La Casa G is a private, non-profit enterprise, whose objective is to promote the rational use of materials, good practices environmentalenergy saving and promoting sustainability. Opened in 2013 at the Las Cañuelas Country Club, a family of four has lived there since then and recently decided to put it up for sale. It should be noted that the venture was the first Argentine winner of the Green Awards, the Oscar for sustainability in the region.
The environmental impact of construction and the housing operation is very large. It is estimated that they are responsible for approximately 40% of Co2 emissions and primary energy consumption. In contrast to this situation, a home is sustainable when, in the design stages, constructionoperation and end of the life cycle, criteria are taken into account that significantly reduce the negative consequences on the environment and its inhabitants, which happens in House G.
Its owner named the house with the letter G since it derives from the initials of the words Green, Gaia and Galileo. “They are three references for me in terms of contact with the environment, the link with the land and respect for the planet,” explained Charly Karamanian, owner of the house and expert in sustainability. “Gaia is the name that the ancient Greeks gave to the goddess of the Earth, and with which, more recently, the scientist James Lovelock baptized his hypothesis in which he considers the planet as a living being, that is, as a great system. interconnected composed of oceans, forests, atmosphere, animals and plants,” he added.
The house that inspired great ideas
“Personally, living in La Casa G helped me connect with nature in a different way. It was what prompted me to enter the world of biomimetics and solve open innovation challenges for organizations such as NASA, the United Nations, Volkswagen and Enel. For example, observing dragonflies, bees, and hummingbirds in the garden gave me the inspiration to design a solution for NASA and the United States Army Special Forces Command. Specifically, an augmented reality helmet that receives via laser the thermographic images captured by drones flying over a disaster area, allowing rescuers to visualize the silhouettes of the bodies trapped under the rubble,” commented Karamanian. “Years later, the house gave me the necessary inspiration to develop the most sustainable island promenade in the world that is being built in Bali under the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations,” he added.
Characteristics of the sustainable house
The G house has a lot of features that make it 100% sustainable. Among them, for example, its bioclimatic design stands out. The implantation on the land and the orientation of the plants were carried out adopting passive air conditioning strategies, taking advantage of the benefits of sunlight and cross ventilation.
On the other hand, the location of the pool allows the hot air coming from the north to lower its temperature as it passes over the water mirror. North facing windows are generous sizes while south facing windows are smaller. The living room has a double-height central section, with an upper window with adjustable opening that, taking advantage of the fireplace effect, keeps it cool in summer and provides natural lighting.
The house has efficient thermal insulation in the ceiling and walls. In addition, it uses clean and renewable energy. The House runs exclusively on electricity.
As for air conditioning, it has a system with a heat pump and inverter technology, known as aerothermal energy. “Not only is it ecological since it generates no emissions, but it quadruples the efficiency of a gas system,” explained Karamanian.
The house has 4 solar collectors located on the roof, facing north. These heat by taking advantage of solar radiation, allowing annual savings of more than 85%. It also has drinking water filtering: “the ground water in the province of Buenos Aires contains quantities of arsenic that exceed what is recommended by the WHO. To avoid the consumption of bottled water, we use a reverse osmosis system,” Karamanian highlighted.
Among other features, rainwater is collected from roofs and balconies and stored in 10,000-liter tanks buried in the garden to be used for irrigation, toilets, house cleaning, etc.
Source: Ambito
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