The Building

The building will be used for laboratories and will provide areas for spin-offs related to nutrition, food, and dietetics (2,100 m2); metabolopathies (2,100 m2) as well as the development of the Digital Knowledge Society (950 m2). 

The building has entailed an initial investment of 8 560,000 €, which will give a total built area of 7,500 m2, and it has been designed to provide a springboard for researching social aspects of sustainable building. It also offers a prototype on which to test hypotheses related to environmental evaluation of buildings and associated techniques. It will offer the chance to investigate a range of features that will shed light on other as yet unexplored areas, using only renewable energies.

The keys to achieving this will mainly come through; energy saving, a reduction in water consumption, use of low environmental impact materials, and management of any waste generated in the building, both during construction and use as well as in future demolition, applying specific techniques for disassembly, reuse, and recycling. 

The building’s bioclimatic design, increased insulation, passive ventilation, and other strategies, enable energy demand to be cut by over 50%.

There is a 45% saving on lighting costs thanks to the building’s 46% glass covered area, special treatment of openings, zenithal or vertical lighting systems (light tubes), and lighting control dependent upon available outdoor light .…
Compared to a standard building of similar characteristics, there is a 60% energy saving (mainly on gas and electricity). Added to this is the energy channelled to other adjacent buildings, the saving in which comes to 30%. 

Energy is produced through a biomass trigeneration system that provides the electricity, heating, hot water, and air-conditioning which is required. Photovoltaic energy and geothermal wells are also used. A Zero Energy Building is thus created. 

All the energies used are renewable. The building can thus be said to have a 0 (ZERO) CO2 balance. 

The building has applied for LEED Platinum (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification as well as the highest “four leaf” rating in the Spanish VERDE (GBCEspaña) green building system.