The GWR Project has achieved the technological integration of gray water treatment solutions.

After more than two years of research, the integration of the "technological train" combining the gray water treatment technologies developed within the GWR Project framework was recently achieved. This allows the installation of the entire system in the Tech House to be completed.

Project director Dr. Esteban Quijada describes the project's fundamental objectives and current status:
“This project seeks to generate efficient technology for treating and reusing gray water. Gray water comes from washing machines, dishwashers, sinks, and showers. It represents approximately 60% of the water that goes down the drain every day. Due to its low microbial load, this water has great potential for reuse".

He emphasizes, "After two years of work, we have developed technology to treat gray water through three processes. First, we treat it in an electrochemical reactor, which reduces surfactant content from soaps, detergents, and dyes. Second, we filter out any remaining particles. Third, we remove emerging contaminants from cosmetics, pesticides, disinfectants, and medicines".

Additionally, he maintains that we have "a reverse osmosis system that provides the option of generating potable water from gray water". However, this system will not be installed in the model home because sufficient-quality water for irrigation is all that is required there.

In this regard, Dr. Julio Romero, a researcher and academic at Usach, emphasizes that "this treatment system will be installed in the pilot house, where treated gray water will be reused for the irrigation of green roofs and walls, among other purposes. The pilot house will facilitate the demonstration and study of gray water recovery and reuse, eliminating contaminants such as bacteria, detergents, emerging pollutants, and other chemicals".

According to the researcher, the goal is to expand these solutions in order to "comply with regulations requiring new public buildings over 5,000 square meters to incorporate gray water treatment and reuse systems".

Thermal and acoustic insulation

Although green roofs and walls provide insulation, the model home features additional technologies that make it energy-efficient. Thanks to a photovoltaic system consisting of four panels with an installed capacity of 2 kW, it has an autonomous electricity supply.

Leandro Ampuero, the energy efficiency expert at Casa Tecno, explains: "It is a 'fully electric' house, completely carbon dioxide-free, powered by solar energy, and incorporating technologies developed by various research groups at Usach. The house has been entered in competitions such as Construye Solar, which seeks to implement prototypes that can later become real solutions".

“The house incorporates an insulating material made from egg cartons, which are traditionally used for thermal and acoustic insulation", explained Leandro Ampuero, an electrical engineer with a master's degree in innovation. “In this case, the egg cartons were ground up and injected into the panels”, he said.

To validate the home's energy efficiency, we performed thermographic testing. “This allows us to monitor thermal performance and determine how much energy is being lost due to potential leaks or insulation issues”, he said.  "The results were favorable, indicating that the panels meet the conditions for the A+ category of thermal efficiency, considered high efficiency”, he said.

The Technology Center for Innovation in Construction (CTeC) highlights the project, describing it as "a two-story adjoining house with a convective evaporative tower that eliminates the need for air conditioning installation and maintenance. This results in annual electricity bill savings of up to 35%, in addition to a water efficiency system that allows for 15% savings on the water bill. The tower serves as a ventilation chimney during the winter and intermediate seasons and as a passive cooling tower during extreme summer temperatures".

The “Casa Tecno, Vivienda Social Sustentable” (Tech House, Sustainable Social Housing) project was developed by the Usach Faculty of Technology for the “Construye Solar 2019” initiative, in which different universities presented prototypes of social housing and their performance in terms of water and energy efficiency was measured. The Usach project won first place in the categories of innovation, water efficiency, well-being and comfort, housing functionality, communication, and social awareness.