A growing effort to provide much-needed, climate-compliant affordable housing across the region.
In Mexico, there’s already a residential project that deserved the prestigious EDGE Zero Carbon badge: “Villas del Fresno,” consisting of 1,639 low-income homes in the greater metropolitan area of Mexico City, which was developed with the support of Paladin Realty as the main investor.
It’s not hard to find news stories about such and such millionaire who converted a mansion into a zero-carbon emitter through renewable energy, energy efficiency systems, use of carbon offsets, and the like. That’s not really a game changer in the fight against climate. Affordable, zero-carbon housing that anyone can buy is.
As the entire world transitions to more sustainable economic and construction models, the idea of zero-carbon for the masses is quickly gaining traction. Single-family houses with high energy efficiency may be a luxury that not all can afford, but affordable zero-carbon houses may have a massive impact on pollution patterns in many regions, including Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
At the same time, since the construction of zero-carbon houses also involves carbon emissions, carbon offsetting projects – for example, through reforestation – are conducted to offset these emissions and stay true to the zero-carbon ideal. Particular attention to the surroundings, in order to minimize the impact of construction by using materials that reduce the carbon emissions associated with their manufacture and transportation and maximize the availability of natural resources within the design, especially natural lighting and ventilation, is an added characteristic of these projects.
This may sound like a pipe dream, but rather it’s something that is becoming a reality in LAC. For instance, in Mexico, there’s already a residential project that deserved the prestigious EDGE Zero Carbon badge: “Villas del Fresno,” consisting of 1,639 low-income homes in the greater metropolitan area of Mexico City, which was developed with the support of Paladin Realty as the main investor.
On top of that, in December last year IDB Invest announced an investment of up to $10 million in the first zero carbon affordable housing fund in the region. Paladin Realty itself, given its vast experience on the subject and its solid track record, manages the fund.
The deal with Paladin was among IDB Invest’s flagship projects in 2021, a year in which IDB Invest surpassed its targets with investment commitments reaching $6.3 billion, on top a $3 billion in core mobilization, a record milestone.
This is just the beginning in what should be a growing effort to provide much-needed, climate-compliant affordable housing across the region.
“Zero-carbon housing is the future of construction in the region. This is exactly the kind of sustainable project we need to fight climate change.”
Alberto Parodi, project chief, IDB Invest.