Valladolid
In the Cuarto de Marzo district of Valladolid, a number of different activities have been taking place including audits, diagnosis and stakeholder consultation.
The Valladolid demo team (VIVA, CARTIF, Acciona and ONYX) has now finalised the methodology for district level audit and diagnosis. This is designed to assess energy performance and to set out main targets to be reached. As part of the diagnosis, barriers to implementing the Energy Conservation Measures were identified using performance simulations, non-destructive testing and data collection with help from tenants.
Following this diagnosis phase, the team set about evaluating a range of scenarios for combined energy conservation measures. From this, intervention packages have been defined taking into account comfort improvement and value for money. These packages will enable some 30 buildings (300 dwellings) to be renovated.
Another important activity underway is stakeholder consultation and outreach. A first set of meetings has been held with the Communities of Owners of the Cuatro de Marzo district to provide an overview of R2CITIES along with more detailed explanations about the work ahead and how the public grant is to be used. These meetings started in early June and are set to continue until mid-September.
In addition to these meetings, various professional organisations have been approached with a view to informing them about R2CITIES and especially the nature of the renovation due to take place in Valladolid. These professional bodies include Association of Architects of Castilla y León, the Association of Architects of Valladolid, the Valladolid Association of Construction Entrepreneurs and some financial institutions.
As part of these outreach and sharing endeavours, a brochure is now available for residents and other stakeholders with information about R2CITIES including grant possibilities. It is currently being circulated to the relevant communities.
And finally, CARTIF, representing the whole demo team, participated in the II National Congress of nearly Zero Energy Buildings, where they presented the overall R2CITIES approach focusing work set for the Cuatro de Marzo district. This forum is considered as the national reference congress in the field of Energy Efficiency in Buildings in which representatives of all stakeholders from this sector were present (public administrations, technicians, financial entities, construction companies, SMEs, users, etc.)
Genoa
Genoa Municipality has been meeting with tenants who stand to benefit from the renovation planned within R2CITIES. Tenants have been informed about the project and how it is likely to affect them. The information given out relates to the specific activities that will be carried out in Genoa’s Lavatrici district.
As part of these consultations with local residents, various surveys are being conducted to obtain information on the dwellings from the tenants themselves, and to define levels of user acceptance.
In addition to this, Genoa Municipality is now finalising the selection of dwellings to be used as “in situ laboratories”, and the University of Genoa is now set to undertake the first test.
Kartal
Turkey’s technology and research council TUBITAK is responsible for coordinating the FP7 nationally. As such, it supports various multinational research and technological projects within the EU. The R2CITIES project is one of these and it involves partners from six countries. In terms of budget and consortium it represents Turkey’s largest FP7 project.
The aim of the project is to boost energy efficiency in residential areas drawing on innovative insutlation techniques and alternatives methods, thus contributing to a model for replication on national and international scales. Such a model is being developed with the involvement of a nursing home building owned by Kartal municipality and will be promoted both nationwide and abroad .
This is the first time that such energy efficiency improvement is being undertaken at a nursing home, and the work set out within R2CITIES will take about one year to complete.
As part of this initiative, project coordinator Rubén García, and his colleague Miguel Angel García from Fundación CARTIF based in Valladolid, Spain, visited Kartal municipality in early June. They met with Kartal Municipality’s Mayor Op. Dr. Altınok Öz, Vice Mayor Gülcemal Fıdan, Kartal Municipality Project Team, TUBITAK and representatives from İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi. A number of presentations and exchanges took place and a on-site technical visit of the nursing home was arranged.
The delegation was pleased with how the work in Kartal was progressing and the visit was concluded by our mayor Op. Dr. Altınok Öz and his wife Feray Öz .