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Uphill Effort for Eco-Friendly Housing |
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By Diego Cevallos* - IPS/IFEJ*
Buildings
in North America produce vast amounts of greenhouse gases, sewage
and other waste. In Mexico, ecological construction is just getting
started, with 5,000 housing units near completion.
MEXICO CITY, Apr 2 (IPS/IFEJ) - The type and
use of the buildings where we live and work determine a big portion
of the climate changing gases that are of great concern to citizens
and scientists alike. Life in buildings is translated into polluting
emissions, wastewater and garbage.
In North America, 11 to 30 percent of greenhouse-effect gases, which
lead to global warming, come from buildings, which use a large part
of the available electricity, water and raw materials, including
precious lumber -- often from illegally logged forests -- and plastic
composites like polyvinyl chloride or PVC, which are harmful to
health.
Just in the United States, producer of nearly one-third of greenhouse
gases globally, buildings use around 65 percent of all electricity,
40 percent of raw materials and 12 percent of the water consumed.
In Mexico, responsible for two percent of the world's greenhouse
gases, buildings use 20 percent of the nation's electricity, 80
percent of which is generated by burning fossil fuels.
Canada, Mexico and the United States, partnered in the North American
Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), seek to curb the
sector's contributions to climate change, which most of the scientific
community agrees is caused by the accumulation of the Earth's atmosphere
of gases that come mostly from the burning of carbon-based fuels.
Experts from the three countries have been studying the matter since
the beginning of the year and in September will issue a broad-ranging
report that is to include recommendations for government action.
The goal is to limit polluting construction practices and give a
boost to sustainable building, which can be integrated better into
the environment, consumes less electricity and, ideally, processes
its own wastewater and garbage, as well as providing comfort and
shelter to its inhabitants.
But it is an uphill fight. "The development of 'green building'
is new, and the governments have no core policy in this area," said
David Morillón, an expert with the Autonomous National University
of Mexico (UNAM) and who will be one of the authors of the CEC's
report.
Nevertheless, there are already some plans under way, and dozens
of architects, engineers and researchers across North and South
America who exchange information and expertise through virtual networks,
and through regular seminars on "green building".
In the past six years, Canada and the United States have developed
new environmental standards for construction, private companies
have set up certification systems for contractors who build sustainable
buildings, and there is a "green" mortgage business emerging that
takes environmental considerations into loan decisions.
Even so, the percentage of eco-buildings in those countries is no
more than 10 percent of the total.
In Mexico, the government is sponsoring a sustainable construction
plan for low-income residents. The initiative is being managed by
the private sector. The result is some 5,000 housing units, most
of which are between 40 and 70 square meters, are near completion.
For a country where housing demand surpasses a million units a year
-- although in the last six years only 500,000 have been built annually
-- the project is just a tiny step.
The eco-housing in Mexico aims especially to reduce consumption
of electricity and water, but does not include solar energy or systems
for treating wastewater, which are ideal for this type of construction.
"This is an experimental step" and is geared towards generating
information and verifiable data so that it is the market "that finally
imposes the need to head towards sustainable construction," said
Evangelina Hirata, director of the government's housing development
commission, CONAFOVI.
But there is no promise that in six years Mexico will build all
housing under sustainability standards, "which doesn't occur in
any part of the world," she added.
On Mar. 29 in Spain, the Technical Code for Building entered into
force, requiring inclusion of renewable energy sources for supplying
hot water and electricity in all buildings that begin construction
or renovation as of that date.
According to the new rules, there will be limits on energy consumption
based on the building's characteristics, greater efficiency of heat
and lighting systems will be promoted, and there will be a required
percentage of clean energy sources: direct solar energy and solar
panels.
Meanwhile, in Mexico, the sustainability seed is just being planted.
"I hope that within a year the Mexican financial system begins to
offer green mortgages," after seeing that in the long term any sustainable
construction will be cheaper and more beneficial for the user and
the community, said Hirata.
According to UNAM expert Morillón, building sustainable housing
can cost three to 20 percent more than conventional housing. But
he is confident that the market will see prices fall once it becomes
more widespread.
However, that could take years, and time is of the essence, he added.
Conventional construction in Mexico lasts 30 to 40 years, but in
10 to 12 years, the country could run out of petroleum, meaning
there would be little electricity available for those buildings.
The clock is also ticking for the world's response to climate change.
If fossil fuel consumption and environmental degradation continue
at today's pace, by the end of the century the planet's average
temperatures could increase 1.8 to 6.4 degrees Celsius and sea levels
could rise 18 to 59 centimeters, according to the recently released
Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.
* This story is part of a series of features
on sustainable development by IPS-Inter Press Service and IFEJ -
International Federation of Environmental Journalists. |
