Strategies for sustainable urban systems: introducing eco-innovation in buildings in Mexico and Spain

Urban Farm DB summary

This doctoral dissertation proposes urban-system strategies for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by introducing eco-innovation into buildings across two economically, socially, and climatically different contexts: Mexico and Spain. For Mexican social housing, it examines an eco-retrofit strategy combining efficient eco-technologies, shading and insulation (roof shading, wall overhangs, window and roof louvers, green roofs), and food production (tomatoes), calculating cooling energy demand and the cumulative energy and CO2 emissions associated with shading materials. For Spain, it examines barriers and opportunities for installing intensive food-producing greenhouses on rooftops of buildings in Mediterranean European cities through multidisciplinary expert seminars, and analyzes potential heat-flow synergy between a building and a rooftop greenhouse focused on winter heating energy demand for a service building in Barcelona. Results indicate that eco-technologies can reduce annual energy consumption in social housing by 31% (35.7 kWh/m2/year), roof-shading strategies save 126 kWh/m2/year, and tomato production in social housing in Mérida, Mexico could contribute a reduction of 662 gCO2eq per kg of tomatoes produced.