Vista Lago Residences is a high-quality resort, that’s sustainable for the environment and completely integrated with nature. But what does that exactly mean? What features does Vista Lago have that make it sustainable? In this article we list the features and innovations that qualify Vista Lago as a sustainable development.
Every home in Vista Lago, inside and out, is designed in such a way to maximise the health and wellbeing of its occupants. Owners can choose to have organic vegetable plots in their gardens, mini orchards and kitchen herb gardens. With charging points for electric cars, and pollution from light, noise and emissions dramatically reduced, a luxurious yet completely sustainable lifestyle can be fully realised.
Vista Lago has applied for BREEAM certification in the design phase. BREEAM is the most technically advanced method for assessing and certifying building sustainability, and has been a world leader in the market since it was created in 1990. To date, more than 541,000 buildings have been certified by BREEAM in 77 countries worldwide. In short, a BREEAM certificate gives the property owner confidence in a sustainable way of life, now and in the future.
Innovations for saving electricity
Sustainable homes need to have extremely good insulation so that less energy is required for cooling or heating, thus reducing the environmental impact of the home.
- A heat recovery AEROTHERMAL system will be installed, with heat pump and an intelligent control system that optimises the consumption of electrical energy.
- Each villa will have a photovoltaic installation to contribute to the electrical consumption of the home, including the heating of water.
- The interior and exterior lighting will be energy efficient (LED), with high luminous efficiency.
- Each villa has been designed to achieve A-A energy rating for non-renewable energy consumption and carbon emissions according to Spanish regulations (CTE), which is why the thermal insulation thickness of the building envelope has been increased and thermal bridges have been reduced.
- An indoor ventilation system with double network (exhaust and intake with heat recovery) will be installed for all rooms controlled by automation. This will contribute to indoor air quality and avoid energy losses caused by indoor air renewals.
Innovations for saving water
- Vista Lago includes treatment of grey water and rainwater for irrigation reuse, thereby reducing water use.
- All villas will have dual-flush toilets and flush control installed in the cistern.
- All taps include a pressurized water-saving system.
- Storage of rainwater and treated grey water will exceed 75% of toilet, irrigation and washdown water use.
- A rainwater harvesting system will be installed that is capable of meeting 50% of the demand for irrigation.
- There is a drip irrigation system using rainwater or recovered and treated grey water. Every time an owner has a shower or washes their hands they are producing water for the irrigation system to use that day.
- To maximize the efficiency of this irrigation system, soil moisture sensors will be installed, which will indicate to the system whether or not irrigation is necessary, avoiding the automatic irrigation of plants and gardens during rainfall periods.
Lighting
- The design of each villa, which includes large floor-to-ceiling windows, and the open plan layout of the homes, allows the correct amount of natural lighting into the indoor living spaces. Every kitchen, living room, lounge and study benefits from direct daylight from the outside.
- The energy efficiency classification for any outdoor lighting installation will be at least Class B, according to specifications in the Regulations on Energy Efficiency in Outdoor Lighting (REEA).
- Balconies and terraces will be equipped with energy-saving lighting (LED bulbs).
- Communal spaces in the development, such as the flower beds by the sides of the roads and the roundabouts, will use energy efficient coloured LED lighting to illuminate the plants and natural stones, creating a soft ambience at night, without any harsh or bright lights. This communal landscape lighting will not impact the natural life of birds.
Climate Control
- Homes will have a heating/cooling system that will allow independent adjustment of temperature settings for each of the main living spaces. This is possible due to an intelligent control system which optimizes electricity consumption and includes, among other features, control of the installation by mobile device, or a thermostat if preferred, and control of areas that share an indoor unit by means of motorized air grilles.
- As mentioned earlier, homes are equipped with an aerothermal system for heat recovery, with a heat pump (aerothermics is precisely the thermal energy provided by a heat pump that extracts it from the ambient air), and this is used both for the HVAC system and the domestic hot water.
- Water-based underfloor heating systems are used throughout all living spaces except the bathrooms, which will have electric underfloor heating.
- The hot water and underfloor heating systems are based on renewable energies (photovoltaic panel array system), to comply with the requirements of the Spanish Building Technical Code.
- The indoor ventilation system, mentioned earlier, has a double network (exit and entry with heat recovery) for every room that is controlled automatically.
Conservation
- Conservation of the existing native vegetation and its environment have been taken into consideration when designing Vista Lago, with a twofold intention: 1) to reduce the visual impact of the buildings on the environment and 2) to take advantage of their better adaptation to the Mediterranean climate.
- Homes will have the Energy Label of Class A, regarding both non-renewable primary energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.
- The building works are managed in an environmentally friendly way regarding the use of resources, energy consumption and pollution.
- Materials used inside each villa are low impact materials that are good for health and general wellbeing.
The Project Manager at Vista Lago, Carlos Farjardo Hermoso, proudly tells us about some of the sustainable features you can find in a Vista Lago villa:
The 200-hectare Real de La Quinta development, which Vista Lago Residences is part of, was the first infrastructure planning project in Spain to obtain a BREEAM certificate. It is not for nothing that a core principal of our development company, whose ethos is sustainability, is “building for today without endangering tomorrow.”
For more information on Vista Lago Residences, visit our information page: https://by-bright.com/vista-lago-residences/
To reserve your sustainable villa call the BRIGHT sales team on (+34) 682 10 50 02 or email them at info@by-bright.com
