SM Investments Corporation through its property arm, SM Prime Holdings continues to provide a unique “malling” experience with the opening of its 83rd mall in Balanga, Bataan by integrating sustainability features in its design and operations.
The geographic location of the coastal city provides an opportunity for the company to incorporate disaster resiliency in its design in the flood-prone municipality.
Balanga experiences annual flooding based on its history of recurring disasters and so, SM has equipped the mall with two rainwater catchment tanks that can hold up to 900 cubic meters combined or equal to 3.6 million 250mL glasses of water. The catchment tanks aim to reduce soil erosion and flow of stormwater that causes urban flooding.
SM City Bataan also utilizes clerestory windows, series of large windows, for better light ventilation which lessens the electricity consumption of the facility. This could save up to approximately 2240 kWh of energy daily.
“We continue to reach more communities and provide services where we can. Where there is SM, there’s also the SM Markets for the daily needs of the families, there’s Watsons for medicines and hygienic needs, there’s also Ace Hardware for the repairs and maintenance of the community’s houses. Even the transport terminal is connected to the mall. By placing all these stores in our malls, we lessen the carbon footprint of our guests as well. They don’t have to visit several places to get what they need,” said Engineer Junias M. Eusebio, Senior Assistant Vice President of SM Supermalls for Mall Operations of North Luzon B.
The company remains a staunch advocate of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to which their sustainability initiatives are anchored from. SM City Bataan uses recycled water for water closet flushing, landscape maintenance, and to supply waters to the cooling towers of the building’s air conditioning system.
SM continues to integrate sustainability in its daily operations. As of 2022, the SM Group had already recycled 42.5 million cubic meters of water, enough to fill 17,000 Olympic-sized pools. The opening of SM City Bataan marked it as the 25th mall with rainwater catchment basin and 28th with electric vehicle charging station, further amplifying its commitment to sustainable practices.