The éBRICKhouse team of the Universitat Jaume I, part of the e’LivingLab Project (espaitec) specialises in building projects to build solar-run homes. They have recently announced a new collaboration with the Castellón City Council in promoting actions that intend to improve urban mobility, energy efficiency of buildings, and sustainable city and town planning in the city of Castellón. The collaboration agreement will be signed in the next few months following the first meeting held at the espaitec Science, technology and Business Park of the Universitat Jaume I on 22 March. In this meeting, the following people participated: Rafa Simó, the Councillor of Land Planning, Mobility and the Metropolitan Area of Castellón, and the people in charge of the éBRICKhouse team, coordinated by the teacher of Architectural Buildings, Teresa Gallego.

Some of the actions to be undertaken to promote energy savings are expected to take place during the Sustainability Week, to be held in Castellón in September. These actions will emphasise making young people and businesses aware about the importance of energy efficiency in buildings. «One of this government’s commitments is to accomplish close collaboration with the Universitat Jaume I and, along these lines, the éBRICKhouse team frames such collaboration », Rafa Simó stressed. The councillor also added that «we must make the best of the synergies that may arise between the Castellón City Council and the university to exchange knowledge and experiences». The Head of the Land Planning Area insisted that “the Castellón City Council is always open to collaboration between companies and leading R&D&I organisations to provide added value to our city”.

During the meeting, those in charge of 2016 éBRICKhouse explained to Rafa Simó the project worked by a multidisciplinary and international team made up of students and teachers from the architecture and engineering area of the UJI School of Technology and Experimental Sciences. Its mission is to redesign and rebuild the solar-run house prototype that was taken to the 2014 Solar Decathlon Europe Competition, and which will remain as a permanent building on the campus to be visited and to be used as a livinglab. The councillor stressed the work being done at the university by means of such projects, and encouraged students and collaborators to participate in initiatives that promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and personal and professional development.

We wish the éBRICKhouse team luck with the launch of this new project and look forward to updates over the coming months.