Sustainable architecture is a way of building that is gaining ground fast at a time of great ecological and environmental concern. It is about making the most of the natural resources a site offers while harming it as little as possible, which is what is known as minimising environmental impact. To find out more about this kind of project, talk to a good architecture practice in Málaga.
The European Union is increasingly promoting sustainable buildings, and it places great value on building sustainability certificates. Why? Essentially because the construction sector consumes 40% of all energy.
It also produces 35% of greenhouse gas emissions, which makes it a major contributor to climate change. That is why decarbonisation protocols take the sector so seriously. If energy use were cut and renewables were brought into construction, Europe would meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.
In Spain, both the national and the European regulatory frameworks have already made this type of construction compulsory. Since 31 December 2020, all new buildings have been nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB; in Spanish, edificios de consumo de energía casi nulo). The requirement had in fact applied since 31 December 2018 to new buildings owned or occupied by the public administration.
Sustainable architecture: basic principles and examples
First of all, it is essential to pin down the basic principles that define sustainable building as such.
The basic principles of sustainable building
To truly deserve the name, sustainable building has to meet a set of essential principles:
- It takes into account the specific climate of the place where it is built.
- It maximises the effectiveness and efficiency of its building materials.
- It uses markedly less energy than conventional construction.
- It meets certain essential, non-negotiable requirements of comfort.
On top of that, sustainable architecture has to obey three golden rules:
- No renewable energy should be consumed faster than it is generated.
- No pollutant should be produced faster than the environment can recycle, neutralise or absorb it.
- No non-renewable resource should be used faster than a sustainably used renewable substitute can be put in its place.
Examples of sustainable homes
Examples of this type of construction are multiplying across Spain, driven by current regulations and by widespread environmental and climate concern.
Practices such as Klic Arquitectos develop sustainable projects for every type of building. A case in point is the single-family home, where projects are developed from the design stage onwards, also covering planning and management.
Examples of these single-family homes can be found all over Spain: from geodesic homes in Murcia, built around bioclimatic strategies so that the home is self-sufficient, to houses with special glazing for thermal insulation. There are also modular prefabricated houses (in Asturias, for example) that have gone up in barely five hours.
Near-zero energy consumption has also been achieved in regions such as Catalonia, in certain homes built from modules. In them, the gaps between the modules become solar collectors in winter and cool terraces in summer.
Natural materials, renewable energy and ingenious devices and construction methods that make the most of every kilowatt: these are some of the features that best define these homes.
Sustainable architecture is not the future but the immediate present: ecological survival that goes hand in hand with the greatest advantages. A sustainable house is already synonymous with comfort and efficiency in harmony with its natural surroundings.
