Sorigué, finalist in the World Smart City Awards 2024
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November 6, 2024
The Regenerar Barcelona project, developed by the business group together with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, is a finalist in the Infrastructure and Building category with a proposal that improves the habitability and energy efficiency of dwellings.
The World Smart City Awards, which each year recognise the most innovative initiatives in the field of urban development, have selected the Regenerar Barcelona (RegBCN) project by Sorigué as one of its three finalists. After competing with 429 entries from 64 countries, reaching this stage is a significant achievement due to its international projection and recognition. RegBCN is an initiative of Constraula, Sorigué’s city services company, in partnership with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), which consists of adding a modular structure of frames and timber framework to building façades.
The system makes it possible to improve, protect, re-equip and expand dwellings and their community spaces. Adaptable to the needs of each building, this proposal facilitates the configuration of its own bioclimatic environment with green roofs, photovoltaic panels, cisterns and a Smart Building sensor system.
The result is a larger, biocomfortable building with a notable improvement in its energy efficiency, as CO₂ emissions and the construction model remain well below the sector’s benchmark values. In fact, RegBCN uses locally sourced, recyclable and reusable materials that are dry-assembled to create demountable modules.
About the awards
The World Smart City Awards in which the project has participated are presented within the framework of the Smart City Expo World Congress held in Barcelona between 5 and 7 November. The event, the most important in the world in terms of urban development, has more than 1,100 exhibitors representing 850 cities that share their concern for sustainable and intelligent growth.
The 13th edition of the World Smart City Awards has had the highest participation to date, with 429 entries, and its purpose is to recognise the most innovative ideas to improve the quality of life of city inhabitants.
In the Infrastructure and Building category, in which Regenerar Barcelona has been a finalist, the project Improving Affordable Housing, which promotes the construction of affordable housing in Toronto (Canada), and Glass to Concrete, which promotes the replacement of sand with processed glass in the manufacture of concrete in the city of Charlotte (USA), also participate.
In the Infrastructure and Building category, in which Regenerar Barcelona has been a finalist, the project Improving Affordable Housing, which promotes the construction of affordable housing in Toronto (Canada), and Glass to Concrete, which promotes the replacement of sand with processed glass in the manufacture of concrete in the city of Charlotte (USA), also participate.
It is the second time that RegBCN has received recognition for its contribution to urban sustainability. The Barcelona City Council had already selected it as one of the best building refurbishment systems and is evaluating its social and environmental impact over a year with a prototype installed on a plot of land at the UPC Diagonal-Besòs Campus, in Sant Adrià de Besòs. The objective is for this solution to be able to expand to contribute to the decarbonisation of the city.
Innovation at the service of cities
Throughout its 70-year history, Sorigué has specialised in the provision of services to cities, contributing to their sustainable growth. In this effort, innovation plays a fundamental role and, in fact, the business group has carried out a large number of studies on new technologies and procedures that help improve people’s quality of life and decarbonise urban environments.
Among the research projects that the group is currently carrying out and that can have an impact on cities are Reconstruct, to promote the production of renewable materials in the construction sector, and ResActiv, for the reuse of waste from tyres in the manufacture of activated carbon filters.