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MANILA - Residents of villages that follow green building standards enjoy lower electricity bills while helping preserve the environment.

The developers of Via Verde in Batangas and Grand Strikeville in Cavite reduced the electricity demand and improved the energy efficiency of their low-cost homes by following the standards under EDGE or Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies.

By installing solar panels on the roofs of their homes, residents of these villages said their electricity bills went down by 20 to 25 percent.

Real estate companies also benefit from following the EDGE standard as rising demand for green homes boost sales.

"Our sales went up by 300 percent," said Emma Imperial, CEO of Imperial Homes which developed Via Verde.

"The market's preference for green buildings has remarkably increased," said George Siton vice president for socialized housing of Phinma, which developed Grand Strikeville.

EDGE is an initiative of the International Finance Corp, a sister organization of the World Bank and a member of the World Bank Group.