The Jaffna branch of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon has been awarded a Platinum rating by the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL), according it the highest available award in Sri Lanka for Green Buildings.
The accolade was presented at the 2023 awards of the GBCSL, at which Commercial Bank also received an Honourable Mention in the Banking Sector for the Council’s Green Business Leadership Award 2023.
Jaffna is the third Commercial Bank branch to receive a GBCSL award. In 2022, the Bank’s Trincomalee branch received a Gold rating, and in 2020, the Commercial Bank building in the historic Galle Fort was rated Platinum by the Council.
The building housing Commercial Bank’s Jaffna branch at 474, Hospital Road, Jaffna, came into the Bank’s possession in 1973 when the Bank acquired three branches of the Mercantile Bank of India (MBI). It was rebuilt and designed and equipped for eco-friendly operations in 2020-21.
The building has been fitted with a grid-connected 100kW rooftop solar system that generates a major percentage of the electricity required; a rainwater harvesting facility, its own sewage treatment plant that recycles waste water into water to irrigate the gardens and a waste management system; and is designed to maximise use of natural light during daytime, further reducing energy consumption. It is also equipped with energy-efficient air-conditioning, and the accessories in the bathrooms are all water-efficient, enhancing the building’s ‘Green’ credentials. Additionally, Green-labelled materials were used during its construction.
The GBCSL Green Business Leadership Award recognises multiple aspects of Commercial Bank’s commitment to sustainability, including its Green banking practices, Green certifications, the environment-friendly measures in operation, the CSR and volunteer activities the Bank is involved in, the
awards won for sustainability, publications related to sustainability, the green education and awareness programmes conducted by the Bank, innovations related to the environment and sustainable built environment, and the promotion of green concepts among customers.
Commercial Bank has entered into collaborations with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) to develop sustainable financing products that support eco-friendly manufacture, green operations and sustainable construction.
In the realm of environmental sustainability, the Bank has launched a tree-planting programme with the goal of planting 100,000 trees across the country, is supporting a turtle conservation project in Panama, has funded mangrove replanting, a reforestation project and a coral restoration initiative, is maintaining a stretch of coastline, has made significant headway in propagating paperless banking across multiple customer segments, and has installed solar power at more than 80 branches.
Commercial Bank is the largest private sector bank in Sri Lanka and the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World. The Bank operates a network of 271 branches and 964 automated machines in Sri Lanka, is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector, and is a leader in digital innovation in the country’s Banking sector. Commercial Bank has the widest international footprint among Sri Lankan Banks, with 20 outlets in Bangladesh, a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, and a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake in the Maldives.
