Arq. Alejandro Quintanilla Orvañanos is a LEED Green Associate, a credential bestowed by the Green Building Certification Institute to professionals who support green building design, construction and operations (http://www.gbci.org). In addition, Quintanilla Arquitectos is a member of the Mexico Green Building Council.

Casa Mataiza has implemented the highest construction quality and the use of new technology and ecological solutions to create an extremely environmentally sensitive living environment. Highlights include:

Insulation:

The roof system installed in Casa Mataiza uses polystyrene foam panels, which, together with the use of double walls, create an air barrier that keeps the house cooler, thus reducing the requirements for Air Conditioning.

Sustainable Wood:

All of the beams in Casa Mataiza are made with “pino radiata”, wood that is harvested and cut with a sustainable procedure in Chile. The windowsills were also produced in Chile with red cedar wood from Costa Rica, which adheres to strict ecological procedures.

Intelligent Lighting System:

The lighting system within Casa Mataiza can be easily programmed or controlled to operate only when light is needed. The system has a touch screen panel that allows you to control the lighting of the entire home remotely, as well as program different scenarios at various hours. As well, in selected parts of the house, movement sensors can be programmed to activate illumination, so lighting is turned on only as needed.

Air Conditioning:

Casa Mataiza is using one of the most advanced Air Conditioning systems available on the market, which operates with heat pumps rather than the use of “cooling gas”. The main advantage of this equipment is the reduced consumption of electricity versus traditional systems, by controlling the intensity of work needed based on the cold demand.