Photograph by Fonatur
Location: Loreto Bay, Baja California
November 1, 2006
But the folks developing Loreto Bay’s sustainability initiatives don’t just
have water on the brain. A 20-megawatt wind farm (constructed with the capability to expand to 60) is
scheduled for completion by 2008. Yet the villages will require only between six and 12 megawatts at any
one time, so surplus power will be sold to other BCS municipalities. Not only will this bring in
revenue, it will also help reduce diesel-generated power—with its attendant greenhouse gas
emissions—throughout the Baja Peninsula.
The densest development will be between the highway and the sea, with
additional clusters of homes in the foothills. Plans call for various pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly
villages, all built in Spanish colonial style using earth block (a kind of adobe), which absorbs and
transmits temperature changes slowly, requiring less air-conditioning. “It’s all about health issues,
breathable walls and sustainability,” says Jim Hallock, whose title is (really) director of earth
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Photograph by Werner Segarra. (Click image to enlarge)
What wood is used will be Forest Stewardship Council–certified Bolivian cedar
and alder, and urea-formaldehyde-free Columbian birch plywood. For the exterior, Veniot is
working on developing lime-based plaster tinted with customized colors that will not release
volatile organic compounds (in the meantime, low-VOC latex paint is the solution). And by the way, Stevens
observes that “to our knowledge, this is the only construction site in Mexico to separate
recyclables.”
Since the aim is to work in concert with nature and the local culture, this
is obviously not the place to build your modernist glass box on 30 acres. Lot size is limited, with
maximum custom homes currently measuring around 6,000 square feet. You are welcome to use your own
architect, but Loreto Bay Company has various local architects they can also recommend.
There is much more: an organic farm (already producing pumpkins, radishes,
tomatoes, spinach, beets, chard, cabbage, lettuces, beans and peas, and donating surplus to local
charitable agencies); a native plant rescue and replanting program; an affordable housing partnership
for staff; above-average wages for Mexican workers; a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) rating system and sponsorship of the Mexican Green Building Council—the list goes on and on.
One percent of sales and resales goes to the Loreto Bay Foundation, which awards grants for local
healthcare, education, recreation, job training and other community-based programs. A special fund
is raising $800,000 for a medical services facility that broke ground last year and will be operational
in mid-2007.
Absolutely nothing is overlooked here. All planning takes the whole
picture—including the native citizenry—into account. Even that soil-enriching soap Veniot is
investigating: “It would be great if it created work for Loretanos who could harvest the plants and extract those
materials we need.” One suspects Veniot speaks for everyone involved with the Loreto Bay Company when
he says, “Every day is exciting.”
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