On Friday 1 October, a team of investigators from eight European countries met at the Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB, Barcelona Science Park) to officially mark the start of the research project SARA (Sustainable Architecture Applied to Replicable Public Access Buildings). This project aims to promote sustainable architecture through the construction of eight public building prototypes, one of which is the Health Care Centre in carrer Roger de Flor in Barcelona. Located at the PCB, the Euroregional Photovoltaic Systems Group , a research team that forms part of the Universitat de Barcelona, is responsible for coordinating the project. The aim is to reduce the energy consumption of these buildings by more than 30% without increasing costs by more than 5%.

”

The opening act of the project was held on 1 October. It was attended by the UB rector, Joan Tugores, the general secretary to the vice-president of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Autonomous Government of Catalonia), Raimon Carrasco, and the president of the Advisory Committee for Sustainable Development of the Generalitat, Gabriel Ferraté. During the act, Joan Tugores stressed the commitment of the university to sustainability through initiatives such as SARA. In addition, Raimon Carrasco commented that “the objective of the Government is to promote sustainable development”, and ” in the coming years more than 400,000€ will be invested in schools, in which energy efficiency will be addressed “. In this regard, Gabriel Ferraté announced that the energy-saving policies that will be promoted by the Advisory Committee will use the SARA project as a reference “. Health Care Centre which will be built in Barcelona

The buildings included in the project, which incorporate innovative architectonic solutions, go further than meeting the current requirements established in the European directive on energy consumption in public buildings. This will imply a significant impact on energy saving and on the reduction of contamination since these buildings have high energy costs. The advanced technologies on energy sustainability that will be applied include the installation of solar and photovoltaic generators, automatic systems for energy management and efficient heating and air conditioning systems. “All these measures, taken in distinct climatic regions, will provide large-scale social, urban and environmental benefits”, remarked the director of the GESP and coordinator of the project, Antoni Lloret. In this regard, the SARA project will contribute to the future development of a European energy policy and legislation and will facilitate the application of innovative sustainable technologies in the market.

In addition to the Health Care Centre in Barcelona, the following will be built around Europe: an office block in Warsaw (Poland), a university administration building in Southampton (United Kingdom), an office block with exhibition facilities in Sinabelkirchen (Austria), a supermarket in Ljubljana (Slovenia), a council building in Naples (Italy) and teaching centres in La Tour de Salvagny (France) and in Bukara (Uzbequistan). The results from the project will be analysed and disseminated in order to contribute to similar future initiatives. Given that these buildings can be copied, new public buildings throughout Europe can now be constructed using similar technologies.

SARA is one of the largest integrated European Projects in the first call of the VI Framework Programme. Coordinated from Catalonia, it brings together 16 participants, which include scientific and research organizations, city councils and promoter agencies, and has a total budget of 6 million Euros.