We believe it is necessary to promote one energy transition towards a sustainable model which, in our sector of activity, must be based on reducing energy consumption and the environmental impact at all stages of a building's life, from its construction to its use, maintenance and demolition We know that the use of homes generates approximately 30% of the country's CO2 emissions, and that this energy consumption during use accounts for 75% of the emissions produced by a building throughout its useful life. For this reason, a scalable construction and management model that allows the control of energy consumption and at the same time the implementation of renewable energy installations is essential. 

The cooperative housing model, due to its intrinsic characteristics, presents several advantages that facilitate this model.

1. Self promotion It is the people who will live there who make the decisions during the construction of the building, and for this reason, they are the first interested in implementing all the energy saving and passive energy capture measures that can be provided, both for its economic and ecological return. This fact is not without contradictions and tension, in the balance that partners must seek between the economic effort of the initial investment and the medium-long term return.
2. life in common The fact of sharing, consubstantial to cooperativism, is already a factor of sustainability. The promotions of Sostre Cívic they consist of rather small homes, but they are equipped with large and multipurpose collective spaces as an extension of the private spaces, which are used intensively and more efficiently. Centralized and collective installations are implemented in all the projects, which make exclusive use of renewable energies, which are more economical and efficient. Ultimately, collective well-being is sought by sharing common spaces, facilities, resources, etc.
3. Participation and collective management. The partners are involved both in the design and construction, as well as in the use of the building. This is an advantage over conventional promotion, as the projects:
   1. They adapt to the real needs of the users, with a good standard of comfort, but at the same time it is austere if we compare it to others.
   2. They are designed to change and grow over time, which makes it easier for the building to improve and adapt to the new challenges that the uncertain future of climate change may pose, they are resilient projects. 
   3. They are monitored and managed by the same users who, as co-owners, are involved in the reduction of consumption and the continuous improvement of the facilities and the building.

Environmental sustainability a Sostre Cívic

Environmental sustainability has been one of the pillars of the cooperative since its inception, and thus appears collected in the Social Statutes of the entity (article 8). However, in 2020 the Governing Council approved the architectural criteria book of Sostre Cívic, where, among other aspects, it is determined that all the projects of new work or major rehabilitation of the cooperative will have the energy rating A, and criteria for reducing the environmental and health impact of construction materials are established. 

In this sense, during the year 2022 and thanks to Unique Projects, we have developed a new line of activity to promote renewable energies, efficient installations and cooperative consumption management in our cooperative housing projects. The first actions taken were:

1. Creation of a technical office for the implementation and management of centralized renewable energy installations of cooperative housing projects. 
2. Incorporation of new tools for economic management of the services associated with the buildings' consumption and supplies.
3. Digitization of energy production and consumption through implementation of a facility monitoring system. This action allows us to carry out a cooperative management of both production and consumption in each project, as well as to carry out a control and an exhaustive analysis of consumption, with the aim of establishing patterns of improvement, optimization and savings in the use of the facilities, both for the communities and for each of the homes, while promoting the responsible consumption of energy and resources.
4. Creation, as a pilot test, of a Local Energy Community as an innovative formula for the production of renewable energy and collective self-consumption, generating impact and energy empowerment in the community and in people outside the cooperative.

A project with the support of the Unique Projects program

This project has been possible thanks to having been beneficiaries of the Projectes Singulars 2021 program with the project "Production, self-consumption and digitization of renewable energies in cooperative housing".

The call of the Unique Projects its purpose is to generate employment through the creation of new business projects, new lines of business, new companies and new markets within the framework of the social and cooperative economy and taking advantage of strategic opportunities in the same activity sector or the territory.

This grant is within the framework of the Social Economy, and is promoted by the Department of Work, Social Affairs and Families of the Generalitat de Catalunya, with funding from the Ministry of Employment and Social Security of the State Public Employment Service.