Discover what it is like to live in the most sustainable house in Europe

More and more people decide to bet on a sustainable home, where the use of energy is taken care of as much as possible. The update of Technical Building Code (CTE), that came into force at the end of September and that requires that as of January 1 in Europe all new buildings be Near Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB).

ARQUIMA stands out for being a company that takes maximum care of these details, and now presents its project for the most sustainable house in Europe, which is located in the town of Sant Andreu de la Barca. It stands out for being the only home on the continent that has the highest certification in sustainability and energy efficiency: certification Passivhaus Premium (Passivhaus Institut) and 5 sheets GREEN (Green Building Council Spain). Once inside, the noise of the cars is almost inappreciable, there are no drafts and the temperature does not vary from one room to another, remaining constant between 22 and 24 degrees.

The Passivhaus certification It is based on 5 fundamental criteria when designing a building. All of them seek to influence different factors to ensure that the building’s energy consumption is as low as possible, without neglecting functionality or health. Beyond the analysis of the environment and the orientation of the building, which may be different in each project, these basic principles can be applied to any building: excellent thermal insulation; high performance windows and doors; absence of thermal bridges; airtightness and dual-flow mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.

This unique house combines all these factors and achieves that the needs to heat or cool the indoor air are very low.

The project has also achieved the maximum VERDE certification, from the Green Building Council Spain (GBCe). This certification measures the level of sustainability of a project through a scoring system that results in a number of sheets, with a maximum of 5. The criteria to take into account are: the location of the building, the indoor environmental quality (air, light, noise, comfort), resource management (energy, water, materials), social integration (accessibility, training, communication) and their technical quality (monitoring, documentation, maintenance).

Structure and exterior

For the construction of the structure, resistant class C24 fir has been used with a humidity lower than 15%, while for the facades and exteriors the company has opted for Douglas wood without sapwood, which gives a completely natural durability and does not need any type of maintenance. In addition, the façade has been tinted gray with an aged wood effect, a characteristic that hides the signs of the passage of time.

Decor

Its decoration is in accordance with its architectural style. It has white walls and natural wood floors to get the right atmosphere. The kitchen, in a functional style and with a central island, has appliances integrated into the furniture and opens onto a spacious living-dining room in which the simplicity and warmth of wood prevail.

The decoration of the master bedroom, a suite with an integrated bathroom and dressing room, is also faithful to the spirit of the house. Its calm tones and its great practicality make this room an ideal space for relaxation.

Installations

The set of facilities in this building will be controlled by a home automation system. These advances ensure optimal operation and ideal comfort conditions inside the home: dual-flow mechanical ventilation with heat recovery; controllable lighting distribution through the home automation system; domestic hot water (DHW) generated with an aerothermal equipment; air conditioning through underfloor heating and installation of photovoltaic solar panels.

ARQUIMA It has also taken into account details such as the installation of taps that comply with the requirements of the water flow, since the GREEN certification requires very low values, or that the home had an electric car charger. This last point makes it possible to take advantage of the high generation of photovoltaic energy in the house and that the energy used to charge the vehicle is 100% renewable.