As we approach the summer, the consortium has renewed impetus and has embarked on an exciting stage of our project to achieving nearly zero energy towns and cities. This comes after several months which have not been plain sailing due to the grant procedures in the Valladolid demo site needing to be revised. The reluctance of residents to take on some of the works planned meant a radical rethink on our part. Also, a change in part of the Municipality of Valladolid staff due to the last year local elections added to this scenario. However, our combined efforts and expertise and the strong commitment of Valladolid Municipality have seen us through this shifting environment and I’m proud to say we have been able to set out a revised set of retrofitting works for Valladolid’s Cuatro de Marzo district, and a new grant procedure is currently underway with works planned for late September. Furthermore we have been successful in securing a one-year project extension, which will allow us to complete the works with enough time to properly monitor the results of the interventions.
During last month’s periodic meeting hosted by Genoa Municipality, we were able to look ahead with confidence to the next stages of R2CITIES. As the works in Kartal and Genoa continue, much focus is now on the process of reviewing and validating the methodology for integrated project delivery taking into account the requirements of BIM (building information modeling). One session of our meeting was dedicated to this broad subject. Furthermore, we have just had our third exploitation workshop and we were able to participate in Genoa Smart Week for the second time as one of the most important projects developed in the city of Genoa.
There remain challenges ahead but we are all riding on the tremendous learning curve that such a complex and ambitious project offers.
With these parting words, I wish you all a great summer!
Kind regards,
Rubén García
Project coordinator