During the month of October, CHM has launched the European LIFE HEATLAND project, which is funded by the European Union's LIFE program for the environment and climate action, and is managed by the European Commission. The National Authority in Spain is the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, through the Directorate General of Services.
The general objective of this project is to demonstrate rational and economically viable environmental solutions to reduce the “Heat Island”in urban areas, greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 and NOxand noise pollution in cities.
Specifically, it's about using a new cold asphaltCool pavement), developed by CHM and the Construction Technology Center of the Region of Murcia (CTCON), which has lower solar absorption than conventional pavements. During the project's development, we will attempt to verify the percentage reduction in air temperature in cities, as well as the temperature on the pavement surface itself, which would lead to an improvement in the quality of life in urban areas and is expected to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change mitigation.
CHM's participation is focused on manufacturing and extending up to 24,000m.2 from this new pavement, in the city of Murcia, likely during 2018. This application will serve as a basis for determining if the new pavement developed is reliable and can be exported to other national or European cities. To this end, four measuring towers will be installed that, throughout the testing program, will allow for the collection of 1.5 million data points, as they will record, every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day and for 2 years, the following parameters: pavement surface temperature, air temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar irradiation, ozone in the air, light level, and noise.
LIFE HEATLAND has an estimated duration of 3 years, a global budget of €1.3 million, and also involves the Murcia City Council, CTCON, as well as the Regional Federation of Construction Entrepreneurs of Murcia (FRECOM) and the Slovenian construction sector cluster.