Changing the Market with Sustainable Houses

Q: How does your Smart Share initiative help communities in need?

A: Smart Share started as a service for vulnerable sectors and people without decent homes. We decided to donate a sustainable house for each condo sold at one of our exclusive projects. There is no other project like this anywhere in the world.

This idea arose just over a year ago when the company was about to start operations. I was talking to the company's sales director and he saw that in the distance there was a person who was building houses using sargassum. He asked me if we could use sargassum to build the walls in our developments. We reviewed it with our engineers and they told us that it was not possible because the material could not bear the necessary weight. It could be possible for a house, but not a building. However, we decided to create a program to use part of the profits from the sale of one of our apartments to build houses for people in need.

Q: What makes a person or a family eligible to receive these homes?

A: The selection process is not well-defined because in Mexico there is a lot of need and there are shortages everywhere. We will ask our employees if they know someone who needs it and that is where we go. Some of our employees have even asked for this benefit and with great joy, we build their new house. We start building the house once the condo is 50 percent sold. After that, it does not take more than two months to complete the project.

Q: How has Smart Investment Opportunities faced competition in its target markets?

A: There is a lot of competition in Tulum and Playa del Carmen. We cannot sell apartments at a very high price because the cost per square meter of construction is already established in this area. Furthermore, in Tulum, there are 396 real estate projects on pre-sale. There is an excess of product but instead of selling cheaper houses, our target is to distinguish ourselves from all those other alternatives. We build 100 percent green buildings to appeal to clients on the sustainable side.

Q: What are the main characteristics of these green buildings?

A: Our developments are self-sustaining: they use their own energy and recycled water. We have also implemented an innovative water-saving system. Usually, when a person bathes, they let the water run for a few minutes to let it warm. However, for every minute that the shower is on, 20L of water are wasted. We implemented a system that prevents the wasting of water while it heats. Instead of draining out, the water circles in a containment system until it is hot. A light then turns on to let the user know it is ready for use. Also, we make art from the garbage that we generate. Almost 41 percent of the garbage that is generated in the world comes from construction.

Maybe we are not going to change the world with these actions but we do not want to have a negative impact on the environment. Our entire team works following this philosophy. For example, in the houses we donate, we implement a Mexican technology called Home Biogas. This system uses all organic waste to generate an equivalent of four hours of gas per day for cooking. Before, in these communities, people used to cook with firewood. Around 52 people a day die from carbon monoxide poisoning around the world, whether from heating or cooking. This dos not even take into account the damage to the environment.

Q: What new projects is Smart Investment Opportunities focusing on in 2020?

A: We started a project called Solemn in Tulum, which is made up of 26 apartments. We are also launching another in Playa del Carmen with 79 apartments. I am working on a 52ha project with 750m of coastline and a lagoon in a place called El Cuyo. We will be the first to develop something there. We are striving for a 100 percent self-sustaining project. We are working with Home Biogas to connect the drainage of the development to a plant that converts waste into gas to power our generators. We also plan to put in rain collectors. We are concerned about the issue of water because it will be the next global crisis.

Smart Investment Opportunities is an investment fund that focuses on luxury properties along the Riviera Maya. It has two state-of-the-art luxury properties on sale with sustainable resource management