The European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) is the largest event dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency that is organized in Europe on an annual basis. During the EUSEW week, all kinds of awareness-raising activities are carried out aimed at improving Europe’s energy future and on the importance of adopting responsible energy measures and increasing the use of renewable energy sources.
In Catalonia, various entities have promoted during the week activities, informative talks and open days in various institutions and organizations. Among them, it is worth mentioning the participation of Urbicsa, which as the concessionaire company in charge of the operation of the Ciutat de la Justícia de Barcelona i l’Hospitalet de Llobregat organized an open day for its energy facilities.
This open day consisted of an informative talk and a visit to the premises of the judicial complex of Barcelona and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. For a few hours, and accompanied by staff from ‘La Ciutat’, they were able to tour the different facilities and check the efficiency of the actions carried out in recent years, as well as see in situ, the latest investments made in the production of renewable energies.
To carry out all these important advances in energy matters, Urbicsa has had its own Energy Efficiency Committee for years, which studies how to reduce CO₂ emissions through a better optimization of available resources and an improvement of all the daily processes of the judicial complex. The goal of this continued reduction is to be able to achieve zero emissions by 2050 (Net Zero).
The strategic plan to achieve the ambitious plans set out by the Energy Committee already has important achievements to its credit. Among the most outstanding actions, it is worth mentioning the recent expansion of the solar panel park to advance decisively in the use of clean energy production.
In 2008, Urbicsa promoted the installation of more than 400 solar panels that have generated approximately 65.6 MWh per year of green energy. Recently, it was decided to renew and expand its capacity by installing an additional 2,000 square meters, which will mean generating an electrical power of 597.70 MWh per year and avoiding the emission into the atmosphere of 370 tons of CO₂ per year.
Other measures that have been implemented in recent years by the Urbicsa team has been the replacement of the 168 conventional streetlamps with Led street lamps. Electric chargers have also been installed so that subscribers can recharge their electric vehicles for free and spaces have been enabled for the parking of electric scooters and bicycles, encouraging the use of non-polluting means of transport.
Another highlight is the water reuse system that the Ciutat de la Justícia de Barcelona i l’Hospitalet de Llobregat has had for years, by which rainwater is stored, greatly reducing the use of drinking water.
