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Eugenio Cabezas
Torrox-Costa
Tuesday, 15 October 2024, 19:51
From the outside it may appear to be just another of the many property developments that have been built in Torrox-Costa on the eastern stretch of the Costa del Sol, in recent years. However, El Mirador, a complex of 37 terraced houses which has just been completed in the El Peñoncillo area, is an example of how bricks and mortar can be combined with clean and renewable energies, with a clear commitment to sustainability, creating a residential development that tries to save as much electricity and water as possible.
Among the special features of the development by the Danish company FAD Inversiones 2014 S.L. are the geothermal systems for heating the properties, efficient ventilation, insulation systems, carpentry and glass, as well as efficient use of water, with circuits for reusing rainwater and greywater from the toilets and showers for watering the green and communal areas. In addition, the homes are equipped with photovoltaic solar energy systems and home automation devices to control all domestic technology.
The Malaga architects Francisco Moreno and José María Carralero are responsible for this residential complex, which claims to be a pioneer in Andalucía. The total investment has been around ten million euros. Construction began at the end of 2020 and the 37 homes are now fully completed and have been sold to northern European buyers.
Moreno stressed that the complex, in addition to the commitment to respect for the environment and sustainability, has been developed “under the prism of an aesthetic design of maximum efficiency”. As such, the residential complex has a hot-cold, geothermal type community energy generation system. “The energy used to maintain indoor comfort, whether for cooling or heating, hot water for bathrooms, the heating of the swimming pools, both the communal pool and those of the nine homes that have private pools, or the jacuzzi, is always centralised and of geothermal origin,” said Moreno and Carralero.
According to the professionals, the system has two large heat pumps in a common area, which transfer energy to 32 excavated geothermal wells, 120 metres deep, located in the common areas of the complex. “The temperature at this depth remains stable throughout the year, as the ground mass has a high thermal inertia, absorbing the energy transported by the system, so the heat pumps always operate at maximum output. This optimum performance is stable, with very little variation from season to season,” Moreno explained. The efficiency of this system is 25 per cent compared to a conventional one, according to the architect, so that for every kilowatt of electrical energy consumed, six kilowatts of heating energy are obtained.
Each house in El Mirador has three energy meters “to measure the individual consumption of heating, cooling and hot water for the bathroom”. In addition, household appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines have geothermal hot and cold water connections available. According to Carralero, geothermal energy, as a renewable energy, is a system that reduces carbon dioxide emissions without reducing the level of comfort, without noise or machines outside, “with very economical maintenance” said Carralero. “There are individual homes in which it has been used, but we believe that this is the first development in which it has been implemented in Andalucía," he added.
As for water, the architect stressed that “it is a scarce resource” making it a priority to optimise its use in a context of extreme drought and climate change. To this end, El Mirador residential complex focuses on two aspects: quality and reuse. In the first, based on a specialised analysis of the quality of the water in the network, the residential complex has equipment that corrects the alkaline level by injecting carbon dioxide, “also treating the disinfection by self-generation of sodium hypochlorite by saline electrolysis, guaranteeing the purity of the treatment and superior water quality,” added Moreno.
As for reuse, in this property development in Torrox, rainwater and greywater, i.e. water from toilets and showers, are collected separately to be treated for reuse in a large underground community tank with a capacity of 140 cubic metres. The community has a regenerated, non-potable water supply, treated by ceramic ultrafiltration and disinfection, which provides free water for watering the green areas, flushing the communal areas and for use in toilets and urinals.
In the opinion of the Malaga architects, “this infrastructure significantly reduces the water consumption of the properties, diverting part of these demands with regenerated water”. They add that they are all measured in the homes but they “do not yet have data on the savings in electricity and water” as people have only just started to move in, “but we anticipate that it will be very significant”.
As for the photovoltaic energy, integrated into the shape of each house, the buildings are equipped with multi-panel units to generate electricity. "Independently of this, they also provide living areas, shade for the terraces and solar protection for the large windows," said architect Moreno. The electricity generation is always provided globally to the complex, for self-consumption of the common facilities such as water treatment, purification of the communal swimming pools (one outdoor and one indoor), the ‘wellness’ gym and the geothermal system.
The homes can control the communal video door entry system, the opening of the entrance door, the lighting of certain circuits and the underfloor heating in some rooms. “Optionally, they can be equipped with voice control, smoke detection, external door opening, weather station, sound system, window control, pergola, jacuzzi... as much as the user wishes,” said Moreno.
In terms of insulation, the façades and roofs have been built with a thick, 80-millimetre insulating panel on the outside to protect the heavy elements of the building from temperature changes. “This ensures that the mass of the house, its interior surfaces, is close to the comfort temperature, and therefore the surfaces of the interior rooms will radiate a comfortable temperature. It is always more pleasant and healthier to condition by radiation than by supplying air,” said Moreno.
Finally, the windows have been designed to offer maximum views, with slim, minimalist window profiles. In addition, they are fitted with multi-paned glass with an argon chamber, maintaining a high level of light transmission with high levels of insulation. In short, a development in which comfort does not compromise respect for the environment and energy efficiency. The homes, measuring 120 square metres, with three bedrooms, were priced at 495,000 euros.
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