Latin America faces an expected increase of 20% in the construction of buildings by the year 2040, and the vision for 2024 is that the buildings are completely digital and electric, focused on the comfort and health of people.

Buildings, responsible for 40% of annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and 30% of global energy consumption, must be decarbonized to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

For Marco Astúa, leader of Schneider Electric’s digital solutions in Central America, something important is that in addition to reducing emissions, resilience to extreme weather events is essential.

“Buildings must be designed to withstand floods, fires and other environmental challenges, strategies such as the use of eco-friendly materials, energy efficiency and distributed generation with renewable energies are crucial,” Astúa said.

Astúa added that automation offers significant savings, up to 30% in energy and water, and contributes to a 35% decrease in emissions.

The leader of digital solutions explained that the benefits of a more sustainable building are infinite, and that there are integrated solutions to reduce the carbon footprint, control energy consumption and generate your own energy.

“Schneider Electric helps create buildings with zero net carbon emissions, offers a smooth integration of systems, from lighting, ventilation and security, along with technology to capture, interpret and act on the building’s data,” Astúa said.

On the other hand, he mentioned that the electrification of transport is key on the road to zero emissions, another trend is the adaptation to house and use electric vehicle load, contributing to comply with sustainability regulations and improve energy efficiency.

Latin America, with the projection of building 230 billion square meters of new buildings in the next four decades, has a fundamental role in this transition.