AlmaVerde Village & Spa wins Gold award for Best Eco-Development in 2012 OPP Awards for Excellence

Tuesday, 06 January 2015

AlmaVerde Village & Spa wins Gold award for Best Eco-Development in OPP Awards for Excellence

AlmaVerde Village & Spa received the highest Gold award for Best Eco-Development in the OPP Awards for Excellence. This is the third successive year in which AlmaVerde Village & Spa has won this prestigious award. The awards were presented on 10th October at a Gala Dinner in the City of London on the eve of the Overseas Property Professional/Property Investor Show held at ExCel.

The winners were selected by a panel of industry professionals, who marked each entry against a set of strictly-defined criteria. AlmaVerde’s winning entry was boosted by the glowing testimonials of a number of owners who had recently taken delivery of their newly-built AlmaVerde villas.

Nicholas McVeigh, Director of a leading UK lighting company, commented,” AlmaVerde offered exceptional service and quality of build whilst maintaining maximum sustainability with the materials used such as adobe bricks… and the innovative Coolhouse system which is at the core of the design. The reality for our family is a wonderful holiday home that is comfortable to be in, with a low carbon footprint. It is a great legacy for our children and future generations”

Jeff Wright, former Managing Director of a Bahrain-based energy company, said,”One of the main reasons we bought our villa was due to the environmental features and the sustainable and energy aspects of the design. Having taken possession of the villa and lived in it now for two months, I can confirm that our expectations have not only been met but exceeded. After living in the Middle East in an air-conditioned environment, I was expecting a similar experience but the AlmaVerde system is far superior and also provides the cool air silently. It is a pleasure living in such an environment.”

AlmaVerde Village & Spa is a 58 hectare residential tourism development in the Western Algarve with more than 80 villas now built to the same energy-efficient specification. AlmaVerde’s signature Coolhouse system brings cooled summer air into the house via underground tubes, helping to stabilize the internal temperature at a comfortable level, day and night. Independent monitoring has verified that energy savings compared to a conventional air conditioning system are in the order of 94%.

Coolhouse is one of a number of strategies employed by the architects of AlmaVerde’s eco-luxe villas with the aim of ensuring year-round thermal comfort, while keeping energy use and carbon emissions to a minimum. AlmaVerde’s off-plan villas regularly achieve an A+ rating for energy efficiency. This rating is currently awarded to less than 1% of residential properties in Portugal.

Passive design strategies include a complete external insulation envelope and lots of thermal mass. Inner walls are formed from sun-dried clay (adobe) bricks, which are manufactured on site to minimise transport costs. The thermal mass of the adobe, as well as of the concrete structure itself, acts as a well-insulated store of radiant winter warmth or summer “coolth”, minimising the need for active heating or cooling.

OPP is the leading business to business media for the international real estate industry. OPP’s monthly magazine is complemented by its weekly newsletter, its website and by its annual trade exhibition. OPP is part of the Richmond Green Group.

For further information, please contact:
John Tranmer
Managing Director
AlmaVerde Village & Spa;
Tel: +(351) 282 697857  
Fax: +(351) 282 698641
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.