MANILA, Philippines ? Imagine vegetation that will solve your leaking roof deck. Imagine planting greeneries on vertical structures such as building façades, screen walls, walkways, linkways or feature walls, thereby enhancing its elegance. Imagine using lamps that could save you up to 80 percent on energy costs and last up to 10 times more than incandescent bulbs. Imagine using fire-retardant, heat-insulating mortar that is seven times more resistant to heat transmission than cement plaster.

Imagine all that, and now look how close reality could be at the 14th Philippines World Building and Construction Exposition held recently at the Philippine Trade Training Center.

Considered the biggest and most attended construction exposition in Asia, the exposition saw almost 400 companies living up to the theme ?Leading the way to sustainable development.?

Aside from featuring new energy-saving devices for homes and buildings, other notable displays were wire cages for river bank linings and beds, anchormesh systems and rockfall nettings, and even faucet systems claiming to be leak-free and lead-free.

One of the most-attended lectures during the exhibit was Architect Felino Palafox Jr.?s discussion of the Pasig River rehabilitation project.

Palafox, an urban planner and environment advocate, noted that rehabilitating the famous river would ?entail a paradigm shift from the poor treatment of a precious resource to its elevation into something that?s a source of national pride.?

(The Kapit Bisig sa Ilog Pasig, a project that aims to rehabilitate the moribund 17-km river system, involves private sectors, local government units, Bantay Kalikasan of ABS-CBN, the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and is supported by Worldbex International).

The ?green airport architect? Christopher Kearns, a principal architect of CPG Consultants? specialized division CPGairport (the team behind the master planning and design of Singapore Changi Airport Terminals 1, 2 and 3), lectured March 19 and 20 with Filipino architects and guests about green architecture and sustainable designs.

A milestone in green architecture

Architect Francisco G. Flameno Jr., Worldbex executive director, said Kearns was chosen because the construction of the Changi airport marked ?a milestone in green architecture.?

?People may argue that the Philippines is not yet ready to go green, but the reality is, we will eventually be left with no choice but to do so. The most prudent thing to do now is to listen to experts and hopefully apply what we can locally,? Flameno said in a statement.

The Changi Terminal 3 or T3?s most outstanding feature is a unique ?butterfly? roof architecture which allows soft natural light into the building while keeping the tropical heat out.

The one-of-a-kind roof design has 919 skylights with specially designed reflector panels which automatically adjust themselves to allow an optimal amount of soft and uniform daylight into the terminal building. At night, the skylights glow with artificial lighting that is delicately concealed below the reflector panels.

Another key highlight of Terminal 3 is a five-story-high vertical garden called ?The Green Wall? spanning 300 meters across the main building. It can be admired from the departure and arrival halls and baggage carousels. The Green Wall is covered with climbing plants and is interspersed with four cascading waterfalls.

All these combine to make the green airport run on lower energy costs compared to the older terminals, mainly via natural lighting and by positioning air-conditioners nearer to the floor level.

Window coverings and architectural products manufacturer Hunter Douglas cited its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified and ecologically sound products, which ?perfectly fit? the environmentally-conscious theme of Worldbex. Gigi Lapira, Hunter Douglas president, said it was ?a great opportunity for us to demonstrate how our offerings champion the environment without compromising on function and esthetics.?