Sustainable refurbishment of the old Tarragona Customs House

The refurbishment of the old Tarragona Customs House transformed a historic building into 34 residential flats, integrating advanced sustainability and energy efficiency criteria. The project, promoted by Grupo Reside, obtained BREEAM® ES Housing certification with a "Very Good" rating, becoming the first building with this classification in the province of Tarragona.

Zero Consulting participated as a sustainability consultant, leading the certification process and defining strategies in energy, materials and project management to ensure compliance with environmental requirements.

Outstanding sustainable strategies

• Energy efficiency: passive solutions and improvements to the building envelope were incorporated: windows with class 4 permeability and low-emissivity glass with argon, interior insulation using mineral wool. In addition, the roof integrates 34 photovoltaic modules and 6 solar thermal panels, capable of generating more than 60% of the energy used for DHW.
• Lighting efficiency: the building incorporates LED lighting in interior and exterior spaces, together with presence sensors, daylight sensors and astronomical clocks to optimise the operation of the exterior lighting. These measures significantly reduce electricity consumption associated with lighting.
• Water management: to reduce water consumption, the following were installed: flow reducers on taps and showers, dual-flush toilets, low-consumption appliances. These solutions make it possible to achieve water savings of more than 50%, as well as incorporating monitoring systems to control consumption.
• Ecology and biodiversity: An ecological study of the site was carried out to minimise the environmental impact of the project. Indigenous species adapted to the local climate were planted in the inner courtyard, which require only rainwater and contribute to improving urban biodiversity.
• Construction monitoring:environmental monitoring was carried out during construction through a digital platform that recorded water consumption, fuel and waste management, ensuring compliance with environmental criteria during the construction phase.

Results