Sustainable Architecture

In the last few years, the sustainable architecture idea has spread worldwide. It is an architectural style that wants to minimize the environmental impact that new constructions are used to have. To do so, architects and builders’ choice is to use materials and energies that follow sustainable standards. We are talking about ecology and absolute respect of nature.

Gallura – Costa Smeralda: the Sardinian “green” vanguard

Since 1966, the coasts of Gallura – Costa Smeralda are safeguarded by landscape conservation orders that limit urbanisation but protect their unique environment. With the 2004 regional law n8, those limits became stricter and, in 2007, governor Soru extended all around Sardinia the Gallura – Costa Smeralda protection model.
Following the regional philosophy, more and more architects and builders use sustainable architecture. A land like this offers a wide selection of high-quality natural materials, like granite, wood and pink stone, that are perfect to realize environmentally friendly homes. Furthermore, the new building techniques allow making houses that camouflage among the coasts and the Mediterranean maquis, lowering also the “visual pollution”. And modern technologies give the maximum comfort with minimum consumption.

Definition

Sustainable architecture is that discipline that designs and builds houses to reduce the environmental impact, to increase the energy efficiency, and to improve health, comfort, and life-quality of their guests, thanks to the new structures and the modern technologies. This architecture must be capable to satisfy the needs of possible buyers, but must also respect natural resources, harmoniously integrating with the context.

Sustainable Architecture Basics

In the ’90ies, the building’ increasing need for resources and greenhouse gas production have brought to reconsider the productive model and to adjust it to the sustainability goals. After the Brundtland report, even architecture has to act and make some changes like:

• make different designs for different climates;
• a more aware use of resources;
• the use of non-polluting technologies and materials;
• an analysis of the possible effects on the territory;
• the achievement of high-quality living standards.

The energy efficiency is the most important element when you are making a design following the sustainable architecture basics. To reach the goal, architects and builders use techniques that are going to reduce the houses energy request and, at the same time, they are trying to enhance their ability to produce energy. It is the energy use improvement one of the most important keywords.

To achieve this improvement, architects use different strategies, both passive and active.

• The passive techniques, also known as low-tech, reach the maximum energy efficiency of a building without mechanical or technological elements. To do so, they use techniques like thermal insulation to consume less energy and the utilization of rainwater.

• The active techniques, also known as eco-tech, take advantage of the modern knowledge to create machines capable to generate energy. The classic example is PV panels that, thanks to their photovoltaic cells, transform the solar energy into pure electricity.

Materials

In sustainable architecture, the use of resources that are easy to recover and to clear out is fundamental. One of the most damaging problems of modern architecture is this because it causes enormous energy consumption. Today, recycling is normality for sustainable design. It is necessary, in fact, to think that, once the building has to be refurbished or demolished, its materials have to be reused avoiding wastefullnesses. The most used materials are recycled denim, linoleum, sheep wool, bambù, clay, stone, and rock.

Our Sustainable Properties

Immobilsarda has always promoted a sustainable architecture and life and we are proud to boast a wide Portfolio with Real Estates that exhibit this feature. We invite you to discover all our new sustainable properties in Gallura – Costa Smeralda on our web site and to contact us to discover all the secrets of this extraordinary realities.