Sustainable Construction

Contributing to projects in sustainable construction

Our own Indicator

With the experience gained in the construction of our corporate building, with which we obtained the Leed Platinum V3 Certificate in year 2020, we were able to take the next step in this process: to bring all the benefits of sustainable construction to a large number of our housing buildings and to our clients.

In Amarilo we are aware of the fact that, being a leader construction company and a reference company for the Colombian people, we must commit further with the expansion, year after year, of our portfolio of projects in terms of sustainable construction. We are characterized for developing innovative projects with good social and environmental practices, but it is necessary to incorporate even more strategies that reduce the impact in the utilization of materials and industrial processes. The scope of these strategies is not limited only to the construction phase, but it starts with the very conceptualization of the projects and it covers the entire useful life of the buildings. The final goal of incorporating sustainability criteria is to improve the living condition and livability of the final users. GRI 103-1, 103-2

Benefits

The added value of having housing projects with environmental certifications is materialized in lower power and water consumptions and in the optimization of the energy embedded in the materials, efficiencies that mean lower costs of the public utility bills. Also, in some cases it is possible to obtain tax and financial benefits for both the company and the user of the homes. It is clear that this type of projects involve additional costs that quite often are assumed by the developer and, on the other hand, the environmental awareness is steadily growing among the consumers, and therefore many of them prefer to buy this type of homes.

Projects that have been certified and that are in the process of certification

During 2020 two important housing projects obtained the EDGE certificate given by Camacol: Cantabria and Boreal. In addition, a further 15 projects are in the process of obtaining the same certificate. Those projects are in the initial phase to obtain the preliminary certification of designs by Camacol.

The minimum figures to be awarded the EDGE certificate in a project are:

25%

Of energy savings

25%

Of water savings

20%

Of savings of energy
embedded in materials

*Applicable to the stages of design, construction and operation.

In Cantabria the benefits in the operation stage were:

27%

Of energy savings

38%

Of water savings

45%

Of savings of energy
embedded in the materials

In Boreal the results were as follows:

34%

Of energy saving

43%

Of water savings

46%

Of savings of energy
embedded in the materials

The challenge

The challenge for the builders and developers is to implement the strategies to generate the savings in terms of sustainability, maintaining the costs of the project. In other words, it is important to pool efforts between the building industry, the governments, the banks and the developers so it is not more expensive to be sustainable in the constructive stage.

It is clear that the certificates involve additional costs. However, we work to verify the economic viability of each project, generating value for the final consumer and protecting the environment.

Our house contributes to important savings: Platinum LEED Certificate

42.8%

Savings in
drinking water

These savings are equivalent to 1,423.47 m³, which is enough to provide drinking water to nine homes in the socio-economic stratum 3 in Bogotá for a year.

51.45 % Savings in global energy

These savings are equivalent to 299,162 kWh, which is enough to provide power to 470 homes in the socio-economic stratum 3 in Bogotá for a year.

36.6%

Of reused waters:

Water provided by treated rainwater (water of loos and urinals)

70%

Of rainwaters captured:

During year 2020 the foregoing percentage of rainwater available was captured.

Of recycled waste

15.1%

Solar energy consumed:

Energy provided and consumed by renewable power generated by the solar panels.

In addition, in 2020 we achieved:

We committed to…

Develop 100 % of the work plan established for the implementation of the Environmental Management System.

What we achieved…

The environmental program incorporated into the environmental management system defined good practices in water, energy and waste, areas that required a greater attention and as the response of the update of the environmental matrix.

This year we retained a consultant to identify opportunities of improvement particularly in water, considering the limitations brought by the health emergency. In this way, a standard tool was established for the measurement of consumption of water in works of different typologies and the plans of action for the care and the optimization of this resource were implemented.

Likewise, the action plans were defined for the issues of power and waste, which the Company expects to implement in 2021.

To environmentally intervene 100 % of the contractors and vendors who supply or handle construction materials.

What we achieved…

In order to reduce legal and operational risks, as well as to strengthen the institutional capacity of the contractors and their knowledge of the environmental legislation, we have defined a pareto group and we value their environmental obligations as well as other good practices.

On top of that, we accompany them in the compliance with the action plans that they proposed as part of their continuous improvement plan.

It is important for the contractors to be aligned with Amarilo’s corporate policies and that they fully comply with the environmental legislation considering that an environmental appendix was attached to the contract regarding SSTA.