Upcycling of recycled materials in construction to promote the circular economy

One of the most important challenges that the building sector faces is the reduction of energy consumption throughout the entire life cycle, i.e. from the manufacture of building elements, through their useful life, to their demolition. So much so that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that buildings consume approximately 40% of the world’s energy, 25% of the world’s water and 40% of the world’s resources; moreover, buildings are responsible for approximately 1/3 of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. In Europe alone, more than 220 million existing buildings – approximately 75 per cent of the building stock – are energy inefficient indeed, many of them rely on fossil fuels for heating and cooling.

In view of the construction sector is responsible for more than 35% of the EU’s total waste generation, one of the main promising measures to tackle the high CO2 emissions of this sector and move towards a more circular economy is to encourage the use of secondary materials.

Faced with this situation, the CIDAUT Foundation takes part in PROBONO project, a European project in which the implementation of the circular economy in this sector is essential. In this line, the CIDAUT Foundation is going to use recycled materials in insulation and structural applications to achieve more sustainable and efficient buildings. This will avoid the use of materials of fossil origin as well as introduce recyclable and lightweight materials.

One of the strategies for reducing the heating and cooling demands is to focus on improving the insulation properties of building envelopes, in addition to enhancing the efficiency of appliances or modifying citizen life styles. The first action plays a decisive role, as it can lead to significant improvements with a short payback period. This action is aligned with the European strategy of introducing more efficient and environmentally friendly materials. This is why the PROBONO project is working on the implementation of insulating as well as sustainable materials and processes.

Cidaut will be present at European Green Deal Projects

Probono Project has been approved for funding by the European Commission in the Frame of Green Deal. Probono brings together 47 partners all around Europe to develop innovative energy efficient buildings in connected suitable green neighbourghoods.

To demonstrate the results achieved through the project two large scale demonstrators, Madrid and Dublin, and four living labs, Brussels, Porto, Aarhus and Prague, have been proposed across Europe. Cidaut will contribute with mobility, connectivity and integration of renewable energies in Dublin and Madrid.

The large scale demonstrators will focus on new buildings, retrofitting and green districts development, energy optimization at district level, integration in the grid and electromobilty. The project will provide support at city level and will interact with citizens looking for solutions to be reproduced in follower cities.

The living labs will focus on smaller scale business driven renovation or construction projects with clear definition of value proposition and also looking for solutions to be integrated in follower cities.

The project will start on Autumn and will last for 60 months.

EnerUSER launches an explanatory video for effective energy management aimed at users in collaboration with CIDAUT

With a pleasant and explanatory video that aims to raise awareness of the great problem of energy consumption in homes (which in addition to being a high expense for citizens contributes to climate change), EnerUSER presents its commitment to ensuring that users can perform effective energy management.

This cross-border cooperation initiative between Spain and Portugal, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg VA Spain-Portugal Program (POCTEP) 2014-2020El, is coordinated by the Construction Institute of Castilla y León ( ICCL) and whose partners in this project are IPB of Bragança, the Castilla y León Natural Heritage Foundation (FPNCYL), FENAGE, CIDAUT, and the Bragança City Council.

One of the objectives of the EnerUSER project is to promote new energy consumption habits, being the citizen a decisive element, relying on surveillance and control tools that will allow them to make decisions. With innovative energy control technologies that the project is going to develop, EnerUSER seeks to help citizens learn about the quality of indoor air, its energy consumption and the high cost it entails for families to propose a change, particularly in housing and / or social rent. Through new consumption habits and the empowerment of the citizen in energy control, EnerUSER will present fundamental measures in the current circumstances of climate change and energy efficiency that the citizen must take.

The video is available through the project website: https://www.eneruser.com/noticias) and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tisbYXQlum8.

ENERUSER kick-off meeting in Valladolid

The consortium team of the project “User empowerment  for intelligent management of energy and indoor air quality through innovative forms of consumption and control” (ENERUSER) ” held its Kick-Off meeting in the “Lucía” building of Valladolid University on Nov 6th.

Representatives of all the partners attended the meeting with the presence of the Construction Institute of Castilla y León (ICCL, Main Beneficiary), Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León (FPNCYL), Municipality of Bragança, National Federation of Energy Promoters (FENAGE) and CIDAUT Foundation.

The main objective of the project is to propose a change in the form of energy consumption and control in homes, as well as air quality. Results will have a significant impact on climatic change and they will come through new consumption habits and citizen empowerment on energy control.

An innovative energy control methodology will be developed, specializing in housing and social rent. Two pilot buildings will be analysed, monitored and evaluated, thus resulting in proven models and solutions that could be applied in the development of near zero energy buildings.

The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the programme of cooperation INTERREG V-A Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 and will be further developed until June 2021.

Meeting of BIOURB NATUR consortium in Bragança

The consortium team of the project Biobuilding diversity, bioclimatic architecture, sustainable rehabilitation and its application in natural areas” held a new meeting in the “Balcão Único” building of Câmara Municipal de Bragança on May 27th.

Representatives of all the partners attended the meeting with the presence of the Regional Energy Agency of Castilla y León (EREN, Main Beneficiary) Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), CIDAUT Foundation, Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León (FPNCYL), Construction Institute of Castilla y León (ICCL) and Municipality of Bragança.

The main objective of the meeting was to review the progress of the technical activities, as well as the communication and the project coordination activities.

Within the project, five specific buildings located in natural parks in Castilla y León (Spain) and three located in Montesinho Natural Park (Portugal) are being rehabilitated with bioclimatic solutions in order to get better comfort and higher energy efficiency. The monitoring phase, conducted by CIDAUT, is just starting at this date. The project is co-financed by the programme of cooperation INTERREG V-A Spain-Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 and will be further developed until December 2019.

Regarding Communication Activities, several technical workshops, informative sessions and a promotional video film are being developed.

http://www.biourb.net