The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has decided to partner with tech-driven engineering consultancy firm ESCA Engineering to retrofit a few of its Metro Manila-based business centers, as part of the company’s overarching goal to improve energy efficiency and the disaster-resiliency of its facilities.
In a period spanning two years, the firm will augment 15 of Meralco’s business centers with physical structures that will support the added weight of new solar panel installations, at the same time ensuring that the buildings will be disaster-proof from the structural improvements.
Back in 2011, ESCA Engineering had already been commissioned by Meralco in inspecting its headquarters for structural retrofitting, covering approximately 41,340 sqm of floor area for the main building and 16,420 sqm for the annex.
“Our previous engagement with ESCA Engineering gave us the confidence to partner with them again in making sure our business centers are disaster-resilient, structurally ready for solar panel installations, and of 21st century quality,” said Mark Antolin M. Tan, project manager of Meralco.
When evaluating the structural integrity of buildings, ESCA Engineering leverages on Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology that makes use of various tools to create and manage information for an already built asset.
“We are grateful for their continued trust in ESCA Engineering. We are excited to deliver client value through significant engineering improvements across this initial group of customer-facing business centers,” said Jean de Castro, ESCA Engineering chief executive officer.
Aside from Meralco’s headquarters and business centers, the firm showcased the capabilities of BIM technology in the construction of Ikea’s store in Pasay, Global Gateway Development Corporation’s Quad Aero Park at the Clark Economic Zone, and the construction simulation of the new Senate building in Taguig.
With ESCA Engineering at the helm of managing all smart information across a client’s entire design, build, and asset management life cycle, developers will be able to build at a quicker pace, operate more efficiently, and produce less waste.
The company claims that it was the first in the country to introduce BIM which was in 2013, and now it has officially announced a homegrown digital BIM platform designed to address the expensive cost of technology licenses in the Philippines and similar emerging markets.
“With accelerating market changes and new growth opportunities, we believe it is right to evolve towards a more digital and dynamic future. Our new visual identity reflects our reinvigoration for a new generation of growth and success,” said Ernesto de Castro, founder and president of ESCA Engineering.
Dubbed as the “PIM345D,” this enterprise-level solution simplifies traditional foreign BIM data platforms without omitting any BIM practice or process, making the technology widely available due to lower costs. After extensive testing concludes, the firm plans to launch the product by early 2023.
