Category: ROI

LEED Certification Challenges for México

6/23/2021

Mexico has long been a leader in LEED certification, it was recognized in 2019 to be the 8th country in gross square meter LEED certified projects[1] and has certified 232 projects since then (December 2020 to July 2021)[2]. It has been recognized to be a driver of increased rent/sale value, energy consumption savings, reduce maintenance cost, occupants comfort and to be environmentally friendly[3]. The importance of green building certifications, where LEED is the most applied worldwide, is to follow a holistic guideline and have weight the compliance from a recognized third party.

Image courtesy of USGBC[2]. LEED®, and its related logo, is a trademark owned by the U.S. Green Building Council®

Considering these factors why there is not more projects develop in our country? We believe it’s because of:

Lack of information or misinformation; and
Sustainability construction standards are deficient.

According to the Dodge Data & Analytics survey from 2018, 19% of the projects are pursuing green building activity based on client request, most of these clients are large companies that to comply with such certifications is at the center of their policies or that they take advantage of stock market green bonds or similar financial tools. Simplified, the certification allows the company to prove to their investors that their investment is environmentally responsible and in the long term generate more profit.

However, for smaller development there is 2 line of thinking: it is as simple as having few solar panels or it is too expensive. First, the LEED certification is not a perfect model but is accessible and touch all main sustainability branches: dense urbanization, urban mobility, fauna/flora conservation, material life-cycle, energy use, human comfort, and society impacts. We recommend you take a look at our LEED page for more details. Second, certification fees, credit documentation, and additional investment for building compliance are added cost but the process provides benefits that extend for the whole life of the building and is recuperated in 2-5 years of operation[4]. It is all a balance that developers and building operators should understand that the increase of 5-10% in sale value is a warranty that the construction will save energy, water, benefit the society.

The second factor to consider for LEED or green building certifications is that in most Latin American countries the minimum construction standards/practices are lacking to protect the environment or are not always followed. This means that following the best international practices and comparing to the latest international standard is a big leap for architect, engineers, and builders and this is reflected into costs that developer/investors are not planning. However, there is a learning curve and once reaching same construction sustainability standards as leading countries there is no higher investment required. Government are not leading the change as other topics are to prioritize such as poverty, healthcare, education, and security. Thus, it is crucial that the private sector lead the way to a healthier building environment.

Image courtesy of Dodge Data & Analytics - Smart Market Report 2018 [3].

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References:
[1] U.S. Green Building Council releases 2019 Top 10 Countries and Regions for LEED, https://gbci.org/us-green-building-council-releases-2019-top-10-countries-and-regions-leed
[2] Country Market Brief, https://www.usgbc.org/resources/country-market-brief
[3] World Green Building Trends 2018 Smart Market Report,
https://www.worldgbc.org/sites/default/files/World%20Green%20Building%20Trends%202018%20SMR%20FINAL%2010-11.pdf
[4] La certificación LEED, ¿se apaga en México?, https://obras.expansion.mx/soluciones/2015/07/10/la-certificacion-leed-se-apaga-en-mexico

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Cogeneration Heating Power (CHP) Plant an energy efficient measure for cold countries.

12/3/2020

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One of the great approaches for cold climate countries to improve the efficiency in buildings where photovoltaic system could not be generate sufficiently, is through CHP (cogeneration of heat and power) plant.

How it works?

A CHP plant is a natural gas engine where the heat generated is extracted to heat fluid used in for room conditioning or domestic hot water use. The process consists in a boiler where the water passing boiling points is transferred to a steam turbine and make it rotate. This motion is then converted into electricity with a generator.

Why?

This approach for energy generation has been present for many years, but only recently the full potentials has been used. A steam turbine converts the energy from combustion with a rate of 40-50% of waste in heat, whereas the CHP use that heat to heat fluid for building usage losing less than 10%. These systems performance is increase which gives an efficiency of above 85% with and average distribution loss of 10% when used to heat district or cities. Traditional heating boiler have efficiency of 80% which is lower than the CHP and since the electricity normally cost more than natural gas per embed energy it is more than beneficial.

CHP plant energy modeling energy efficiency

CHP Plant Schema - Courtesy of Pinterest*

Applications

There is various use of the CHP plant, but most of them are used where there is a large demand in heating such as cold countries where large plants produce the heat that is distributed to buildings just by connecting to the network. Additional to natural gas, the water could be heated from biomass or even landfill waste could be incinerated to be used in another form by people. The CHP could be used for campus, hospital, or industrial complex in order to be independent from the grid. Our team, have work on an industrial project in Mexico desiring to be self-sufficient in electricity even if heating is not required, however they have a 24h manufacturing cooled facility. Thus, the CHP heat is converted into chilled water for conditioning with an absorption chiller and the electricity produced helps reduce their consumption to 45% while lowering the maximum demand load number.

Modeling and LEED

Our energy modeler experts have documented various LEED projects that take advantage of CHP plant at local or district level. The preferred approach is to model the plant directly as a heating and electricity source, this is more than simple using IESVE. The information required are the efficiency curves, the network distribution loss, and the maximum heat output from the plant. This component is connected directly to the hot water loop, or chilled water loop when using absorption chiller, to provide the required heat at each second while generating energy. We highly recommend to model the CHP instead of manually inputting the contribution to your energy results, to be able to visualize CHP plant operation and how the electricity maximum load evolves.

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* CHP Technology, https://no.pinterest.com/pin/425027283577204903/

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From Business Values to Added Value – Tulum Real Estate Future

3/14/2019

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Tulum, Quintana Roo in Mexico is one of the most prized location for luxury and eco-friendly tourism. The demand and ROI for this city and the whole Riviera Maya region will keep growing and for real estate company to continue having success in the area the approach must change. Leader company of the industry (Los Amigos Tulum, GMB), business associations (COPARMEX Riviera Maya and ADIRM) and government institutions (General direction for Sustainable Tourism and Tulum City Hall) are already taking actions to push best practices among all players of the real estate industry. The key concept for all these people is sustainability, making our best to affect as less as possible the environment in the construction and operation of every real estate development.

For investors be sustainable means added cost which may not be possible to profit of it especially if the competition is not pursuing the eco-friendly path. However, a sustainable development sells better, faster, at a higher price, and is cheaper to operate. This does not consist only on installing solar panels; a sustainable building take advantage of natural light, has efficient material to reduce the need for cooling/heating the indoors, are equipped with water savings fixtures, and even recuperate gray water for toilets and landscape irrigation.

20% Premium for LEED-Certified Condos

To maximize the return of investment (ROI) for a sustainable development they must obtain recognition in the form of a certification. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is one way to prove that a project is sustainable in all its aspects and is for any type of construction. Such certification is proven to reduce operation cost of at least 25% and people are willing to pay 20% more for LEED-certified condos. It has become a lot more than a fashion and is a growing must industry.

There is not LEED certified building in Tulum and few in the state (ADO Terminal Chetumal and CityExpress/Suites Playa del Carmen). Choosing to pursue a certification in all their project is for leaders who aims for recognition of their practices on a global level. Tulum is an eco-friendly destination which could grow bigger while staying green if the actors of the real estate industry incorporate LEED certification as the standard for the region.

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Recommended additional content:
LEED Luxury home in Silicon Valley
World green building trends in technology
World green building trend in wellness

References:

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