What is a sustainable building and how does it differ from a traditional one?

A sustainable building goes far beyond disruptive architecture, coming closer to a practical building that meets a series of environmental certificates

Sustainability, architecture and avant-garde are concepts that our minds seem to be used to associating. The concept of avant-garde art linked to sustainable architecture is something that has its roots in the reconstruction period after the Second World War, and that took off with Western culture from the sixties and seventies onwards. Numerous examples appeared throughout the world, laying the foundation for what we might today call sustainable building.

Everyone remembers those extravagantly shaped houses that seemed more like something out of a science fiction movie than reality, and which helped fill part of the news broadcasts. And who can fail to associate sustainability and architecture with those extravagant tree houses, so frequently featured in environmental documentaries and where their inhabitants practice the purest environmentalism, managing to change our perception of the ideal communion between design and respect for nature. However, this disruptive architecture, practical in many cases but not applicable to the reality of the average citizen who lives well in an urban area, is quite far from what we might consider a sustainable building today.

And the fact is that, as much as we would all like to live in that spaceship heading towards the zero carbon, or a self-sufficient forest, our reality is more mundane, and in it a sustainable building looks more like an office tower than the cube houses of Rotterdam. You only have to look at the conditions that regulatory bodies, such as the Spanish Green Building Council, founded in 1998, consider sustainable.

Among them are concepts more familiar to our daily lives, such as air quality, which, with its toxic gas indicators, is a major focus of our current affairs; the brightness of windows or glass, as well as its low emissivity (allowing light to enter with minimal heat); or green spaces, as necessary as the small lungs of cities. All of this lays the foundations for a sustainable building and is essential to achieving the goals of this type of architecture. Let’s go find out.

8 keys to certify a sustainable building

The Green Building Council, the authorized regulatory body in the United States that grants the LEED certification, a globally recognizable sustainability standard, establishes the key points for certifying a sustainable building

1. Sustainable sites. Protect or restore the habitat in which each building is located, revitalizing and reusing abandoned or disused areas, such as old industrial or commercial areas.

2. Indoor environmental quality. Promote ventilation that promotes thermal and acoustic comfort, reducing the use of heating and air conditioning; as well as proper natural lighting, avoiding the excessive use of unnecessary lighting points.

3. Materials and resources. Use recycled, renewable materials or those with a green certification or label.

4. Design innovation. Focus the design on a building proposal based on new proposals to save resources and promote sustainable consumption.

5. Regional priority. Adapt the building to the needs and problems of the environment.

6. Location and transportation. The location of the building, avoiding building in natural environments, reducing the duration of car journeys and promoting public transportation and physical activity.

7. Energy and atmosphere. Optimize the energy consumption of buildings, demonstrating a percentage of energy savings and the use of clean and renewable energy.

8. Responsible water management. Prioritize water reuse, allowing for efficient use, controlling the irrigation system in green areas, and encouraging moderate consumption.

Compliance with these aspects means that, through a sum of points, buildings are certified with the Leed Certified seal (40 to 49 points), Leed Silver (50 to 59 points), Leed Gold (60 to 69 points), and Leed Platinum (more than 80 points).

How can we avoid the misuse of energy?

A large part of the importance of a building Sustainable consumption lies in the ability to properly manage electricity consumption. Without going any further, we must remember that 40% of energy consumption in cities occurs in buildings.

The key to this efficient consumption lies in optimizing consumption through monitoring and analyzing energy consumption, as well as the application of relevant MAEs (Energy Saving Measures). Want to know more? In this video you will clear up your doubts: