Visión, pasión y creatiVidad - Inmobiliare

EDIFICIOS VERDESSaving, protection, balance are some synonyms for sustainability. In Mexico,lots of plans and concrete projects are an example of Sustainable RealEstate Development where both, government and private initiative haveparticipated. However, there is still a lot to do.Some days ago General Director of Pro-Mexico, Carlos Guzman Bofill, said thatMexico owns a special attraction forinvesting on renewable energies. The countrycounts on a projects’ portfolio based on renewableenergies and energetic efficiencies withpotential investments close to 21 thousand milliondollars. It means, a “green portfolio” to developseveral programs dedicated to ecologicalinfrastructure or renewable energies.And it is true, in the country another kind ofresources can be profited, for instance the windpower plants, which would be translated into abenefit because Mexico has a great potentialto generate this sort of energy by generatinguntil a 30% of efficiency, an amount capable ofproducing 71 thousand megawatts. It means animportant quantity if we compare it to the oneproduced by the Comisión Federal de Energía: 52thousand megawatts. Currently, Mexico is using500 megawatts of wind energy and the expectationfor the end of 2012 is two thousand 500.Solar power plants know a great potentialin the northeast of Mexico and relating to theuse of geothermal, Mexico is the fourth countrygenerating it worldwide.Capital attractionGeneral Director of ProMexico, Carlos GuzmánBofill, said there are several investors fromGermany, United States, Spain, Denmark andEngland interested in wind energy projects,including solar plants, biomass and electricitygas generators.In this portfolio we can find the enterpriseMexico Power Group’s project, which will investtwo thousand 500 million dollars in a period offive years in three wind power parks locatedin Baja California, Zacatecas and Quintana Roo.Green mortgagesAnnounced since 2007, Green Mortgages remainsanother kind of initiative. It has had a lotof promotion so far, that is why the Instituto delFondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores(INFONAVIT) and the Asociación HipotecariaMexicana (AHM) signed an agreementto allow housing developers to access to biggerbridge loans, just if their projects are based oneco-technologies. Since 2007, INFONAVIT hasgranted 522 thousand “green mortgages”.“Housing developers know that an additionalquantity exists for those having a greenmortgage, and it implies a higher cost of theirhouses and at the same time, their sales aregoing to increase”, said Víctor Manuel Borrás,General Director of INFONAVIT.Eco-technologies used in houses constructionregister their first rise in price, the houses’cost increases from 3 to 5% due to eco-technologiesincorporation. Casas GEO, the main sellerof houses through INFONAVIT credits, informedthat during the second quarter of 2011 the pricesof its houses grew 7.8% in a year thanks toeco-technologies use.As far as it is concerned, developer Vinte saidthe houses’ prices built by its enterprise valuedbetween 350 and 500 thousand pesos rise roughly11 thousand pesos due to incorporation of sustainableeco-technologies, such as solar heaters andwater reducers for shower and water keys.According to its quarter reports, developersAra, Homex and Sare also reported increases inprice of 7, 3.8 and 6.8%, respectively.Sustainable buildingsIt is not an exclusive definition for Mexico, onthe contrary, it is a global definition, the US-GBC (United States Green Building Council) affirmedthat a sustainable building integrates alayout line, building construction and operationwith health parameters, energy saving andprotection to the environment with the mainpurpose of creating healthy and comfortablespaces supporting the sustainable developmentmodel during the lifecycle of buildings operationphase. A building counting on an integraland sustainable layout takes advantages to themaximum of the site’s potential, it also conservesthe water use, it uses less energy – andit even produces its own consumption energyituses materials with a low environmental impactand keeps an excellent air interior quality.César Ulises Treviño, General Secretary ofWorld Green Building Council and Founder Presidentof the Consejo Mexicano de EdificaciónSustentable, and also a great contributor inthis magazine, comments: the big challengeof our generation is to find the way of buildingsmartly, because the constructions where welive and work, impact decisively in our environment,economy and health.”Without a doubt, to build in a sustainableway implies the co-processing of wastesby incorporating them to another productionprocess. In this case, it is possible to take advantageof these materials to be incorporatedto the cement production. The cement enterprises’vision is focused on achieving this goal,and they are not alone, there are other sectorsworking actively in the topic. On the other hand,in 2007, five world banks have assigned 5,000million dollars and some cities in the world havebeen chosen to promote the efficient use of energy,and Mexico City is included in the list.Experts on sustainable development affirmthat the construction industry and alsothe buildings operating in the world generate65.2% of electric energy total consumption;36% of total primary energy; 50% of greenhouseemissions and 136 million tons of clods ofconstruction and demolition – it means roughly1.3 kg/person/day- from them, the 90% couldbe totally recycled. The numbers are convincing,the question now is: how to revert or howto get a better use of the resources? •64www.inmobiliare.com