Village Connect
The Philippine manufacturing sector has reached a new sustainability milestone as the Jollibee Group’s Danao Commissary in Cebu earned LEED Gold certification, becoming the first manufacturing facility in the country to receive LEED certification for interior design and construction.
The approximately 18,000-square-meter food manufacturing facility achieved Gold under the LEED v4.1 ID+C: Commercial Interiors rating system, an internationally recognized green building standard administered by the U.S. Green Building Council and certified by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI).
Global real estate and investment management services firm JLL served as the project’s LEED consultant and sustainability adviser, guiding the certification process from the development of its sustainability strategy through the completion of the award in May 2026.
Achieving the certification presented a unique challenge because LEED does not have a standard certification pathway specifically designed for manufacturing facilities. JLL worked with GBCI to determine an appropriate approach for the Danao Commissary while developing a LEED scorecard that guided the project during its design and construction phases.
JLL’s work also covered fundamental and enhanced commissioning, energy modeling, and a renewable energy study. These initiatives were intended to integrate sustainability considerations into the facility’s engineering design and day-to-day operations.
The project delivered significant environmental results. According to figures cited for the certification, the facility achieved 82.1 percent energy cost savings alongside an equivalent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Indoor water use was reduced by 76.95 percent, while 99.38 percent of construction waste was diverted from landfills.
The commissary also performed across several major LEED categories, including energy and atmosphere, water efficiency, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation.
Nix Garchitorena, LEED Consultant and Project Manager for Sustainability Consulting at JLL, said manufacturing facilities are particularly challenging to certify because there is no ready-made LEED pathway for a facility such as the Danao Commissary. Close collaboration among JLL, GBCI, and the Jollibee Group project team helped establish the roadmap toward Gold certification.
The achievement demonstrates how sustainability standards can be incorporated into an operating manufacturing facility without sacrificing business continuity.
Beyond the Danao Commissary, the project could provide a useful reference for other Philippine manufacturers seeking to reduce energy consumption, emissions, water use, and construction waste.
As companies face increasing pressure to improve environmental performance, the Cebu facility shows that industrial growth and sustainability can move forward together—setting a new benchmark for greener manufacturing operations in the Philippines.
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