Spanish technology center offers a holistic methodology to reduce the economic risks of district energy retrofitting projects

A Spanish technology center, funded in 1994, offers transversal, integrated and innovative solutions to companies to improve their processes, developments, systems and products. It operates in five economic sectors: i) industry, ii) energy and environment, iii) construction and infrastructure, iv) agro-food, and v) health and quality of life. The technology center offers a holistic district energy retrofitting methodology, developed in the framework of an EU funded project, to comprehensive plan and select the most appropriate energy solutions to reduce the economic risks and to guarantee the desired energy performance, especially in large-scale renovation works. It guarantees the successful planning and implementation of integrated retrofitting projects at district level, and allows to, systematically, design complex renovation projects. The methodology also integrates district sustainability indicators (DSI), building information modelling (BIM), integrated project delivery (IPD) and energy and life cycle simulation tools for selecting the most suitable combination of energy conservation measures for retrofitting interventions. The methodology improve the decision-making process in district retrofitting projects providing better results by i) monitoring the achievement of objectives throughout the process, and ii) establishing stakeholders' responsibilities. It reduces personal costs due to time savings, particularly in the design and decision-making stages, and improves the organizational tasks and communication workflows before, during and after the intervention. The district energy retrofitting design methodology has been tested in 3 demonstration sites in the framework of the EU project, and the solution is being optimized and tailored to end-user needs through additional study cases. The methodology can be applied to: - Strategic energy planning of districts - Energy-efficient building retrofitting selection - Building retrofitting management - Design of new buildings under a holistic energy-efficient approach - Evaluation, validation and reinforcement of tendering and bidding proposals - Evaluation of compliance with initial energy objectives after intervention and proposition of actions to improve critical aspects during the building/district lifespan The partnerships sought are construction firms, design companies, building owners or municipalities interested in implementing the methodology for specific retrofitting activities in real size scale. And in companies or public administration interested in further development of this methodology to be tested and analysed under research and techical cooperation agreements to participate in EU funding programs: - ICT companies could be involved for implementing tools using the developed methodology as starting point - Municipalities could validate the methodology at city level and collaborate in the redefinition to make it adaptable for other different dimensions.