If you live or work in anywhere along the coastal zones bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Central and Southern California in the US, North Mexico, coastal Western Australia and South Australia, the Chilean coast and the Western Cape region in South Africa... you enjoy a very favourable combination of outdoor temperature, solar radiation, rain and wind - environments that are ideal for Humans, animals and plants to live and prosper. Often though these favourable conditions don’t exist in your home – and if they do, it is at the cost of a lot of resources – energy, water and materials... that weigh on your pocket and the environment.

Did you know that in if you live in one of these areas your home can be super comfortable with no energy input? Learn how to “unplug” your home!

In 2007 the Sustainable Construction Team published the “Sustainable Construction” book in Portugal (10.500 copies sold) and launched the web page www.construcaosustentavel.pt(www.sustainableconstruction.eu). These soon became the reference of sustainable construction for the Mediterranean Climate Region. In order to reach a larger proportion of the population living in regions that enjoy the Mediterranean Climate, all this relevant information, essential to improve the quality of the built environment, must now be made available also in English.

For a complete rundown of the cost structure, check the FAQ.

Buildings must add value to our lives 

The first task of the Sustainable Construction Team is to translate the book into English, with updated contents and links to inspiring complementary information and the second task is to develop a simple to use “e-Tool of Thumb”, both in Portuguese and English, in order to support good decision making among those who wish to improve their living conditions at home.

People need healthy and comfortable Indoor Environments 

Whether you live in coastal zones bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Central and Southern California in the US, North Mexico, coastal Western Australia and South Australia, the Chilean coast and the Cape Town region of South Africa – with the support of the e-Book and “e-Tool of Thumb” you will be able to make the right decisions about improving the energy environmental performance of your home!

Where the Mediterranean Climate prevails the built environment must aim to provide excellent living conditions with minimal finite resource input!

The Sustainable Construction Team is convinced that making widely available in Portuguese and English the concepts and robust measures leading to sustainable construction on the web, in the e-Book and in the “e-Tool of Thumb”, will constitute an effective step towards overcoming one of the main barriers that is preventing the mainstreaming of sustainable construction and refurbishment: the lack of reliable and robust information available to decision makers at the right time, language and place.

Decision makers need access to the relevant information in a language they understand

With your support and funding of this project, you will make it possible for the Sustainable Construction Team to translate and to update the contents of the present book into English and to make all the information available in the following formats:

·       Thee-Book in an illustrated PDF format, with hyperlinks to complementary information available online (audio and visual) in Portuguese and English – on sale one month after you get it in case you select this perk;

·       The online “e-Tool of Thumb”to help you make the right decisions to improve your living conditions at home, in Portuguese and English – on sale one month after you get it in case you select this perk.

·       Online in the sustainable construction web page, using an open format, in Portuguese and English;

Win - Inhabitants enjoy health and comfort

Win - The construction sector’s activity becomes recognized for adding value to society

Win - The Planet’s resources are put to excellent use

By funding our project you will not only be able to get your copy of the e-Book “39 Steps: Sustainable Construction and Refurbishment in the Mediterranean Climate” (in English or Portuguese) and access to the online “e-Tool of Thumb” – all of which will help you to make the right decisions on improving the living conditions in your home - you will also help us to make available all this relevant information on how to make buildings add value to people’s lives, online in a simpler format, so that anyone whose actions and decisions influence the quality of the built environment you inhabit, anywhere where the Mediterranean Climate prevails world wide, will be in a position to make better decisions...

This is not only a way you can improve the living conditions in your own home, it is also an effective way you can really influence the quality of the wider built environment you inhabit!

Total Quality = more health, more comfort, less energy, less water and better environment 

Support this project by selecting one of the Funding options we propose and share it with your friends...

About the “e-Tool of Thumb”:

Introduce simple specific data about your home into the “e-Tool of Thumb” and you will understand how the holistic bioclimatic design principles, presented in the e-book, apply to the specific context and conditions of your home. You will then be encouraged to make the right decisions to improve the health and comfort of your home while reducing your energy and water bills and while improving the environment.

About the Sustainable Construction® Team:

The brand Construção Sustentável® belongs to Bluecity Construction Ltd, a private company that builds on the experience gathered over more than 20 years, centred on designing, promoting, selling, monitoring and managing some of the benchmark buildings that flag sustainable construction in the Mediterranean Climate Region. Bluecity focuses on disseminating all the content gathered over many years of experience and on facilitating the development of new contents by participating in and coordinating open innovation networks, involving the relevant actors of the sustainable construction value chain. Check out the Company Profile.

FAQ:

Why is Sustainable Construction relevant?

If you live in a home that is ill adapted to the prevalent climate, you won’t enjoy healthy and comfortable indoor conditions – often you won’t achieve health and comfort, even when you try to create these conditions artificially.

Also, almost 40% of the energy produced world wide is used to make buildings inhabitable – how can this statistic make sense when applied to the Mediterranean Climate - where average temperatures are so favourable to people?

Isn’t Sustainable Construction expensive?

Did you know that in some continents (Europe as an example) a building will, on average, double its construction costs in between 7 to 20 years? So the answer to this question is another more pertinent one: can we afford not to mainstream Sustainable Construction?

Economy is an important facet of sustainable construction and it is addressed holistically – buildings need to minimize their dependency on finite resources by integrating efficiency by design and by substituting the inevitable demand with renewable resources.

Why does it cost so much to translate an e-book and create an e-tool?

We've heard this question a couple of times too many now, and decided to address it. We are not paying ourselves any wage from the $20,000 we are pitching for as we will have a product we can sell as a result. Whom we do have to pay are the experts we will outsource to for the total quality of the products. This is the full breakdown of the $20k:

e-Book

Translation of the book by experts (translating and revising) - $2K

Experts to revise new technical contents for the new chapter - $1K

Graphic designer - $1K

e-Tool of Thumb 

The technical programme for the questions answers and recommendations, experts in construction, energy, water and indoor air quality - $10K

Web designer - 2K

Graphic Designer - 1,2K

Photos - 1K

Indiegogo fees - 1,8K

Where do People come into the Sustainable Construction Equation?

The spaces we inhabit should enrich our lives! They should enhance the scope of our thoughts and experiences and facilitate our relations with the people we share them with. They should equally allow us to effectively and freely perform our daily functions, while engaging positively with our local community.

How can we implement Sustainable Construction in the existing built environment?

This is why the Sustainable Construction® Team has developed the book and is now pitching for the “39 Steps: Sustainable Construction and Refurbishment in the Mediterranean Climate” project. To overcome one of the main barriers to mainstreaming Sustainable Construction: the availability of information to make the right decisions!

What does the Perk “e-Book's double fold thank you page as a contributor” look like?

Your name will appear among 300 contributors’ names in the “Thank You” page – look below.

How will the Sustainable Construction® Team invest any funding over and above the target?

If we surpass our funding goal we will take your suggestions into account when we decide our next steps! We will create a survey on the basis of the feasible suggestions you leave us and address all contributors. Should we translate the e-Book and e-Tool of Thumb into Spanish, French, Italian or Greek? Do you have any other suggestions? Leave us your ideas and comments below!