One of the most urgent challenges of the 21st century revolves around protecting ecosystems and reducing pollution. To achieve this goal, TECH University, the largest Spanish-language university in the world, trains professionals to develop sustainable buildings. This is because the construction of buildings and the day-to-day life inside the structures brings with it a large number of elements that are detrimental to natural resources. Excessive use of water resources, disproportionate use of electricity, and uncontrolled production of organic and inorganic waste are actions that, together with the number of people living inside a building, multiplied by the number of buildings in a city, represent a significant percentage of pollution in metropolitan areas.
Energy Savings
In TECH University's Building Courses, we reiterate that obtaining electrical energy traditionally involves either thermoelectric power plants (energy released by burning fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, coal, wood, and uranium nuclei) or hydroelectric power plants (harnessing the kinetic and potential energy of water currents). In both cases the environment is harmed: on the one hand, the emission of greenhouse gases, on the other hand, the destruction of the ecosystem to exploit deposits. In this regard, the use of renewable energies, such as wind and solar, is a solution that can be implemented in building architecture, allowing the social and economic development of a city to continue, but without producing polluting emissions.
Water Treatment
The purpose of TECH's Building Courses is that students, when participating in construction projects, do not leave out the implementation of water-saving infrastructures. For example, rainwater collection for toilet flushing is essential, especially when 27% of the drinking water used daily is flushed down the toilet. Likewise, making shower water safe for hand washing is an innovation that can now be implemented in buildings. Finally, the use of technologies can also play an important cost-saving role in closing the valves automatically when a faucet has been open for a certain period of time.