SECTION 2. Scope. - The provisions of the Green Building Code shall apply to 
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the planning, design, operation, construction, use and occupancy of every newly 
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constructed building or structure, unless otherwise indicated. 
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SECTION 3. Green building standards inputs. - In developing green building 
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standards, the Commission in proposing standards shall seek the input of government 
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agencies including, but not limited to, all of the following: 
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a. Department of Public Works and Highways; 
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b. Department of Environment and' Natural Resources; 
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c. College of Engineering of the University of the Philippines Diliman; 
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d. National Water Resources Board; 
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e. Department of Transportation and Communication; 
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f. Department of Health; 
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g. National Housing Authority; 
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h. National Disaster Coordinating Council; 
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i. Department of Science and Te?hnology; 
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j. Department of Energy. 
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SECTION 4. Standards in Drafting the Code. - The purpose of this code is to 
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improve public health, safety, and general welfare by enhancing the design and 
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construction of buildings through the use of building concepts that have a reduced 
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negative impact or positive environmental. impact, and encouraging sustainable 
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construction practices in the following categories: 
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a. Planning and design; 
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b. Energy efficiency; 
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c. Water efficiency and conservation; 
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d. Material conservation and resource efficiency; 
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e. Environmental quality. 
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The Commission must ensure that the cost to the public is reasonable, based on the 
overall benefit to be derived from the building standards. They can also leverage possible 
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incentive mechanisms. 
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SECTION 5. Report to Congress. - Within two (2) years from the approval of this 
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Act, the Commission shall submit its draft Green Building Code to the appropriate 
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Committees in Congress. 
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SECTION 6. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid 
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or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall 
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remain valid and subsisting. 
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SECTION 7. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
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executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to 
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or inconsistent with, the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended. 
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accordingly. 
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SECTION 8. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after 
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its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
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Approved, 
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