Some kids watch professional football games and dream of becoming professional athletes when they grow up. Felipe Morales Ramírez wanted to build the stadium that would make the sport possible. He also dreamed of hospitals, highways and large-scale urban infrastructure.
“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to build great things,” Morales Ramirez said. “I was good at drawing, I just wanted to know how to build it.”
He pursued this dream throughout his teenage years and beyond. After graduating from Mexico City High School, he earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of La Paz, Baja California Sur. He then went on to work in the commercial sector, specializing in steel and concrete work. These two materials form the backbone of traditional engineering in urban development. They are one of the world's five largest industrial sources of climate-warming carbon dioxide, according to a 2022 United Nations report.
Morales Ramírez designed an artistically paved highway that spans 30 kilometers of rugged desert mountains between the city of La Paz and the beach of El Saltito on the peninsula's east coast , his mainstream career reached its peak. He also helped the Federal Power Commission build a substation. The state-owned utility controls much of Mexico's energy grid, which remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels.
“I became a master of traditional architecture. I carry it in my skin and in my bones,” Morales Ramirez said. On the other hand, what about your heart and conscience? They feel responsible.
The ethical dilemma he faces reflects the feelings of many climate-conscious citizens around the world: How does my career or my consumption in the global economy perpetuate environmental harm?
The issue ultimately led Morales Ramirez to make major changes.
Are you part of the problem?
Living in La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur, Morales Ramírez is at the center of a growing hub of luxury tourism, expat and development.
Multiple reports rank the city near Los Cabos as Mexico's fastest-growing destination and tout miles of pristine coastline bordering “the aquarium of the world,” as described by ocean explorer and conservationist Jacques Cou Stowe described the Gulf of California.
Uncontrolled development and large-scale infrastructure have begun to threaten native flora and fauna, dune systems and desert landscapes. Like many people living along Mexico's coast, the ecosystem is coping with increases in hurricane activity, sea levels, ocean temperatures, pollution and other man-made climate impacts.
As Morales Ramírez's career progressed, he became troubled by the harm wrought by traditional construction, especially the steel and concrete industries that relied on fossil fuels.
“Yes, my dream came true and I'm happy about it,” he said. “But I ask myself, 'Are you part of the problem or part of the solution?'”
Build a sustainable development path
A series of life changes brought difficult answers.
Morales Ramírez completed a Master's degree in Social Sciences, specializing in sustainable development and globalization. He also co-founded the beach cleanup nonprofit ConCiencia México, which lasted for more than a decade.
The effort has increased the community's awareness of the natural world, which some themselves admit greenwashing or greenwashing Morales Ramirez's conscience, he still maintains the tradition of construction.
“I started feeling bad about myself,” he said.
He finally made a career transition in 2011.
For several years, Morales Ramirez found it possible to turn to a more conscious career.
“I could line my own pockets and be part of the problem, but I didn't want to. So I changed course,” he said. “It's been tough, but I'm sure I'm happier.”
Building a business from the ground up means finding employees and customers who are interested in and committed to alternatives. Their commitment to climate-resilient buildings also requires unique, customized solutions.
Betting on biological architecture
The Baja California Sur resident has been working on bioclimatic design and bioarchitecture for private residences and commercial projects, including small resorts, for more than a decade.
This design and construction philosophy emphasizes local environment and climate as fundamental factors driving project specifications. For example, housing solutions in the sunny, dry desert of Mexico's Baja California peninsula differ from those in the humid tropics of southeastern Mexico's Gulf Coast.
Morales Ramirez’s holistic framework adapts ecological technologies to seven basic human needs: water, food, energy, shelter, waste, mobility and production. Customized project solutions can include orchards, solar panels, water harvesting and superabe, a wall-building material made primarily from local soil known for its longevity and earthquake resistance.
Water harvesting is particularly important across Mexico, where the climate crisis is rapidly depleting urban and rural water supplies. Morales can recycle much of household wastewater by redirecting sink and laundry drains to natural filtration systems and landscaping features.
It also favors stone foundations and walls made from bags filled with soil, lime and a small portion of the cement used in typical block and steel construction.
Combination of old and new
When Fernanda Rabanal Mora hired Morales Ramírez three years ago for construction in El Sargento, Baja California Sur , opting for all the sustainable elements mentioned above.
He was particularly inspired by superwalls as an alternative to cement, which requires large amounts of water.
“We knew our resources were not unlimited,” Rabanar said of the decision to build after 20 years of renting in La Paz. “I wanted a different house.”
For her, bioclimatic design strikes an ideal balance between modern innovation and tradition, such as a return to locally sourced adobe, which reminds Rabanal Mora of the house of her youth when she was growing up in Aguascalientes. .
“It's really a combined technology. Yes, it's part of the old thing and part of the current thing,” he said.
Installing solar panels on the roof and utilizing a nearby well makes it completely off-grid and independent of the federal power company. He said his house has weathered two hurricanes without damage.
Energy independence also keeps your lights on during multiple power outages.
conscious consumption
While the possibilities of designing a new building from scratch are endless, Morales Ramirez's goal is to allow anyone, in any life situation, to design a new building in at least one or two pursue sustainability in every field.
“Just make one change and you can spread the word,” he said.
For most people, the easiest category to implement when it comes to sustainability is energy use. This even applies to tenants, who can take steps such as replacing all their lights with LED bulbs. Morales Ramirez also teaches people how to install solar panels that can only power one appliance or home feature and then expand over time.
That's what Rabanar Mora did, first by providing enough power for the refrigerator and computer in his desert home. He then added air conditioning capacity, more lights and other amenities as his budget allowed.
This approach made her more aware of her own behavior and excessive energy expenditure.
Alternatives to traditional construction
Morales Ramirez believes that green and climate-resilient architecture remains a niche market and counterculture in Mexico.
One contributing factor is that the supply chains that provide materials and methods to the construction industry remain plagued by unsustainable practices. There also needs to be a shift in traditional skills and work experiences, such as cinder block construction, he said.
Morales Ramirez said the shift requires a delicate balance: driving change but not so fast that the market collapses. “We're not talking about the Roman Empire. This system is the entire planet,” he said.
At the local level, building codes and policies pose significant barriers to sustainable and climate-resilient construction. As Morales Ramirez puts it, this means that many of the custom sustainability projects being carried out today are “outside the box.” In his city of La Paz, for example, the federal utility restricts homeowners or businesses from installing solar panels that are connected to public power.
He is currently working on an idea to change these policies and norms. These will be workshop sessions, inviting environmentally conscious builders and researchers as well as local politicians and other decision-makers.
In this space, all interested participants can share and witness the possibilities of sustainable design and development, and coordinate priorities. She is also completing a PhD in sustainability and hopes to drive greater change at a systemic level.
Change like popcorn
Specific projects such as the Rabanal Mora housing are creating a domino effect locally. Or, as Morales Ramirez likes to call it: the popcorn effect.
During construction in El Sagento, residents of the planned La Banal Mora saw the unique super wall being erected and stopped to inquire. This led them to meet Morales Ramirez, who has now completed a bioclimatic house for them, right next to the one in La Banal Mora.
“Change is like popcorn,” Morales Ramirez said. Every core or family can bring hope and inspire a greener lifestyle. This aligns with the mantra-like core value that has guided Morales Ramirez for the second half of his career as a builder: life on life support.
“I'm really sorry about that. I'm trying to protect life,” he said.
