CASA SOPHIA
MADRID, SPAIN
ARCHITECT
ANDER ECHEVARRÍA
1OO X 1OO BIOPASIVA
PROJECT
SWIMMING POOL AND TERRACE
ROSE GRES COLORS
PIETRO WHITE – POOL EDGE + TERRACE
TRÉSOR BALI – POOL TANK
“A house
that doesn’t
consume
is a house
that doesn’t
pollute”
WITHIN A CENTURY, ARCHITECTURE WILL BE
Without a doubt, sustainable. Most of the materials used will have a low environmental impact.
YOUR DREAM PROJECT IS
A children’s school or a senior citizen home built following our criteria to make it 100% healthy and completely comfortable.
TO YOU, THE SOUL OF A PROJECT IS
The human team and the excitement of achieving what we believe in.
WHAT YOU WOULD CHANGE IN THE WORLD OF CONSTRUCTION
The use of materials that are harmful for the health of the planet and living beings.
WHAT YOU WOULD NEVER CHANGE
Achieving the utmost energy efficiency.
CASA SOPHIA IS THE MOST SUSTAINABLE HOME IN SPAIN AND POSSIBLY IN EUROPE. PLUS, IT HAS EARNED DIFFERENT SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATIONS. WHAT SYSTEMS AND MATERIALS DID YOU WORK WITH TO ACHIEVE THIS?
CASA SOPHIA IS THE MOST SUSTAINABLE HOME IN SPAIN AND POSSIBLY IN EUROPE. PLUS, IT HAS EARNED DIFFERENT SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATIONS. WHAT SYSTEMS AND MATERIALS DID YOU WORK WITH TO ACHIEVE THIS?
We used a variety of strategies to make Casa Sophia the most sustainable home in Europe today, and probably in Europe.
Certifying the house with the GREEN seal
The first thing we thought of was certifying the house with the Green Environmental Seal from the Green Building Council España (GBCE). We thought that this was the most important certification because it encompasses everything involved in building sustainably. This includes lower CO2 emissions, energy efficiency, health, and wellbeing.
Researching and standardizing
But our priority with Casa Sophia was to find a new way to build a home as healthily as possible for both the people and the animals that will live there. We spent more than three years researching the best materials to achieve this.
At the same time, we were keenly aware that Casa Sophia was a project that we wanted to replicate to make it a standard product to offer our customers. Therefore, the goal was to work with accessible, affordable, local materials to the extent possible.
Lowering the carbon footprint
We also thought carefully about the environmental impact that could come from building it and how to lower it. That means lowering the carbon footprint. We knew that the most common materials used in construction should be those with a lower impact. In our case, that meant the wood and insulation. We worked with wood from sustainably-managed forests, and all the insulation is recycled and formaldehyde-free.
Another key was the system of recycling and reusing all the waste from the construction site, which is essential in order to lower CO2 emissions.
Passivhaus premium certification
Of course, we cannot ignore the concept of energy savings, an essential principle today. It is especially for us, given that back in 2014 we built the first Passivhaus certified house in the Community of Madrid and the fifth in Spain, which was our former showroom.
We wanted to take it a step further with Casa Sophia: we set out to build a positive home, that is, one that generates more energy than it consumes. And we decided to seek the Passivhaus premium certification for it. The results have been unmatchable so far. We have gone for six months with zero electric bills and a positive energy balance. The surpluses are stored in a virtual battery.
This detail is important, because everything in Casa Sophia is electrical: the heating and air conditioning, the hot water, the sanitary water, the lighting, the appliances, the computers, the biopurifier, and the pool heating. Plus, we can charge 2 electric vehicles. And all of that is totally free of charge because it is built sustainably. Therefore, as we always say, a house that doesn’t consume is a house that doesn’t pollute.
“… our priority with Casa Sophia was to find the way to build home as healthily as possible for both the people and the animals that will live there”
WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF BUILDING WITH SUSTAINABLE PARAMETERS TODAY?
We think that a sustainable construction is one that is not only environmentally sustainable but also economically sustainable. We believe that you have to strike a balance between the materials used, the level of efficiency sought, and the reduction of CO2 emissions (to the extent possible). And of course all of this has to fit within a price that is also sustainable. The goal is for everyone to be able to afford this type of construction. This is why we’re not radical in what we do; we always advise our customers about what they can include in their project depending on their budget
WHAT CONCEPTS DID YOU BEAR IN MIND WHEN MAKING THE SWIMMING POOL A SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION?
The swimming pool was always at the heart of the project. We’re in Madrid, and it’s quite common for customers to want to install a pool in their home. So we had to find the way to build a swimming pool as sustainably as possible bearing in mind that it consumes a lot of water.
