Energy prices concern us all as they impact on how much we pay for our gas and electricity – even in hot Mediterranean countries where cooling and not heating is generally required. At award-winning AlmaVerde Spa & Village, located on the western Algarve, a revolutionary cooling system, called the Coolhouse system, obviates the need for energy (and cash) hungry air-conditioning.
Principal architect Jes Mainwaring said: “The Coolhouse system maintains a year-round average temperature of 26°C without the need for air-conditioning. Allied with the optimum orientation of the properties, the provision of appropriate shading and the considered use of building materials - such as permeable adobe bricks – energy use and costs are reduced by 94% while achieving a comfortable and healthy living environment.”
Part of a European initiative, the Coolhouse system has been fine tuned by Mainwaring since its introduction at AlmaVerde in 2004. The system has been the centrepiece of the resort’s sustainability initiatives that has seen it win several awards and be a pioneer in Iberia’s burgeoning eco-homes movement. Other environmental initiatives include water conservation through the use of permeable ground cover and landscaping with indigenous plants to reduce rainwater run-off.
Mainwaring said: “We draw our irrigation water from a borehole, to which the water which isn’t used, or returns to the clouds by evaporation, ultimately returns. On top of that we sustain the process deemed best for local conditions by laying our private driveways using a recycled plastic open grid system that holds gravel and is 100 per cent permeable. We have thought about this hard and made what I believe to be the greenest joined-up solution [applicable to the local environment].”
Comedian Dominic Holland has bought into the resort’s eco-ethos, having purchased a four-bedroom detached house. New-build or off-plan villas for sale, all with swimming pools on plots of around 500m2, are priced from €474,000 (£338,571). The next phase of the resort, situated in gentle verdant hills three miles from the coast, much of which is environmentally protected from development, is the creation of a destination spa and wellness centre, and several low-density, two-storey apartment complexes.
AlmaVerde’s originator John Tranmer said: “It has always been the plan to create a world-class destination spa and wellness resort. We feel that already we offer the best treatments and amenities locally, but when the new centre is open in two to three years it will move us to a whole new level. We expect investors will buy into the apartment buildings, as well as those who intend to use the spa and wellness services.”
Tranmer anticipates a guaranteed rental yield of around four per cent will be offered to investors. A full management service, providing bookings for the spa as well as accommodation, is operational. Villa owners have the option to join the rental pool or not. Most do, taking advantage of the opportunities for year-round rental income, provided by the 29 golf courses on the Algarve, beautiful countryside around the Costa Vicentina Natural Park and beaches, and pretty fishing villages that hug the coastline.
