Gaviota Cempak It is not just a company dedicated to the design and manufacture of components, accessories, curtain systems, awnings and attachments; It is also a benchmark in commitment to sustainability. with Antonio Mesa As the chief prescriber, the company faced the challenge of driving the shift towards more environmentally friendly practices.
In this talk, Mesa will share with us the key strategies and projects that have made Gaviota Cempak a leading player in the sustainability space, addressing not only environmental aspects, but also social responsibility and innovation that drive sustainable success. .
New solutions
– What are you working on at Gaviota Simbac to address climate change?
We are evolving the usual sun protection solutions so that, with our full range of products and solutions, we can make the home user more comfortable in their home, office or business.
These are sun protection devices, such as umbrellas, where we incorporate some innovations so that they work properly. In cooperation with teams of architects we carry out product development for various existing options.
For us, it is very important, both in the design and in creating the design of this product, that it comes from a series where the materials are sustainable, have a low carbon footprint and help save energy once installed.
Formulas and materials
– You talked about sustainability and durability. What kind of materials do you use to resist climate change and be sustainable at the same time?
We use both glass and aluminium, as they are infinitely recyclable materials. This means that they can be reused again, and for the most part, both our woodworking refractory fiber clips and our special refractory fiber clips are made from recycled materials.
This means we need less energy to produce them and we reuse materials endlessly. Only in this process can we reduce our carbon footprint. But at the same time, when we apply this solution to carpentry, awning, canopy or pergola, we help to consume less energy to keep the space warm or cool.
– Gaviota has always been more experienced with awnings and blinds. You have now expanded your business into fencing, which you work on a lot.
This is the situation. What we are trying to do is provide the complete solution to this gap. Previously, at Gaviota we provided awning solar protection, now we manufacture both aluminum or PVC windows, awning protection, glass canopy and outdoor furniture that are also designed and manufactured with recyclable materials.
That is, we want to provide a complete solution to the gap so that it is a set. We’ve just finalized some other innovations that we’ll be bringing to market soon, for items that make spaces healthier, like CO2 and temperature control. These are the elements we are developing now.
Sustainability, a plus
-Who are your main clients? Who do you work with on this type of project?
We work with architects, with energy efficiency control engineering, or with developers who want to stand out from their competitors by providing more efficient solutions. What the end user wants is for their home to become increasingly more sustainable, to pay less for energy, to be greener, and the reality is that it is not more expensive. Everyone complains that the more sustainable, the more expensive…but the customer realizes that they have to pay for this sustainability.
Since this is something new, it tends to be more expensive, when it would logically not be the case. We at Gaviota are studying to make it affordable. In fact, we have done some projects related to social protection housing. That is, with too low a budget impact for this to be possible. These are not suitable solutions for high-end villas, nor for very exclusive markets.
Our wish is that this progress, this energy efficiency, this sustainability reaches the people who really need it, such as those who cannot afford a high electricity bill and who need their windows to be efficient or their blinds to capture heat in an active environment. In a cost-free way and thanks to this you can use less heating.
– How far will these projects reach? How long have you been working in this type of work?
I have been prescribing in this sense for some time, because it is the most efficient prescription I know. This means not selling the products you make, but really innovating and creating the solutions needed on a daily basis, so that we are all more efficient, so that homes consume less, and so that people live more quality in their homes.
Since my founding as Director of Prescriptions, we have operated this way. This means that all of Gaviota’s usual product development processes have to be adapted and focused towards sustainability and improving the efficiency of each of the projects we work on and for all audiences.
I’m interested in serving those homes where the people who use them, unfortunately, are people with fewer resources. That’s what interests me the most because at that point we feel really proud. This means finding solutions that can help reduce energy consumption, ensure the home gets more sunlight, and can be more self-sufficient. The other is very simple.
A user with high purchasing power has no problem paying 200 or 300 euros for electricity, although we have to think about the environment, because just because you have money, you cannot release everything you want. Not so.
Gaviota innovation
-Where are we heading? What materials are you experimenting with now?
We are moving towards re-examining basic materials such as aluminum, glass, plastic… all of this is unified with some technology that makes us control the end customer’s use of that window, the glass blind… to be able to really understand if he has some need. For example, windows in schools that automatically open when they detect that the level of carbon dioxide inside is high, and therefore harmful.
Another example could be glass curtain solutions that are genuine solar collectors. That is, it is like the greenhouses that we all know. It captures energy and passes it naturally to the house, and when the user arrives at the house, it is heated or vice versa. We use solutions to make awnings smart, as in addition to being a sun protection awning, they are also a solar collector.
I mean there’s a lot of innovation going on in that sense. But above all, use recyclable materials and make them accessible and affordable so that they can be used in a whole range of homes.
New materials
– Will you continue working with aluminium, plastic and glass or are you looking for new options?
New materials are being researched, although these processes are slower because innovation takes a long time, and tests must be carried out to ensure they are affordable and competitive.
At Gaviota we strive to ensure that the aluminum we use is recycled, which means it actually has an improvement in efficiency from the moment of purchase. And also a lower carbon footprint.
However, we want the ones we use now to be on a recycling basis. This means that every time the aluminum that we’re going to use at Gaviota is recycled aluminum, which you already have, without doing much, when you buy, you’re actually getting an efficiency improvement, because you’re not emitting as much CO2 in your production and carbon footprint. Negative.
From there, what we do is design with architects, and engineer solutions that are really effective in carpentry. An example of this is that we are able to install carpentry solutions that would normally require several hours per hour. To do this, we removed the profiles and enlarged the window opening area, making it brighter and more economical.
We will have carpentry solutions, which are usually made of two sheets, we make with one sheet to remove the profiles and expand the window opening area so that it is brighter and also more economical.
In short, they are all improvements and for us it is very important to improve the aesthetics of the building, the acoustics of the house, the contracting budget… All this is innovation.
What’s coming?
– Finally, what will we see in the future?
In the future, we will see smart windows that will know how to interpret the energy they receive from the outside and control its passage through that window. In turn, it will control the internal space, being able to detect that it is too loaded, or contains too much carbon dioxide, or the temperature is too high or there is too much external noise to close or open it automatically.
We will have materials designed to capture energy, others to protect from the sun and heat, and others designed to ventilate spaces. For us, this trinity is very important: protecting, capturing and ventilating spaces.
Thus we have everything, because the house on the western facade is not the same as the one on the north, or the one on the south, as they are two different treatments. You cannot make the same window for the entire facade with the same solution for the opening.
