[CEELA in Mexico] Towards a sustainability agenda in the building sector

On 17 May 2023, a meeting was held at the Swiss Embassy in Mexico to discuss the importance of innovative architectural designs and building and housing standards to positively influence the economy, the environment and people’s quality of life.

©CEELA project

Iván Islas, associate director of the Carbon Trust Mexico and country manager of the project «Strengthening Capacities for Energy Efficiency in buildings in Latin America» (CEELA), pointed out that in recent years Mexico has been implementing a series of regulations to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies in the construction sector. However, he mentioned that it is still necessary to strengthen the coordination between the different actors in the sector. In this regard, he shared the progress achieved by the CEELA project during phase one, highlighting the project’s progress in the Aldea Tulum Housing Complex, which seeks to be an example of how to reduce CO₂ emissions in social housing construction, generating its own energy and at the same time improving the people’s quality of life.

©CEELA project

Likewise, in the context of capacity strengthening, he mentioned the development of the International Digital Diploma on «Building with Energy Efficiency and Adaptive Comfort», which addressed issues related to sustainability in the construction sector and had as main core the 15 CEELA  principles of design and construction on Energy Efficiency and Adaptive Comfort, and which was a referent in terms of education on sustainability applied in a context of climate change and vulnerability.

©CEELA project

Finally, he highlighted the proposal for changes and improvements in the regulatory framework of the municipality of Hermosillo, state of Sonora. These were the results of the study conducted by specialists Carlos Eduardo Gaitán Lastras, from the Carbon Trust, and Rigoberto García Ochoa from CEELA, which, among others, highlights the need to incorporate measures or mechanisms into the municipal building regulations to improve thermal comfort of existing homes, and those to be built in the future, considering energy efficiency criteria and the use of renewable energies.

At the closure of the working meeting, Pietro Piffaretti, Swiss Ambassador to Mexico, stressed that for Switzerland, climate change is a priority issue, and the construction sector is responsible for about 40% of CO₂ emissions. Therefore, reducing energy consumption in this sector is a key strategy to address the effects of climate change. In this regard, he reaffirmed Swiss support and commitment to assist Mexico in its climate agenda towards sustainability in the construction sector.

Source: CEELA Project

More information:
FS CEELA project (Span)
Brochure CEELA project (Span)
Web CEELA project
Facebook CEELA project
LinkedIn CEELA project

Compartir en:

También te puede interesar...