Energy efficiency. In 2014 the Bilbao Exhibition Centre is to embark on a new phase of the EPIC-HUB European energy efficiency research programme. It has been acting as a “demonstrator” of the viability of the programme for over a year, and the data collected to date by the management of the Centre have enabled an initial diagnostic analysis of energy demands and surpluses to be drawn up. In the coming months sensors will be fitted in the exhibition halls, the car parks, the atrium and elsewhere in the complex to provide more detailed information on the main areas of improvement identified in the study.
The firms Acciona and Tekniker are to use these data to develop energy management software in Spain to cover the BEC itself, the surrounding residential areas and other strategic locations in the vicinity. Cruces Hospital and Barakaldo Town Hall have both expressed their willingness to collaborate on the programme. The final outcome is to be compatible with existing ICT systems in a given area, and applicable to other areas with similar characteristics.
Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Serbia and the Czech Republic are taking part in EPIC-HUB through a consortium that also incorporates two major infrastructures – the Port of Genoa and Belgrade Airport – and leading firms such as Thales, Honeywell and D’Appolonia, the Italian consultancy firm which is acting as the project leader. The next pooling of information between them will take place at the third monitoring meeting, scheduled to take place in Belgrade in March.
The project is to last for 42 months, and the key date is April 2016, by which time the new energy use system is to be ready. This system will link residential communities with large-scale amenities to create bigger, much more sustainable energy management units. The struggle against climate change and the search for social, economic and technological competitiveness has turned energy efficiency into a priority issue for the 2014-2020 EU budgets.
