On 4th August, Argentina held its first–ever Green Building Conference. The event brought together regional architects, developers, industrial designers, policy-makers, and real estate professionals to expose, discuss, and exchange knowledge about a movement that has thus-far failed to gain much traction in Argentina: green building.
Alongside representatives from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the Argentina Green Building Council and its affiliates made a strong case for green building within the regional context. The event was such a success (maintaining the ardent attention of a full room of approximately 300 busy professionals for just over seven hours) that one wonders why, if there is so much interest, green building has yet to take hold as an emergent practice in Argentina.
Indeed, other Latin American countries (not to mention nations in other developing regions of the world) have burgeoning green building markets. Arguably, green building is an ancient practice and a building need not be certified, not least of which by a North American certification system, in order to be sustainably designed.
Nevertheless, the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) has become somewhat of an international standard. According to the USGBC’s data, there are 29 LEED registered projects in Chile, 61 in Brazil, and 75 in Mexico. There are just 12 in Argentina, and most all of those in the past eight months.
According to Nicole Michel, one of 13 Argentine LEED accredited professionals in the country and active Argentine Green Building Council member, most Argentines are not yet aware of the benefits of green building. Furthermore, in the US, there is existing data to prove that green building has absolutely no additional costs. Argentine developers have yet to boast such a statistic most simply because it is still a brand new practice in the country.
Additionally, she explained, the economic argument for green building in Argentina is slightly weaker than in the US because of Argentina’s extraordinarily subsidised energy prices. These prices however will inevitably rise, and at that time she is sure the financial benefits of green building will become apparent.
Despite the financial uncertainties, Argentina’s green building market is budding. The first LEED certified building in the country is scheduled to open its doors in July 2010: Raghsa’s Madero Office, constructed by Bovis Lend Lease. The project’s website boasts, “ surrounded by the natural environment of the ‘Río de la Plata’ River, Madero Office unfolds with grandeur, fitting effortlessly in the landscape, right at the beginning of Puerto Madero, and promises to reach a sky of its own.” To be sure, this is a luxury office development that will look like most other luxury developments in the area, which is to say, luxurious.
Eduardo Sposito, the regional director of Bovis Lend Lease, the global project management and construction company hired to build Madero Office, says that he doesn’t see green building as a cost, but rather an investment. When probed about the return on investment for a project such as Madero Office, he noted that the market for tenants and companies that have a strong commitment to the environment is only getting larger. So is this what green building in Argentina will look like? Luxury office towers? Would that be such a bad thing?
Dante Muñoz, an Argentine disaster relief architect and sustainable strategic planner thinks that green building is not just about reducing the building’s environmental impact, but it’s social impact as well. He believes that green building’s vision should be inclusive and not just for those that can afford it.
Green building is about environmental and social sensitivity in building design. The movement in Argentina faces the challenge of both looking towards green building’s global leaders and yet forging a practice of its own that makes sense in Argentina’s specific environmental, economic, political and social fabric. In a country whose government changes hands completely every four years and whose policy programmes are associated with the politician that finishes not starts them, long-term thinking is bound to be an institutional challenge.
The leaders at the Argentine Green Building Congress were quick to point out that the beginning of the movement in the US was lead by the private sector as well. It started as a luxury and then spread to just about every building sector, and with no help from the federal government. As soon as people saw the statistics behind the benefits of green building, they became convinced. Children in green schools perform 20% better on tests and have 40% less respiratory illnesses. Patients in green hospitals leave their hospital beds on average 2.5 days sooner than from a common hospital. There is even a 30% to 40% increase in retail buying in green stores.
Everyone, including Argentines, are inclined to respond to such statistics with action, but first the market needs to be birthed. So yes, Argentina is behind the green building curve, but it is off to an important and great start.