CONAMA - Circular Economy in the Building Sector in Spain

The Working Group GT-6 Circular Economy in the Building Sector has meet for its second meeting at the Environmental Institute in Madrid. Representatives of academia, industry and associations worked on an analisis and grafic representation of the existing materials flows in the building sector in Spain in order to identify barriers and oportunities for a stronger development towards closed-cycle construction processes. Based on our experience in low-impact, wood-based buildings and energy transition projectes like Roadmaps for Energy (R4E), we could contribute with a specific view on how to transform the building sector holistically through a definition of clear and ambitiuous objectives, the creation of scenarios and the roadmapping of pathways on the short, mid and long run.

Ecodesign principals, life-cycle assessment, end-of life recycling, downcycling or upcycling, tracking of material flows in cities with a clear focus on refurbishment and reuse, as well as new business models, ambitious legislation and tax instruments, and a general mind and value shift of society form the essential parts of a transition process in the building sector, which is so urgently needed.

CONAMA is a foundation which organizes the National Congresso on Environment of the same name from 26th -29th of November 2018, and where all working groups will present their outcomes to the general public. (http://www.conama.org/web/index.php)

INNOENERGY MSc RENE INNOVATION AND CO-CREATION SEMINAR 2018: HOUSING, ENERGY AND LIFESTYLE

[eng] Living Lab LOW3 welcomed for the fifth year students of the InnoEnergy MSc Program "Renewable Energies" (RENE) from 8 different countries for a 2-day innovation seminar under the title “Holistic Sustainability Approach for Innovations”.

This year 46 students, divided into two groups worked on the ambitious goal to develop "Sustainable Lifestyle Scenarios 2030" including technological, environmental and socioeconomic forecasting as a result of the presented projects and generated discussions.

The first day was dedicated to Innovation through the presentation and analysis of research projects in the three main focus areas of Housing, Energy and Lifestyle.

HOUSING: Students got known to the innovative concepts of UPC's nearly zero energy buildings, exploring and analyzing the technological concepts of the LOW3 prototype house in the fields of solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, HVAC, bioclimatic building management and energy monitoring systems. Measurements of surface and air temperatures, calculation of PV production and energy consumption of the house as well as a forecasting exercise, projecting the analyzed technologies to 2030 allowed to enter fully into the discussion about the relationships between housing, energy and sustainability.

ENERGY: Students got introduced into the results of the  R4E - Roadmaps for Energy project (www.roadmapsforenergy.eu), getting known to the developed energy roadmaps for European partner cities in the field of Smart Buildings and Smart Urban Spaces and Smart Mobility in order to discuss energy transition of society in the coming decades.

LIFESTYLE: Students got introduced to a holistic transition to sustainability through the international Sustainable Lifestyle Accelerator project 2018-2020 (www.suslife.info), which just started, and where UPC collaborates with international partners from 7 counties under the lead of the Wuppertal Institute in the reduction of the environmental impact of private households.

At the end of day 1 students calculated quickly their current ecological footprint, resulting in an average need of around 3,2 planets if world’s population would adopt the same way of living. One motivation more within our first seminar day to search for innovative solutions

The second day was dedicated to co-creation, applying the R4E methodology of complexity maps and roadmapping for the generation of innovative product or service concepts for a “more sustainable urban life in 2030”.

Finally, students co-created in dynamic group sessions through a story telling approach concepts for “a more sustainable urban life in 2030”.  The holistic visioning and presentation through small performances of a more sustainable future urban life, generated ambitious discussions and allowed to foster the creative potential of these future “game changers” of InnoEnergy. 

Despite of unusual hot temperatures, the domestic atmosphere of Living Lab LOW3 with its efficient cross ventilation, but also the possibility to work outside at shaded places of our campus, contributed to the success of two days full of technology exploration, inspiring conversations and intense discussions about innovations in the field of renewable energies within a wider environmental and cultural context.

This fifth collaboration with the MSc Program RENE of KIC InnoEnergy confirms again that LOW3 offers a valuable contribution to engineer students’ education through its holistic approach to sustainability within a unique, real-world environment of a Living Lab bringing together in one place the important topics of Housing, Energy and Lifestyle.