Sustainability grows significant yet remains open-ended in the real estate sector

Philippine-based developer Filinvest featured a new face of sustainability with New Clark City.

The concept of sustainability has received a different set of lenses in a post-pandemic real estate market, where it is less a company-advocated creed and more an innovative gateway for change.

When business leaders and owners claim that they take the environment into account in their practices, it seamlessly translates into the adoption of green spaces, renewable energy, and recycling components.

While the current paradigm of the real estate sector remains in that direction, the market has also considered a redefinition of “sustainability”, wherein design standards are not solely on environmental features but on quality malleability.

Take the Philippine-based real estate company Filinvest and their forthcoming project – Filinvest Innovation Park New Clark City. The 288-hectare area development will contain the first mixed-use and industrial township.

But importantly, Filinvest New Clark City will incorporate several sustainable features, such as the use of solar energy and other renewables, a sewage treatment plant for greywater recycling and irrigation, super blocks for a smarter power grid, and other initiatives. From the very start, the innovation park has sustainability in mind with its design, yet it incorporates a varied function to “progress or develop”.

Francis Ceballos, Senior Vice President and Business Unit Head, Industrial & Logistics at Filinvest Land Inc., referred to New Clark City as a “city where everything works with integral different parts”. That viewpoint seamlessly applies to incorporating sustainability into the entire development process.

First, with environmental features being imperative for any design, this extends to the very geographical significance of Clark Freeport. Once a former United States Air Force facility, Clark has transformed into a booming industrial hub with a vision of ongoing real estate development. Filinvest Land saw an economic prospect in Clark but shared the vision of long-term prospects through sustainability. It is further proven by the strategic development of New Clark City being the first Philippine 5G-powered city, attracting industries of its ecological viability.

The community surrounding Clark is also crucial on this matter, with the design intentional to create “green, inclusive, and resilient” designs for sustainable communities.

For its industrial prospects, the innovation park highlights the need for adaptability both ecologically and economically. Filinvest currently has a track record on flexible products like Ready-Built-Factory (RBF) and Build-To-Suit (BTS) options. The type of flexibility incorporated enables 24/7 functionality and cost management during economic doldrums. It is especially applicable for industries with shifting workforce habits, incorporating custom-built spaces, stable connectivity, and robust infrastructure. Adaptability is the key to balancing both areas, achieving “operational resilience and collaborative synergy”.

With an industrial park about to open its doors to the market, progress has to continue. Thus comes the design for New Clark City to integrate innovation and technology into its course. Underscoring its Eco-Tech-Ture (Ecology, Technology, Architecture) philosophy, the blueprint for sustainability is constantly adapting developments towards its developments. For the future industrial park, an example includes super blocks that incorporate walking and biking routes for accessibility. For a market striving for innovation, any development should lead back to preserving a viable environment where innovation continues and adapts to different forms. And it takes harmony between industry transformation and communal cooperation.

However, a stronger understanding of sustainability is fostering an environment of change and progress in the real estate market. Back to New Clark City, with its vision of a landscape where prospects of job opportunities, investments, and industries are beyond finite, it needs to be strong and strategic for a long-term basis. And it needs to come from the most adaptable partners who have their hands on deck for any possible change or progress in the industry. Currently for New Clark City, one of its first industrial partners is a manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), signifying their commitment to an environment of constant sustainability.

With the real estate market seeing sustainability evolve in every chapter, the direction goes beyond “sustainability for sustainability’s sake”. It truly is nurturing a living and breathing environment of human development, creation, and innovation, and the fostering of productivity and sustainability. And in this new chapter, sustainability needs to be seen with a new face and identity: existing on its vision of an ever-changing future.

For real estate, its prospects and ideas are limitless.