The city of Zaragoza is the capital city of the autonomous Aragonese region, located in the north-east of Spain. The city is known for its folklore, local cuisine, and various landmarks and historic buildings. As of 2021 the city has over 675,000 inhabitants, and is thereby the fifth biggest city in Spain. InCUBE’s demonstration site is located in the Balsas de Ebro Viejo district which lies in the north of the historic city centre.
The Balsas de Ebro Viejo District is a working-class neighbourhood constructed in 1971 with several plans for the rehabilitation as part of the District Plan, focused on achieving Efficient Energy Districts promoted by the National Recovery Plan.
Balsas de Ebro Viejo is one of the priority districts of Zaragoza to be refurbished in the next years. So far 17 blocks have already been granted aid. Estimations indicate that in previous years a total investment of €400,000 was needed per block (€40,000 per residence) to achieve energy savings of at least 60% (due to the increase of prices, this quantity is already changing). To face this investment, there are several potential scenarios depending on the funding received from the Next Generation funds for district rehabilitation, which will depend on the energy saving achieved per building. InCUBE aims to achieve an 88.5% reduction in energy consumption in the Spanish demo and therefore, the best- case scenario is expected, which means a total private owner’s investment of less than €70 per month.
InCUBE will fully renovate a 3,200m2 privately owned residential building located in the Balsas de Ebro Viejo District. The building was built in 1971 and accommodates a total of 80 inhabitants. The energy needs of the building will be reduced by 88,5% and the renewable energy production will be increased to 173MWh per year. Specific problems identified include poor insulation, and thermal leaks in the building’ envelope. Renovation interventions are expected to improve building energy efficiency and accessibility, especially for elderly residents.
InCUBE will strengthen and extend these existing initiatives through several innovative interventions at a building and neighbourhood level:
The replication potential of the Balas complex is huge, as the district itself already counts 129 additional buildings, 124 of which are architecturally similar to InCUBE buildings. This provides for a high replicability potential for such solutions, considering a total of 1,531 residence’s in the district. The Balsas complex is one of 21 complexes that were built in Zaragoza with similar features in the 1960’s, further strengthening replicability potential across the city.
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HORIZON-CL5-2021-D4-01
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
Grant agreement no. 101069610
This project is funded by the European Union under grant agreement no. 101069610. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
