Ensanche 21 has begun to inform the residents of Adurtza and San Cristóbal about the AGREE energy renovation project, the two districts where this important plan will be deployed.
Specifically, Ensanche 21 will mail a letter and a brochure detailing the characteristics of this project and during the coming weeks information meetings will be held between all the neighbours involved.
The City Council thus continues its commitment to the renovation of the neighbourhoods with the greatest needs. It has set itself the goal of mobilising a minimum of 170 homes, which may range from 15 to 20 buildings built between 1940 and 1980 in the abovementioned neighbourhoods of Vitoria-Gasteiz.
It is precisely in these buildings that the need for a major drive to improve accessibility and thermal insulation conditions has been detected, in addition to comprising a very high percentage of the elderly population, a particularly vulnerable group in terms of mobility and health.
As the Chairwoman of Ensanche 21, Ana Oregi, points out, this project will make it possible to ‘improve the quality of life of the residents and, at the same time, boost the renovation market, improve energy efficiency and make the buildings more accessible. This will in turn bring important environmental benefits such as the significant reduction of CO2 emissions, thus contributing to the decarbonisation of the city. This project is aligned with the Climate Action strategy we have designed for the coming years and consolidates Ensanche 21 as an agency for urban rehabilitation and regeneration’.
The European Agree project will finance the technical proposals or preliminary projects of the different building typologies in these two neighbourhoods. However, the corresponding works will not be financed, but will be eligible for aids granted by the public administrations in force at the time.
These technical studies will include the characteristics of the buildings and will propose different interventions or solutions, such as the installation of a lift, the restoration of the façade, etc.
They will also determine the costs that residents would have to bear if the neighbours’ community decided to carry out the work.
Ensanche 21 will inform and accompany throughout the whole process, help to compile the necessary documentation and process applications for grants and licences, among other procedures.
The European AGREE project, in which the Basque Government, TECNALIA, Ensanche 21, the Public Housing Business Entity-Donostiako Etxegintza, the Municipal Society of Basauri Town Council, Bidebi, and Ihobe (the Environmental Public Society) are participating, envisages the mobilisation of an investment in energy efficiency in residential building of at least €8.5 million through the development of innovative mechanisms for identifying, mobilising and channelling the demand for financing for the energy renovation of residential building in the Basque Country.
