By Vincent Mariel P. Galang
Reporter

PHILIPPINE Geogreen, Inc. is looking to expand distribution of its green construction technology products in the country, as it takes advantage of greater awareness spurred by the government’s recent environmental clean-up efforts.

“We’re hoping to target all the industrial (market)… like 100% of the industrial kasi [because] we could go into condo buildings,” Liza Morales-Crespo, chief executive officer of Philippine Geogreen, said during a recent media roundtable.

Celebrating its 10th year anniversary, Philippine Geogreen is a green construction technology supplier for both industrial and residential markets. Among its products are Big Ass Fans, which are large fans used for warehouses or big areas; Solatube Daylighting Systems, which are tubes that bring in natural light into a room requiring no use of lightbulbs; and Green Roof Coating, which radiates heat back to atmosphere cooling the building and reduces solar greenhouse effects.

“The products that we distribute what they have in common is that they are the best when it comes to sustainability,” Ms. Crespo told BusinessWorld.

Ms. Crespo said the company expects to see strong sales, with wastewater treatment as the growth driver. She noted wastewater treatment had accounted for 5% of annual sales before the Boracay closure, but this is expected to grow as much as 40% as the government turns its focus on Manila Bay.

“In the past ten years, we’ve experienced every year… a growth of 20% to 35% annually. This year we’re targeting for 40% with the new product and with this growing awareness for water treatment,” she said during the event.

For wastewater treatment, Geogreen offers US green technology that primarily uses microbes to clean the waste water to meet quality standards.

“We also have a wastewater treatment that uses microbes so it’s very sustainable because you don’t use a lot of energy and you can retrofit now with a lot of issues coming up with water treatment like the closures in Manila Bay and also Boracay. This one actually allows for them to treat water without having to use a lot of energy and a lot space,” Ms. Crespo said.

Since January, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has stepped up efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay. Several establishments, including restaurants, hotels and condominiums, faced fines and closure orders for failing to have proper wastewater treatment facilities.

“For this year we’re introducing new products to complete our line-up because we feel that with the product that we previously offered, we’re just scratching the surface and we’re serious. Our mission and vision is to make the Earth greener and if we were to do that, we need a lot more products to offer so that we could achieve our goals of making earth sustainable,” Ms. Crespo added.

With a water shortage and El Niño phenomenon affecting the country, Geogreen is offering the atmospheric water generator (AWG) — a machine that produces potable water from humid air. Ms. Crespo said depending on the capacity, AWG can produce anywhere from 30 to 10,000 liters of water a day, making it ideal for both residential and commercial customers.

Another product it offers is Drywired, a transparent coating that protects the paint’s color and cleans the air. This can be used for both indoors and outdoors.

Ms. Crespo said these green products can help individuals and companies to reduce energy use and operating costs.

For example, she noted that SM Malls reduced its monthly electricity costs by 30% after using Big Ass fans.

“They are big on energy savings, so aside from we’re helping lessen the carbon footprint it’s also big because the ROI (return on investment) makes sense… It’s not just, okay we want to be sustainable, but you’re also helping your bottom line because your operation expenses… were able to help you bring down your operational expenses,” Ms. Crespo said.

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