Bruno Stagno
Marco V. Gutierrez
Edward Schwarz
Daniel Wentz

Office Building in Costa Rica
Measuring up to the criteria of sustainable construction

Most of us are familiar with the concept of sustainable development, or balanced social, economic and environmental progress. But what is sustainable construction? Essentially, it is part of sustainable development which has to do with building. The construction industry is one of the world's largest consumers of energy and materials, so it offers great potential for improving sustainability performance.

The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction was set up to help realize this potential, and is doing so in several ways. To achieve the greatest effect, we must all be aware of sustainable construction – exactly what it is and why it is important. That's why we have created this publication. It explains the Holcim Foundation's five target issues for sustainable construction and illustrates each point with the example of the head office building of Holcim Costa Rica. We didn't pick this building because it's a Holcim building – we picked it because it's a recognized example of sustainable construction.

The Mexican Society of Architects named this building one of the outstanding projects of 2005 and published it in their Ninth Report on Architecture in Mexico and Latin America. It has been featured in many international publications, such as RE, and was published by the Spanish National Centre for Renewable Energy (CENER). In February 2005, the Spanish version of GEO magazine singled out five pioneering sustainable buildings on the planet and the Holcim Costa Rica office building was one of them.

The building is significant because it is a prime example of sustainable construction and also has great visual impact. It has the power to draw attention to sustainable construction.

1st edition

60 pages

5 Illustrations (colored)
48 Photos (colored)

14,8 cm x 21 cm

Paperback

Language: English

ISBN-13: 978-3-7266-0075-4