Joya: ecology systems
Climate positive means that Joya: arte + ecología / AiR goes beyond achieving net zero carbon emissions to actually create an environmental benefit by removing additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via the implementation of restoration agriculture. This is in addition to being off-grid meaning we are not dependent upon public utilities for energy, water or waste (other than recycling). All our energy needs are supplied by the sun.
A residency of one week at Joya: arte + ecología / AiR, will off-set the carbon emissions generated by a flight within Europe. The more time you are in residence the less carbon you release into the atmosphere.
Compare us to a similar sized conventional building within the same climatic zone anywhere in the world and we are 100% carbon neutral. Our restoration agriculture project has made us carbon positive.
Los Gázquez also recycles everything.
Here is how...
Los Gázquez is located off-the-grid, or independent of the electric, water, and waste networks that connect most modern homes and buildings. The building itself is designed to focus on sustainable living and also uses both passive and active systems of energy production.
Electricity is generated by a combination of photo voltaic panels and a wind turbine. The energy is stored in batteries and used to illuminate the house.
Hot water is generated by solar panels for 70% of the year. The remaining 30% is supplemented by burning biomass which heats water for showers and underfloor heating. The biomass is collected from our land and by-product of sustainable forestry nearby.
Water is harvested from the roof and contained underground in a 60,000 litre deposit called an aljibe. It is then filtered and used for the house.
We have two systems of waste water recycling.
A grey water system collects all the waste water from basins, showers, and the dishwasher (we only use eco-friendly detergents) and transports it to a giant reed bed where we grow Arundo donax. This giant river reed consumes the water and in return is used as structural material either in the garden or as shade around the house.
The black water system takes material directly from the toilets and carries this waste to a septic tank. However, the story doesn't finish there. Liquid material is carried away from here to two alternating aerobic vertical flow reed beds which are planted with Phragmites australis. This species of reed has colonised the planet growing in the most odorous regions and is excellent at consuming bacteria. The third part of this system collects the dead bacteria as a form of filtration. The final reed bed is anaerobic, a reed bed that utilises particular combinations of plants, soils, bacteria, substrates and hydraulic flow systems to optimise the physical, chemical and microbiological processes naturally present within the root zone of the plants to render this final zone 98% clean.
