Sustainable design strategies in hotel buildings in downtown Guayaquil, Ecuador

Abstract

This article, starting with the general concept of green areas and an analysis of their current state in hotel buildings in downtown Guayaquil, examines their impact on the city's urban development. It aims to interpret and categorize the current urban green space index and its influence on sustainable design towards bioclimatic vision. Guayaquil's urban green space index is one of the lowest in Latin America, at just 2.54 m² per inhabitant, far from the WHO's recommended minimum of 9 m² per inhabitant. This significantly affects air quality and the overall well-being of the city's residents. This scarcity of vegetation is a consequence of the city's booming commercial and informal development, which relies almost exclusively on main avenues and streets. The objective of this article is to increase the urban green space index by integrating green roof models into buildings in Guayaquil's urban center, thus creating an interconnected network of green roofs to rethink the city's urban design. A mixed-methods approach was used, employing both qualitative and propositional perception data. Quantitative data was analyzed using temperature and heat measurements systematized in ArcGIS to generate graphs and percentages for identifying urban heat islands. In conclusion, the study found that by proposing sustainable design strategies for hotel buildings in downtown Guayaquil, incorporating green roofs and vertical plant panels, the green space index could be increased to 5.64 m² per inhabitant, closely aligned with the WHO's minimum recommendation of 9 m² per inhabitant.