IRH Project
Innovative Residential Housing for the Mediterranean
Context
The IRH project was launched within the context of lacking application of sustainability criteria in the residential building sector in the Mediterranean regions, as well as of a considerable amount of disperse energy and environmental labels with different criteria and indicators.
Objective
Retaining the Mediterranean identity and taking into account region specific socio-economic conditions, the IRH project´s main objective is to improve the competitiveness of innovative and sustainable models for the housing sector. The specific objectives that the project aims to achieve are to facilitate the development of common guidelines and policy approaches to assessing the sustainability of Mediterranean residential buildings in order to promote the use of sustainable and responsible models of housing.
Considering the quantity of different regional approaches, IRH-Med assumes a holistic approach to the formulation of sustainability principles, aiming to quantify the overall environmental & social impact of residential buildings along its complete Life Cycle. In particular, IRH will consider as assessment parameters the following areas
Territory and Site
Materials
Energy
Water
Health and Comfort
Socio economic aspects
Management
The project started in September 2010 and is funded by the EU-Med program and the various entities involved in the project. The project is led by ACC1Ó with the support of the Department of Territory and Sustainability of the Government of Catalonia and with the participation of 10 partners from the Mediterranean regions of France, Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Catalonia. During the year 2011 the seven main areas and sub-areas of investigation have been established, as well as a number of criteria and indicators in order to assess the sustainability of residential buildings, both existing, new build and in the process of being refurbished. The established method was applied to different residential buildings to check its suitability.
Expected Results:
Analysis of legislative framework, institutional tools and existing environmental labels
Table with areas, criteria and indicators for assessing sustainability in housing
Guidelines for the implementation of environmental labels in the Mediterranean regions
Partners
5 Mediterranean countries, 10 partners
ACC1Ó, Government of Catalonia
CRES Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving, Greece
Consorzio Nazionale Qualità Casa, Italy
CRMA, Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Marseille Provence, France
Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar, Croatia
Department of Territory and Sustainability, Government of Catalonia
Association bâtiments durable Méditerranéens, France
Provincia di Ravenna, Italy
Municipality of Rhodes, Greece
Assessorato Territorio ed Ambiente, Sicily Region
Involvement / participation of LIMA
LIMA has participated in the project lending technical and scientific support to the Department of Territory and Sustainability of the Government of Catalonia in the preparation of the proposed system of indicators to include in the general scheme for assessing the sustainability of residential buildings.
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