BluHomes Gakakan is a green building development in North Caloocan, Philippines that is certified by the EDGE program of the World Bank. The homes use eco-friendly design features like passive cooling techniques, energy and water efficient appliances, and solar panels to help homeowners save on bills and reduce their environmental impact. Some key features include high ceilings for cross ventilation, insulated roofs, dual flush toilets, and vertical gardens to promote natural ventilation and conservation of resources.

2. BluHomes Gakakan in
Amparo, North Caloocan are
eco-friendly homes certified by
EDGE of World Bank as a
green building development.
Here are its eco-friendly
features.

3. Homes in BluHomes Gakakan
are eco-friendly because we
used three categories in
designing the homes. First,
homes here are designed to
be naturally cool and
comfortable because we used
the technique called passive
cooling. Second, homes here
are energy-efficient and save
electricity. Third, homes here
are water-efficient and
conserve clean water.

4. Each home in BluHomes
Gakakan is provided with solar
panels with a total capacity of
540 watt-peak. These solar
panels, when hit by sunlight,
convert the energy into electric
energy to be used as electricity
inside the home. The
homeowner will be able to
save 11.4% of his electric
consumption.

5. The roof overhang of
BluHomes Gakakan, the
extended part of the roof, is 1
meter deep, almost double
the conventional. This acts like
a cap visor to reduce the direct
sunlight that hits the exterior
walls of the home so that heat
cannot get in.

6. The colors of BluHomes
Gakakan are beautiful and
fresh for the eyes. Beyond that,
it also has a purpose. For the
exterior paint, we will use very
light colors, mostly white, so
that when direct sunlight hits it,
it will only reflect or bounce
back the heat and not
penetrate into the home.

7. This is the same reason why
the roof of BluHomes Gakakan
are color white, to reflect the
heat and lessen the heat that
penetrates through the roof
and into the home.

8. Underneath the roof of
BluHomes Gakakan, we will be
installing 2-inch thick glass
wool insulation. This thick
insulation will significantly
reduce the heat that
penetrates the roof into the
home.

9. We can see lots of trees and
plants in BluHomes Gakakan.
In front of each home,
attached to the wall, we will be
installing a vertical garden
using hanging planters with
own irrigation system.

10. At the front yard of every
home, we will plant a native
and indigenous tree called
Gakakan Tree. This is a small
tree, can grow only up to 3
meters tall, with small roots,
and with big and wide leaves.
This is because we are
supporting our local forestry.

11. The entire front yard of every
home will be planted with frog
grass to encourage and inspire
the future homeowners to
plant on their yard instead of
concreting it.

12. The sidewalk inside BluHomes
Gakakan is not made up of
solid concrete. We will be
using perforated paver blocks.
These are concrete blocks with
holes in the middle so we can
plant on them.

13. Windows at BluHomes
Gakakan are not the usual
sliding windows that are only
50% operable. We will be
using casement windows that
are 100% operable to
maximize natural ventilation
inside the homes.

14. To encourage our
homeowners to open their
windows and not worry about
insects, we will install insect
screen in all their operable
windows. This will also
promote natural ventilation.

15. The ceiling height inside the
home is 2.5 meters high. Based
on this ceiling height and
based also on the size of the
rooms, we computed how big
the windows should be to
maximize natural ventilation.

16. We used a passive cooling
technique called stack
ventilation. The concept is that
hot air always rise and cold air
always settles down. This is
why, in BluHomes Gakakan, we
will provide an operable
window at the highest portion
of the stairs so that these hot
air that rise can escape out.

17. The hottest portion of our
house is the attic. This is the
space directly below the roof.
In BluHomes Gakakan, the
ceiling at the roof is provided
with holes or vents to allow
this trapped air to escape
instead of going into the
home.

18. Toilets at BluHomes Gakakan
are dual flush and water saver.
These are the toilets with a big
button and a small button.
When you press the big
button, it will only consume 6
liters per flush. When you
press the small button, it will
only consume 3 liters per flush.
Not like the other conventional
toilets that consumes 8 to 10
liters per flush.

19. The faucets at BluHomes
Gakakan are also water-
efficient. We will be using
faucets that have a low-flow
rate of 6 liters per minute,
compared to other ordinary
faucets that consume 8 to 10
liters per minute.

20. BluHomes Gakakan is a
certified green building
development certified by EDGE
or Excellence in Design for
Greater Efficiencies that is a
product of World Bank and
represented by the Philippine
Green Building Initiative. This
certification proves that we
passed the strict standards
and requirements of EDGE in
order to acquire a green
building certificate.

21. Based on the calculation with
EDGE, the homeowner will be
able to save 44% of his electric
consumption. Because of this,
the carbon dioxide emission of
his home will have a reduction
of 0.89 tons of carbon dioxide
per year per home.

22. This carbon dioxide reduction
is equivalent to planting 15
trees per year per home,
according to the Greenhouse
Gas Equivalencies Calculator
of the Energy Protection
Agency of the US.
(https://www.epa.gov/energy/g
reenhouse-gas-equivalencies-
calculator)

23. Based also on the calculation
with EDGE, the homeowner will
be able to save 38% of his
water consumption. This saves
117 cubic meters of clean water
per year per home.

24. The benefits of these for the
future homeowners will be,
first, they are comfortable
inside because their homes
are naturally ventilated and
passively cooled. Second, they
will be able to conserve on
their electric bills and water
consumption. Lastly, and most
important of all, their homes
can help save the
environment.

25. www.bluhomes.ph/gakakan