OHL joins a new European RDI project: A-ZEB

OHL is one of the eight members of the European consortium, and the only Spanish construction company taking part in A-ZEB: Affordable Zero Energy Buildings, project focusing on the development and large-scale expansion of an efficient method for optimizing the costs of buildings that produce more energy than they consume, and which are classed as nearly zero energy or energy +. This initiative, which will run for 30 months, is framed within the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union. 

The Project will enable the preparation of a method that can be applied to the whole life cycle of buildings, from design to construction and maintenance. A-ZEB also includes the study and selection of technologies that apply to the different climate zones of Europe through the assessment of a number of case studies in the countries that take part in the consortium, in real conditions: Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Holland. 

This project will run alongside three others that OHL is taking part in at present, through major European consortiums. In the case of standalone buildings, OHL forms part of RESSEEPE (REtrofitting Solutions and Services for the Enhancement of Energy Efficiency in Public Edification), which focuses on making public buildings more energy efficient through the active and passive use of technological innovations to improve their energy efficiency; and BUILT2SPEC (Built to Specifications: Tools for the 21st Century Construction Worksite), which aims to improve quality control in construction processes in order to reduce a building or structure’s energy consumption, once it has been built or renovated.

OHL also takes part in LIFE EQUINOX –surface treatments for asphalt roads to eliminate nitrogen oxide from urban areas -, a project that forms part of the LIFE+ programme, the European Union’s only financial instrument exclusively dedicated to environmental issues. This initiative has enabled the development of new urban pavement which can reduce the concentration of nitrogen oxides (NOx) generated by road traffic. It has been tested in several areas of Madrid, and can become an alternative method for combatting the high pollution levels that are found in our cities. 

Other European projects in which OHL has taken part are FOTsis (Field Operational Test On Safe, Intelligent and Sustainable Road Operation), which looks at developing new technologies for road transport and NeTTUN (New Technologies for tunneling and underground work), which deals with the construction, maintenance and management of tunnels throughout their life cycle. . 

Commitment to RDI

OHL has carried out over 300 RDI projects, 30 of which are under way, and it has 21 patents in force. It has worked with more than 90 universities and research centers, and is today collaborating with 26 universities and technology centers.