Casa AVANTRA (AVANTRA House) is a project that seeks to mark a before and after in terms of sustainable construction. To meet the high standards we have set for ourselves, we have developed a handful of strategies that will make it possible to achieve our sustainability goals. On this occasion, we share with you our Net Zero Energy philosophy.
Global warming is an aspect of climate change that causes long-term increases in global temperatures. When we burn fossil fuels such as coal and gas to generate electricity or power our cars, we release CO 2 into the atmosphere.
Electricity generation is the main cause of carbon pollution. According to figures from the Federal Electricity Commission ( Spanish acronym CFE), in Mexico, 73.5% of the sources with which CFE generates electricity use non-renewable resources. Only the remaining 23.8% comes from renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar, and wind, which do not emit carbon.
To solve this problem, beyond looking for renewable alternatives, we must reduce the amount of energy we use. Starting the day when the sun rises and resting when it is gone was the lifestyle of our ancestors. At Casa AVANTRA (AVANTRA House) we want to imitate that pattern and base our operation dynamics on that abundant resource: THE SUN.
We will make use of the most advanced technological resources for the production of energy, its storage, control, and monitoring of its consumption; and all this under the premise of producing more of what we need to share it with the community, just as it works in natural systems.
In nature, every living being has a purpose that keeps natural systems in perfect balance. Planets, ecosystems, and even our own bodies are made up of virtuous cycles whose dynamics, while taking from the natural environment, also bring something valuable to it, adding richness and diversity.
Casa AVANTRA (AVANTRA House) will adopt the NET ZERO ENERGY philosophy. This concept means that one should produce as much energy as one uses in 12 months. Currently, in the building industry, there are only a small number of high-efficiency buildings that meet the criteria to be called “Net Zero Energy”.
These buildings are kept connected to the electrical grid, which allows electricity produced from traditional sources to be used when renewable energy cannot meet the load the building demands. So at night or during cloudy days, they use the traditional source and during the day they return this energy.
This is a very challenging process, but we are sure that at Casa AVANTRA (AVANTRA House) we will be able to overcome it, as our priority will be to minimize the use of energy and then produce it in a renewable way.
This philosophy is not about following the trend of the moment but is a major step towards a more sustainable future, a future that demands a radical change in construction, infrastructure, and collective thinking. As biologist, theorist, researcher, and naturalist, Edward Osborne Wilson says, “this approach must be the great work of our generation…it is part of the necessary process of reinventing our relationship with the natural world by re-establishing ourselves, not as part of creation, but an integral part of it.” (Osborne, 2020: Living Building Challenge).