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Today, going green or being eco-friendly is no longer a matter of choice, it’s a matter of necessity. Nature’s growing unpredictability has made many individuals and companies realize that if we are to sustain our society for generations to come, we must treat nature and earth’s resources with utmost respect.

Fortunately, many real estate developers have caught on and have seen the importance of building projects that are sustainable. Thus, their emphasis on green building designs and construction.

In spite of these, though, there is one important environmental issue that no local developer has yet to address.

I would like to see the day when developers include among their amenities the provision of tap water that is so clean that one can drink it straight from the faucet, thereby eliminating, or at least reduce, the need for individuals or households to buy bottled water.

Bottled water not only burns a hole in your pocket, they’re one of the most environmentally-damaging commodities that we have become so used to.

The concentration of condos in Metro Manila is born out of necessity because of the fact that there’s not much more land on which to build single-detached or attached housing units therein. I’m not saying that for the country to have real progress, condos should be built all over the country, in fact, it’s wrong to do so. Please read my blog that was featured on the online version of the Inquirer in 2009.

It’s true that for our country to make real headway economically, it should be seen and felt in the entire country. I am certain this can be attained; maybe not in our lifetime, but it can be attained if our leaders and those that will come after them will truly put their hearts into it. It’s going to be a very long and arduous process but we must begin somewhere or with something. And that “something” is going to be the subject of my next post.

One of the reasons why I decided to take this tour was to find out more about an important matter that was related to me by a friend. She emailed to me an image from Phivolcs indicating that there might be an active fault that traverses part of Sta. Rosa. It’s called the Valley Fault System.

I will talk about this active fault at the end of this post.

But first, let me tell you about the tour my daughter and I did yesterday. What was originally intended to be a casual visit to Nuvali turned into a 12-hour trip that extended up to the swollen shore of Laguna Lake.

We arrived at Nuvali around 9:00 am and left for home at 9:00 pm. Needless to say, my daughter and I had a blast the whole time.

This is the second time I visited Nuvali in less than a month. The admiration I had for it during our first visit became even more intense after I found out that what looked like opaque walls of One Evotech were actually transparent; they’re probably glass curtain panels. The photo that was taken at 8:30 pm clearly shows the bicycle ramps that one can use to go up and down the building using his bike.

In Taguig, a city in southern Metro Manila, is where you will find DMCI Homes’ vast landholding – the 86-hectare mixed-use development dubbed the Acacia Estates. In it you will find DMCI Homes’ various projects like the condominium developments Rosewood Pointe, Royal Palm Residences, Cedar Crest and Cypress Towers plus the gated subdivisions of Mahogany Place I, II and III.

Mahogany Place I and II are sold out but some parts of Mahogany Place III are still available. Accessible via C-5 Road, it is only a few minutes from Bonifacio Global City and the Makati Central Business District. This gated community is home to a variety of single-detached houses, townhouses and duplexes.

To a certain extent, townhouse developers realize profits in basically the same way. Think of a quadruplex for example; just think of the side walls. This four-unit structure has two side walls and three partition walls or a total of five. Slice them into four single houses and you end up with eight side walls and at least three setbacks between houses that will require a bigger lot.

Construction of a quadruplex is also more simple and faster. Digging the foundation for the four units involves a single process and a single set up time. Divide them into 4 individual houses and the developer will have to do this process four times, albeit, each at a smaller scale. But there’s a set up time every time he does it, making the whole process longer. That’s just for the digging of the foundation.

These are just a few things I know why condominiums and townhouses are very popular among developers. They are a way for developers to “mass-produce” housing, reduce cost, maximize profit and sell at reasonable prices at the same time.

If you know of more reasons, feel free to leave them in the comment section or contact me. If you think some of my observations are wrong, kindly do the same and I will gladly edit or totally remove this entry if necessary.

“As a would-be home owner, assuming that you are neither an architect or a civil engineer, and you do your homework in earnest, you may remove the developer in the build process and derive savings that would have gone to him; but never the architect and contractor.”

Yes, Im a would-be home owner (and a buyer), and I’ll choose an “architect and builder” but not an “architect and contractor”. But then I prefer to buy a house within a planned community, so I’ll just search for the right developer that meets my needs. This is also the reason why I found this very informative blog.

I already have a short list of developers with a modern-contemporary design signatures. I just hate those houses with lots of stone works and mouldings (to me these are just “burloloys”). There’s also a developer with a proud “Energy Saving” slogan on their flyers, but their rooms dont have a cross-ventilation. It also has a second-floor carport, (Funny but true).

Hopefully, there will be a developer that will allow interior changes without changing the design for the exterior massing, like pushing some walls, putting interior view windows, optional interior finishes, etc.

Keep posting sir, I added this blog on my favorites. I always wanted to post some comments on other categories but dont have spare time to create one.