Cajamir

The Story of the Spanish company that combines elderly care with sustainability, recognized in the local edition of SME EnterPRIZE in the Environment category

Cajamir was founded in 2001 in Camarzana de Tera, in the province of Zamora, Spain. A small family-run business, Cajamir is dedicated to the care of the elderly through MV Geriatrics, a nursing home that functions within the parameters of the person-centred Care Dependency Scale (CDS).

Right from the outset, every initiative Cajamir has undertaken has been marked by its eagerness to integrate innovation, ensure equal opportunities, and act with environmental consciousness. These values allow them to serve their patients with compassion and dedication and set the benchmark for Elderly Care on a provincial and regional level.

MV Geriatrics is firmly committed to the protection of the environment, through responsible residential care and by activating initiatives that promote sustainability. MV Geriatrics’ business model is based on the principles of circular economy and environmental management, centred around three pillars: social, environmental and economic sustainability.

In order to carry out its mission of improving the lives of its guests, Cajamir implements several other measures that complement its commitment to sustainability. First, it contributes to the generation of development opportunities through inclusive, non-discriminatory employment, hence, reducing inequalities, especially with respect to gender. Then, it promotes the well-being of all its team members, encouraging work-life balance. Finally, it advocates innovation and resilient infrastructures capable of producing and consuming sustainably. Their Passive House building consists of various eco-installations (greenhouse for heat collection, high thermal insulation, wooden carpentry with triple glazing, green roof, aerothermal, photovoltaic and thermal solar panels, and heat recovery), which favour the reduction of resource consumption and foster energy self-sufficiency.

In addition to this, the building is constructed using a prefabricated wooden structure system that reduces its ecological footprint. The building is an energy machine, where consumption is zero, and the energy produced is much greater than the energy consumed, rerouting the surplus energy to other buildings. Cajamir has been able to reduce 8,652 kg of CO₂ each year, which constitutes 64% of its total emissions.

The company also practices sustainability through other avenues such as people’s wellbeing. The Passive House structure improves health, comfort, and safety, achieving high indoor air quality, crucial in preventing the spread of pathogens and maintaining indoor relative humidity at optimal levels, between 45% and 55%.

Cajamir’s sustainability strategy has a number of other endeavours in the pipeline to keep progressing towards a future with zero emissions, such as swapping to appliances that come with eco-sustainability and energy efficiency certification, completely eliminating plastics, establishing partnerships with suppliers that endorse the use of recycled products and materials, resorting to another 20 kW of photovoltaic energy to enable the company to realise its goal of becoming fully energy self-sufficient.

To discover more on MV Geriatrics, visit mvgeriatria.com.es