The Barcelona Association of Architectural Engineers (CAATEEB), together with the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council, Barcelona Provincial Council, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and other professional associations, organisation and companies in the building sector, are organising the Rehabilita renovation week from 27 September to 1 October. The event has the goal of promoting the culture of building maintenance. This year’s edition centres on the role of renovation in the post-Covid economic recovery and the impact of the Next Generation funding from the EU. You can find all the information and sign up here.

The chair of the CAATEEB , Celestí Ventura, explains that maintenance culture has been lacking in Catalonia, noting “we need to fight the sensation in our country that buildings are forever and that once they are purchased there’s no need to do anything to them”. Only 12% of residential buildings in Catalonia over 45 years old are in good repair and some 60% were built before 1980, which is when insulation started being introduced. All this makes them poor on energy efficiency. According to data from the Catalan Energy Institute, improving their energy rating could represent a saving of 89%. Renovation also plays a key role in increasing energy efficiency, Because of this, “the European Union is placing great emphasis on renovation as a way of combatting climate change and the recovery from the economic crisis, with a significant part of the Next Generation funds set aside for this”, explains Ventura.

Renovation Week will be offering activities for professionals in this sector, with technical talks, workshops and site visits aimed at building professionals, and a fair with renovation companies and organisations displaying construction solutions in this sector. Discussion will address the opportunities opened up thanks to the Next Generation funding, in a session where the different public administrations will outline their strategy for implementing policies aimed at recovery, transformation and resilience, as well as the use of new technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) for energy renovation.

Missió Rehabilita, a programme to promote renovation

Renovation Week also aims to promote the importance of proper building maintenance. To this end the event is launching Missió Rehabilita, a special programme by the El Terrat audio-visual production company and presented by Cristina Puig, which can be seen on YouTube. Personalities from various spheres, such as Lídia Heredia, Francesc Mauri and Tian Riba, will be talking about the benefits of renovation. Questions from members of the public will also be addressed to sectoral professionals to offer guidance and advice on how to improve home maintenance. Renovation Week also includes other activities for the general public, such as workshops at schools and visits in neighbourhoods. For full information go to the website.