• The City Council, through the departments of Development and Urban Agenda, is beginning the laying of new reflective asphalt as part of the ‘Life Heatland’ project, an initiative that seeks to minimize the urban heat island effect and reduce energy consumption in the surrounding area..

Murcia, February 3, 2019.The City Council, through the Department of Development, headed by Mario Gómez, and the Department of Urban Agenda and Open Government, headed by Mercedes Bernabé, continues to work on the implementation of the ‘Life Heatland’ project. This is being done through a demonstrator materialized by CHM, which aims to minimize the urban heat island effect by using new pavements with lower solar storage capacity than conventional ones.

Furthermore, efforts will be made to reduce energy consumption in the implementation environment, through expected savings in public lighting and air conditioning. Likewise, it is expected to reduce atmospheric pollutant levels and the formation of smog.

“This agglomerate was tested a few months ago on various streets to check if the asphalt, which replaces bitumen with synthetic compounds, is similar to traditional bituminous mixtures and can be implemented first on high-capacity roads in the city and, subsequently, in other urban areas, highlights Mario Gómez.

In this way, during this week from February 3rd to 7th, CHM is installing this pavement over a surface area of 24,000 m2, comprising a total of seven streets: six will be paved with cold asphalt (Monte Carmelo St., Sauce St., Carmen Conde St., Valle Inclán St., Pío Baroja Avenue, and Pintor Almela Costa St.) and one (Lope de Rueda St.) with traditional asphalt in order to compare the data obtained.

“Therefore, it is our duty to inform citizens that these arteries will be closed to traffic during the days of the work to be able to carry out the paving work,” announces Mario Gómez, who adds that on February 7th, an information point is also planned from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Avenida Pío Baroja.

Promoted by European Programs

The LIFE HEATLAND Project (LIFE16 CCA/ES/000077) is co-financed by the European Union, has a total budget of €1,359,221, and is planned to last for 3 years.

The European Programs Service, coordinated by the department of Mercedes Bernabé, is responsible for this program that primarily aims to reduce the ambient temperature of Murcia through the use of high-reflectivity pavements and thus help reduce the effects of climate change.

The goal is to achieve a reduction in air temperature of 1.5°C and a reduction in pavement surface temperature of 10°C, as well as energy savings of 71% for cooling systems and 51% for street lighting.

In the words of Mercedes Bernabé, “the project foresees developing a mathematical model to predict the effect of implementing the pavement in other urban areas, as well as demonstrating the financial viability of the new technology. It will be tested in at least four other European cities.”.

For this purpose, at the start of the project, four measurement towers have been installed which, throughout the testing program, will allow for the collection of 1.5 million data points. This is because they will record the following parameters every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day, and for 2 years: pavement surface temperature, air temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, light levels, and noise.

Furthermore, the councilwoman points out that “the objective of this program aligns with the EU's Adaptation Strategy, as it promotes the implementation of innovative adaptation technologies, such as more climate-resilient building materials.”.

The City Council is participating in the Life Heatland project alongside the Business Association for Research, the Construction Technology Center of the Region of Murcia (CTCON), the construction company CHM Obras e Infraestructuras, the Regional Federation of Construction Employers of Murcia (FRECOM), and the construction sector cluster of Slovenia.

“The execution of this project represents a further step towards the implementation of the Urban Agenda 2030, a strategy based on sustainable urban policies that improve citizens” quality of life, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the City Council's Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Plan," describes Mercedes Bernabé.