Latin America’s first-ever Solar Village aims to make sustainable building standards more widespread

Minister Paulina Saball confirmed that sustainability criteria are now an integral part of the Housing Ministry’s public policies. By targeting these policies towards the most vulnerable sectors, the ministry is driving greater equality as this type of housing enables families to access better living standards without necessarily incurring extra costs.

The Housing and Urban Development Minister, Paulina Saball; and the Environment Minister, Pablo Badenier, visited the Parque O’Higgins in Santiago to inspect the six prototype sustainable homes that are part of the first-ever Solar Village built in Latin America for the “Construye Solar” (Build Solar) competition.

The competition has been organized by the Housing and Urban Development Ministry, the NGO La Ruta Solar and the Chile Green Building Council (ChileGBC). The prototype homes were designed and built by students from six Chilean universities.

The eco-homes which make up Latin America’s first-ever Solar Village will be on display in the Parque O’Higgins until April 19.

The Housing Ministry has also set up a Sustainable Construction stand as part of the exhibition to raise awareness of its public policies for sustainable development and the responsible use of natural resources; and the role of construction in the national economy and its impact on living standards for people and cities.

The Housing Minister, Paulina Saball explained that “our aim with this initiative is to focus on what we refer to as the economic home. What is interesting here is the materiality, the innovation, and the commitment by our Ministry to build more and better homes that are more energy and water efficient.”