Balancing housing development with environmental sustainability and social responsibility is a challenge home builders face in their line of business. Still, housing developers are increasingly thinking about how they can minimize the environmental impact of their construction activities. One solution is to integrate eco-friendly features into affordable housing projects; this approach can mitigate the effects of the worsening crisis while making sustainable living accessible to the average Filipino family.
This proposal was made by John Philip Wang, executive vice president of Citihomes Builder and Development, Inc. (CBDI), during his talk at the 2025 National Developers Conference on Oct. 10. The event was organized by the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA), and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Wang has positioned his company as a builder of eco-friendly and affordable homes for the Filipino working class. His Citihomes Liora Homes in Naic, Cavite, is the first BERDE (BuilÂding for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence)-certified residential district in the country. It has more than 3,000 town houses that are equipped with solar panel systems and rainwater harvest tanks.
With Liora providing the template for its future sustainable housing projects, CBDI came up with its signature Ecossentials package that makes “future-ready living” possible and accessible. These include solar panels, rainwater harvesting tanks, waste management systems, sustainable building materials and green design. Eco-homes in the soon-to-rise master planned development in Paseo de Lipa in Lipa City, Batangas, will use natural light and ventilation, and energy-saving materials.
Creature comforts
Wang said that CBDI is looking into bamboo as a sustainable building material to replace traditional lumber. CBDI’s sister company, Kaway’an EcoPark, in General Trias, Cavite, showcases bamboo architecture and sustainability features.
In the future, Wang said CBDI will incorporate “certain creature comforts,” which he noted were unavailable in the socialized housing projects of the past. These include lavatories, showerheads, steel doors and window grills, all designed to improve living conditions and safety of residents.
The company’s Go Green Meter is a public dashboard used to monitor the environmental impact and sustainable features of its various housing developments. Key metrics are solar production capacity, rainwater harvesting capacity, carbon dioxide emissions avoided, coal saved from burning and the number of trees saved.
Wang emphasized that sustainability features should be a part of the affordable housing that will be built by developers who want to address the national backlog of 6.6 million units; this figure is estimated to balloon to 10.8 million by 2028.
“We as developers have the responsibility to provide for dignity, pride and joy to our countrymen by way of happy homeownership... this should extend to the socialized housing sector,” Wang said.