A material with a very low environmental impact
To achieve this, we chose to line the entire pool – both the tank and the entire perimeter and entrances – with a material that was as natural as possible, one with a very low environmental impact yet that is aesthetically beautiful. We also ensured that the manufacturer of the material implemented sustainability criteria in its manufacturing processes. This is why we decided to choose porcelain stoneware from Rosa Gres.
Highly efficient installations
The pool’s water purifier was another core factor. The goal was to find a highly energy efficient purification system that would minimize electrical consumption. To achieve this, we installed a solar pump. It has 3 filtering speeds and allows the pool to be purified with truly reduced consumption.
Another important aspect was heating the pool. We wanted to find out how long swimming season could be extended. Not for us, because we barely use it, but in order to give our customers feedback. This is why we installed a heat pump (aerothermal). It is one of the most efficient ones on the market, with an impressive energy efficiency coefficient of performance (COP) of 10.5.
Both pieces of equipment, the purifier and the aerothermal pump, always operate with daylight, when we’re generating enough energy with the solar panels, to ensure that they entail no additional cost. All of this is possible thanks to our home automation system, which automatically manages these operations.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND WATER CONSUMPTION IN A STANDARD HOUSE AND IN CASA SOFIA? CAN YOU GIVE US SOME SIGNIFICANT FIGURES?
That’s a great question, especially bearing in mind the drought we’re currently experiencing throughout all of Spain. You always think about how energy efficient you want a home when you build it, but people seldom think about lowering water consumption.
However, we clearly knew that the water consumption in Casa Sophia had to be lowered to the extent possible. This is why we installed a biopurifier. It allows us to collect all the rainwater and gray water, that is, the water from the bathrooms and showers. We reuse the water for the cisterns in the four bathrooms and to water the outdoor and outdoor plants, the green roof, and the Vertical Garden.
All the home’s installations are monitored, and thanks to home automation we know that currently, as of October 2O23, we have managed 73% water savings compared to a conventional construction that doesn’t follow the same building criteria as Casa Sophia and does not have a water collection and reuse system.
HOW DID YOU MANAGE THE WASTE AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE?
Waste management of the construction site was essential in lowering CO2 emissions and getting the top score in this section on the Green Seal.
That was a clear goal of ours. We had to keep in mind the issue of the waste generated at the site, both the soil that appears when digging the foundation and the building materials themselves.
That’s why we decided to hire a company specializing in waste management. That way, we managed not to add any waste to the dump; that is, all the materials were reused or recycled. All the waste was exhaustively sorted and shipped to the waste manager for complete recycling.
Managing to get 100%
of the waste generated
at a construction site
properly sorted
into bags and bins,
without mixing
absolutely anything,
is really hard work.
I found it to be the hardest part of the entire project. Managing to get 100% of the waste generated at a construction site properly sorted into bags and bins, without mixing absolutely anything, is really hard work. It requires having a person monitor constantly to make sure that it’s being done correctly every day, and in this project I was the one who did it.
We still have a lot to learn about managing waste, both workers and business owners. But thanks to projects like Casa Sophia, we’re becoming more and more aware. We are gradually implementing it at all our construction sites. We’ve finally reached the goal!
“… we needed to find out how building with materials free of harmful components affected people’s health. Now we know it’s worth it, and it’s a reality!! “
IN ADDITION TO BEING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY-RESPECTFUL CONSTRUCTION, CASA SOFIA IS HEALTHY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN IT. HOW ARE THESE BENEFITS PERCEIVED IN THEIR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES?
Wow, that’s a hard question. It’s the intangible part of our construction. Ultimately it’s about sensations. Both we and our customers can say that we feel incredible comfort. You can breathe naturally, as if you were outdoors, in the country. You can’t notice any carbon dioxide concentrations or smells in any of the rooms. It’s like having the windows open permanently.
It’s worth highlighting that we’ve worked with no materials or paints that contain compounds that are harmful for our health or petroleum by-products. This way we avoid that usual smell you get when you enter spaces built with these types of materials. That typical smell of paint, alcohol, etc. that can cause headaches, or even more severe problems in people with chemical sensitivity.
And that’s not just a perception. In Casa Sophia we get data from our constant monitoring. We measure the levels of formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), dust particles in suspension, radon, CO2, tropospheric ozone, temperature, and humidity, along with other parameters. These data confirm its exceptional air quality. And this is unquestionably beneficial for our health and will prevent future illnesses.
The Casa Sophia project focused on researching healthy building materials. At that time, being energy efficient wasn’t a mystery for us. But we did need to find out how building with materials free of harmful components affected people’s health. Now we know it’s worth it, and it’s a reality!!
