ABSTRACT

An inappropriate use of energy resources in all its forms has been the common behaviour of most human activities through history. This has provoked a severe damage in the ecosystems of our natural habitat, due to an accelerated intensity of industrial activities, mainly during the last fifty years, based on an irrational exploitation and burning of fossil fuels, and aggravated by the explosive growth of population. At the beginning of the 20th century, neither human beings nor human technology had the power to significantly alter the global ecosystems. Today, as the century draws to a close, human population in an accelerated growing pattern, have the power and so the technology, to severely modify our planet. As to the built environment, a significant proportion of the damage has been caused by predatory human activities in the way energy sources (mainly fossil fuels) are used in buildings and cities, where man live, work, study, and socialize. Most twentieth century buildings are highly dependent on mechanical and electrical systems to control the indoor ambient, thus consuming large quantities of fossil fuels, with a severe negative impact on the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to modify these trends and to apply corrective actions oriented towards the application of sustainable development in buildings and towns. In this work, the principles and strategies for an ecological sustainable community, located in a typical rural region of Mexico are applied and presented, in conjunction with sustainable technology into architectural design and environmental planning. The main objective of this project is to integrate sustainable technology into architectural design and regional planning actions, so that practitioners, decision-makers and researchers, through the results and experiences of this project, may have a useful source of information for application of sustainability, and that this eventually contributes to generate a multiple effect in many other locations of the country and around the world to improve and preserve our natural environment and the quality of living.