Sustainable buildings, the future of architecture

The word “sustainable” is not new. We normally hear it associated with words like development or environment, but some years from now and more and more frequently, sustainability is connected to architecture. That is why in the near future of the buildings, they would be sustainable.

To this challenge, imposed somehow for European laws, have been ascribed different administrations driving measures and promoting some building projects that curiously wins the one spending less. The crazy and at any cost construction of the last years has led professionals to the detailed planning of the cities and where some variables such us orientation, ventilation, used materials or power consumption made it to the line with the square meters, distribution or spaciousness of the terraces.

But, what are the characteristics of a sustainable building? Nor is the point to build like our ancestors who had wood or wicker to make their houses, but to some extent the sustainable architecture looks for the use of local materials (like our ancestors did) and therefore, not contaminant ones, or to take advantage of resources like water. These are aspects left behind over a century and have been recovered nowadays. Let’s have a look at them:

  • A sustainable building must end up being energetically self-sufficient. Producing its own energy, for example through the sun or heat coming from soil, known as geothermic. The goal of a sustainable building is to have almost zero external energetic consumption. And this also means having less economical expenses.
  • A good orientation of the building is key to achieve sustainability because can benefit its natural ventilation.
  • The building and finishing materials (like paint) used in the sustainable building are as natural, environmentally friendly and recyclable or reusable as possible.
  • The derivatives of petroleum on the insulation are avoided because they prevent a good perspiration of the building.
  • A good management of water. This means that we need to have a good exploitation of rainwater and a good management of waste water.

In the end, a sustainable building is also more competitive in economic terms, because takes into account all the service life, from its construction to the end of its usage. To sum up, build, yes, but do it with the maximum respect for the environment and causing the minor energy consumption possible.