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    Mexico’s Federal District Seeks to Avoid Water Crisis

    Friday, July 31st, 2009

    [Temas Note: Yes, yes, I know, I’m supposed to be ignoring the computer while on vacation in the DR.  But it’s raining cats and dogs today in Santo Domingo, which severely limits the fun and relaxation options, and I have access to a friend’s computer and internet connection, so I thought I’d do a few […]

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    Brazil Begins Awarding Building Efficiency Labels

    Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

    Earlier this year I posted about Brazil’s trailblazing initiative to provide energy efficiency labels for buildings.  Well, the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro) has just announced that first five Brazilian buildings were given the labels in the form of steel plaques about the size of an A4 sheet of printing paper.  […]

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    Caixa Creates Label for Sustainable Housing

    Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

    Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF, popularly known among Brazilians as simply “Caixa”), Latin America’s largest public bank, is already involved in promoting green building though its insistence on construction using certified wood and its concessionary financing for the installation of the solar panels and water heaters in Brazil’s recently announced “My House My Life” Program to […]

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    One Million Environment-Friendly Homes

    Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

    If you have followed Brazil much in recent years, President Lula’s interest in building “popular housing” for low-income households will not surprise you, and if you read The Temas Blog, you know that many of those being built already are fitted with solar water heaters on their roofs. But the Lula Administration is now taking […]

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    Brazil Proposes Energy Labels for Buildings

    Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

    Yesterday Brazil’s National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro) published for public comment in the official gazette (the Official Daily of the Union – Diário Oficial da União) a draft administrative rule (portaria) on the award of certification labels for energy efficiency in public, commercial and service buildings.  It is supplemented by an […]

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    Mexico City’s Sustainable Housing Units Program

    Thursday, January 15th, 2009

    Mexico’s Federal District (DF) — essentially Mexico City and its environs, where a large percentage of Mexico’s population resides — has launched a Sustainable Housing Units Program.  The program will finance the installation of solar water heaters in housing, not only to reduce residential electricity and gas consumption (and thus homeowner’s utility bills by as […]

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    McDonald’s Claims First “Ecological Restaurant” in Latin America

    Tuesday, December 16th, 2008

    McDonald’s just inaugurated what it claims to be the first “ecological restaurant” in Latin America — well, at least, the first one of their chain, anyway.  Take a look at why McDonald’s calls this an ecological restaurant and see if you agree: Arcos Dourados (“Golden Arches”), the company that manages the franchise network of McDonald’s […]

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    Financing Energy-Efficient Housing in Mexico / Financiamiento de viviendas con uso eficiente de energía en México

    Sunday, September 21st, 2008

    From the International Finance Corporation (IFC): IFC Loan to Mexico’s Vertice Will Support Energy-Efficient Housing Finance IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced that it will provide long-term local-currency funding to Hipotecaria Vertice, a midsize housing finance company in Mexico, to enable it to provide energy-efficient housing solutions for low- and middle-income […]

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    Toward a Green Building Rating System for Mexico

    Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

    Quiz time, folks. Did you know that Mexico has one of the two Latin American buildings that are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified? That nine other Mexican projects await LEED certification by the US Green Building Council (USGBC)? That Mexico has had its own green building council since 2005? That the Council […]

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    Guadalajara Building Keeps Cool by Design

    Saturday, January 6th, 2007

    Just read about this very interesting experiment in “sustainable office building design” in Guadalajara, Mexico. The office building was designed by Catalan architect Carme Pinos, in part with a view to providing a way to keep the occupants cool year-round in sunny Guadalajara without (energy-sucking) air conditioning. Read all about it at the Myninjaplease Architecture […]

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