New Green Office Building Planned in Ciudad Empresarial Complex in Chile

---

Not surprising for a country with incredible natural beauty and a booming commercial real estate market, the green construction movement in Chile continues to take root.   It has been announced that an important sustainable energy office building, the World Green Center, will be constructed in the Ciudad Empresarial in Huechuraba.
 
The building, which will be developed by the Chilean investment firm Aurus and the Ciudad Empresarial and will require an investment of $75 million, is planned to have six floors and floor plans up to 3,600 square meters.   The building will have 33,900 square meters of floor space.
 
The project will have a number of environmentally friendly features.  According to the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, the building itself will utilize geothermal energy and the project promoters plan to obtain Gold or Platinum LEED certification for the complex.  The area outside the building is proposed to have 16,500 square meters of green space, including a large number of trees and stepped green terraces.   It is expected that once construction starts, the complex will take approximately 30 months to build.
 
Apart from the World Green Center, Aurus and the Ciudad Empresarial plan to develop another green project as part of a $150 million, five year development alliance, the Terrazas building.   The building, which reportedly will be the first building in Chile with a habitable upper rooftop terrace and will also seek LEED certification, will have six floors and require an investment of approximately $21 million.
 
The Ciudad Empresarial, where the World Green Center and the Terrazas building will be located, is a commercial park with more than 50 buildings, including 8 new Class A buildings, and is home to more than 600 companies.   In total the Ciudad Empresarial has 250,000 square meters of built and space and 10 hectares of green areas.
 
The World Green Center and the Terrazas buildings will not be the first environmentally friendly buildings in Chile.  According to the website of the Green Building Council, there are a number of buildings in Chile with LEED certification, including:
 

• Banco BCI in Vitacura in Santiago (Gold Certification)
• the Transoceanica Business Park in Santiago (Gold Certification)
• the Titanium La Portada in Santiago (Gold Certification)
• Edificio Costanera Cosas in Santiago (Gold Certification)
• Edificio Fundación de la Minera Escondida in Antofagasta (Gold Certification)
• the Homecenter Sodimac in Copiapó (Silver Certification)
• Edificio de la Construcción in Puerto Montt (Silver Certification)

 
Green construction is likely to become increasingly important in Chile given Chile's high energy costs.    Many office buildings in Chile have facades comprised of large glass panels, which result in high cooling bills during Chile's many months of warm weather and numerous days of direct sunlight.