AT LEAST one hundred exhibitors will showcase products and innovations in the construction industry as the Cebu Construction Show opens today at the SM City Cebu Trade Center.

This year’s Cebu Construction Show will also highlight products and practices that have “shades of green”—or those that are environment-friendly—as the exhibit will host the first “Green Seminar” this afternoon. The seminar will be conducted by the United Architects of the Philippines–Green Architecture Movement (UAP-GAM).

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“The green and sustainable practices in the construction industry are not new,” said Lilibeth Ducut-Abais, managing director of the L.A. Ducut and Company Inc.

She believes that the construction industry should do its share in advocating green practices.

“We are not green-washing,” she told Sun.Star Cebu in an interview last Wednesday. She said that everyone should be concerned about climate change and help reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Meanwhile, Abais said that the construction industry in Central Visayas has remained upbeat because of the strong tourism and business process outsourcing industries in the region.

She added that real estate developments are still picking up not only because housing is a basic need but because of a housing backlog in the country.

“All this will translate to growth in the construction industry,” she said.

In the public sector, Abais cited projects in Cebu that have helped the construction industry stay afloat despite the global financial crisis.

These projects include the third phase of the Metro Cebu Development Project Coastal Road and the Cebu North Coastal Road project, which has an estimated cost of P3.7 billion. Abais also cited government port projects for Cebu City, Talisay City and Daanbantayan town, as well as power projects in Sibonga, Alcoy and Medellin, and an irrigation project in Carcar.

On its opening alone, the construction show is expected to attract more than 7,000 buyers and trade professionals who will
have the chance to interact with industry players.

Fifty percent of the exhibit participants are Cebu-based companies while the other half are companies based outside the province.

To formally open the four-day event, Cebu City First Lady Margot Osmeña will lead the ceremonial ribbon cutting together with UAP-GAM chairman Edgar Reformado, UAP-GAM district director Alan Chuachoy and engineer Erwin Guanzon, president of the Hardwares Consolidated Inc.