Renovating buildings to save energy

Photo-reporting from what used to be a run-down district in Valladolid, Spain, that has now become a model of sustainable living in cities

In the suburbs of Valladolid, a city in central Spain, a district is at the forefront of Europe's energy transition. With its 19 residential buildings and a single tower block, surrounded by a small park, it was built in the 1960s for employees of the car manufacturer FASA-Renault, which gave its name to the neighbourhood. The factory workers have long since moved on, and this middle-class district is now home to many retired people.

The area is the hub of an ambitious refurbishment plan supported by the EU project REMOURBAN, which aims to promote more sustainable cities. Valladolid hopes to halve energy consumption and to cut the neighbourhood’s CO2 emissions by 80 per cent.

Just around the corner from the newly painted façades, only one building has remained untouched. Initially some citizens rejected the refurbishments, and strongly fought the project. However, when the works started in the summer of 2016, and the benefits became clear, many resisters changed their minds, petitioning the mayor to include them. But the EU subsidies had already been allocated to those residents who had been part of the project from its inception.(...) Lire Plus

Watch the photo-reporting at: www.remourban.eu/news--events/news/renovating-buildings-to-save-energy.kl

By Margherita Sforza