LISTED D&L Industries, Inc. has secured a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) v4 Gold certification for the central hub of its production plant in Batangas province.
Green building consulting firm Barone International gave the gold certification for the Batangas plant’s central hub, the second highest rating under the LEED certification, D&L Industries said in a statement over the weekend.
The plant’s central hub houses the central command center of the plant, which monitors all key environmental elements.
The hub earned 60 out of the maximum 80 points for various features, which adhere to the prerequisites that address carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation, materials, health, and indoor environmental quality.
LEED certification is a global green building rating system. It provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings, which offer environmental, social, and governance benefits.
“Right at the very beginning, it was our intention to have sustainability at the core of our new plant in Batangas. The plant itself is dedicated towards the manufacturing of higher value added, sustainable, organic, and natural products that harness the power of coconut oil,” D&L President and Chief Executive Officer Alvin D. Lao said.
“True to our advocacy, we wanted to keep to a minimum level the carbon footprint of the operations itself by designing an efficient and sustainable facility,” he added.
D&L Industries claimed that there are 42 LEED Gold and Platinum-certified buildings in the country to date. Platinum certification is the highest rating under the LEED Certification.
“The central hub’s sustainable architectural design maximizes the influx of natural light, enriching internal spaces with a bright and airy ambiance while reflecting solar heat. Compared with ASHRAE 90.1-2010, which is the international benchmark, used for rating the energy efficiency of buildings, the central hub is 20% more efficient than non-green buildings,” the company said.
“The building’s water recycling system alone generates a 67% average savings from baseline or equivalent to one Olympic-sized pool in annual water savings,” it added.
The hub also features indoor air quality management, thermal comfort, and preference for the use of low-emitting and non-emitting materials.
Meanwhile, the company’s Batangas plant has sustainability-designed buildings, renewable fuel sources, centralized chilled water system, smart water metering, and water recycling programs.
It will also be equipped with modern technology to monitor key parameters such as air emissions quality, wastewater effluent, and noise emissions to ensure compliance with regulatory limits.
D&L Industries is engaged in the production of customized food ingredients, specialty raw materials for plastics, and oleochemicals for personal and home care use.
The company’s shares were last traded on March 22 at P6.16 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave