Mexico faces a dual challenge when it comes to housing development—the need for affordable housing and the integration of sustainable practices to mitigate environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable housing refers to the design, construction and efficient operation of a house that incorporates energy and water saving technologies to reduce its environmental footprint and improve the resilience of housing structures to the volatility of climate change. The traditional sector for middle- and low-income housing has struggled to address these challenges effectively due to financial constraints and outdated construction methods.
To address this need, Mexico has promoted the development and implementation of a comprehensive framework to support sustainable housing. While these programs have been successful, the availability of funds is limited. In this context, BIM has requested NADBank funding to support its efforts to expand development opportunities for sustainable housing in the northern border region of Mexico.
The project consists of providing a credit line in Mexican pesos for the equivalent of US$20 million to support the development of efficient and sustainable housing projects for middle-income residents in eligible cities in the Mexican border states. These funds have the potential to support the construction of more than 460 sustainable houses.
BIM will finance sustainable housing developed under building standards that aims to achieve, at a minimum, a 20% annual reduction in energy consumption, a 20% annual reduction in water use and a 20% reduction in embodied energy in construction materials when compared to standard practices—savings that are equivalent to the Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certification standards.[1] These benefits will be generated by implementing a combination of energy- and water-saving measures that include LED lighting, air conditioning, thermal insulation, double-glazed windows, solar heaters, photovoltaic systems, low-flow toilets and faucets, and rainwater harvesting systems. In addition, sustainable housing developments will meet criteria established in Mexican standard NMX-AA-164-SCFI-2013 regarding soil, energy, water, materials and waste, biodiversity, indoor environmental quality and social responsibility.
[1] Embodied energy is a calculation of all the energy that is used to produce a material or product, including mining, manufacture and transport.
All the housing developments funded under the project will achieve environmental benefits equivalent to those established under EDGE standards, which is focused on making new residential and commercial buildings more resource-efficient, minimizing operating costs and improving the comfort for the occupants. In particular, the houses will be built using efficient materials and technology aimed at reducing water and energy consumption by at least 20% compared to standard building practices. The project also supports Mexico’s sustainability goals, including its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) target for the construction sector.