Architecture and Landscaping: new allies of sustainability

The landscape has started to become the perfect partner to achieve sustainable architecture, acoustics and thermal insulation as well as being an innovative way to create green spaces that contribute to sustainable construction.

This was one of the main conclusions of the First fieldof "Congress of Architecture and Materials for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Project," which drew more than 100 national architects analyzed and discussed the situation in Chile and future trends.

Some cases

At 20 years of its construction, the Building Consortium was the first to incorporate green spaces in large quantities. With approximately 27,000 m2 plant wall consisting of a vertical grapevine was the first to build a double facade: an inner and an outer THERMAL vegetation, which absorbs sunlight.

Henry Browne, project architect, said that "this type of design is sought to decrease the radiation produced by the horizontal rays of the summer, which generate much heat." Browne added that early in his career was designing vines, instance in which noted that the summer sun, coming from the west, are horizontal, so a horizontal grapevine did not contribute much to reduce exposure to the sun.

From this observation, the front vertical vegetable Consortium Building helped to reduce energy consumption by about 40%, making it the first building to incorporate green spaces decreased energy consumption.

Years later we find another example, the Intercontinental Hotel, the very epicenter of development of the Congress of Architecture. Yves Besançon, architect for the project and partner Alemparte office, Barreda, Wedel, Besançon Associates Architects, said that "the wall of vegetation installed on the west and south facades of the tower Tower Gard is equivalent to about 2,000 m2, which became a new green lung for the capital. "

"This wall is a fabric that uses acoustic and thermal mattress and at the same time reducing the costs of energy consumption, since it produces a protective insulating layer of vegetation, which acts as a cooling element that allows or heat inside the compound, "said Yves Besançon.

Installation of this vertical garden consisted of placing soil into small boxes of not more than eight inches deep arranged vertically, so that the plant grew. Each container has holes on the sides, allowing the roots intertwine and form a mesh that prevents dirt from collapsing.

Using this type of walls does not necessarily imply an increase in costs when considering factors such as customer orientation. Maria Loreto Valenzuela, architect and designer of cover crops, said that "the facades are true plant ecosystems that are designed to live more than 40 years and to ensure their proper development of things should be done right from the beginning."

These ecosystems are labor tailored and appropriate to the needs and requirements of each client, and to be involved from the beginning considering factors such as surveying, types of winds, rules and regulations, among others.

"Being involved from the genesis of the project allows us to have adequate vegetation, avoid allergenic plants, have adequate capacity on the surface will be installed this deck, you have an adequate waterproofing, with humidity and adequate ventilation, even define the type of irrigation to be used, as this can be drip or through the use of gray water, "said Maria Loreto Valenzuela.