BAC, committed to sustainability and reducing environmental impact
Sustainability, building, structures, structural engineering, environment, environmental impact, carbon footprint
Heatherwick Studio + CLK architects + BAC Engineering Consultancy Group have been selected by Europe’s leading department store El Corte Inglés to design a pioneering new office building in Madrid.
Located close to El Corte Inglés’ flagship store in Paseo de la Castellana, the building area is nearly 15,000 sqm. Construction for this speculative office building will start in early 2022 and is due to complete in 2024.
Demonstrating a solid commitment to the environment and the belief that great design makes more liveable cities, Castellana 69 promotes both social and environmental sustainability. This is embodied in the innovative façade and the central ‘green heart’, provided by a courtyard inside the building, bursting with trees and plants to bring nature into the centre of the workplace and the city.
This approach is amplified by the choice of healthy and sustainable materials, advanced technology and by harnessing natural resources. Solar panels on the building will produce more energy than the building consumes and the building will ultimately become net zero carbon. Furthermore, the amount of embodied carbon used in construction will be a fraction of a typically constructed office
building.
Another goal is to humanise the workplace by creating an inspiring and stimulating environment and providing organisational flexibility that responds to society’s demands for new working patterns. The design takes full advantage of the local climate with a seamless flow from indoor to outdoor working and social spaces.
BAC starts training for safe and efficient driving
This weekend a safe and efficient driving course was carried out by a first BAC team at the RACC Advanced Driving Center located at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló.
Within the continuous training campaign and improvement in our processes and their safety, this training has been launched for BAC staff who use the car in their day-to-day work as a work tool.
The course has been carried out within the framework of Occupational Risk Prevention of BAC, whose main objective is to obtain theoretical and practical knowledge in traffic accident prevention and thus approach zero risk and maximum safety for all trips, and raise awareness how with efficient driving it is possible to reduce the emissions generated in combustion vehicles and reduce consumption.
According to those responsible for training the course, it has been calculated that within the group that has taken the course, there has been a 19% reduction in the accident rate, and a reduction in fuel consumption of 18%.
RACC Advanced Driving Center, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Environmental flows, an emergency for our rivers
In BAC, together with Sorelló and Engisic we are conducting a study to determine the optimal circulating flow and improve the biological and habitat diversity of different sections of Catalan rivers, a project directed by the Agència Catalana de l’Aigua
Rivers are ecosystems in which a great variety of living beings develop their life cycles. In the rivers we can find fish, but also insect larvae, mollusks such as clams or freshwater snails, birds, mammals such as otters or amphibians such as frogs and newts. Also we can find a diversity of of plants and algae adapted to live in this environment.
The different organisms that inhabit rivers have particular needs for substrate (sandy bottoms, stony bottoms …) and flow, that is, the amount of water and its speed, in order to develop their life cycles. The combination of types of substrates and quantity and speed of water is what we call “habitats” and these habitats determine which species we can find in a stretch of river. For example, trouts need fast, cold currents and stony substrates in order to capture their prey and lay their eggs. In contrast, carps prefer calmer waters and muddy bottoms. Some insects, like the caddisflies, need fast currents of water to be able to collect the food carried by the current, whereas the freshwater snails prefer calmer waters. So, the more diverse the habitats in a river are, the more diversity of plants and animals we will have, the more biodiversity we will have.
Unfortunately there are different factors that affect the flow of rivers, and therefore the diversity of habitats. Climate change is altering the periodicity of rains. At the same time climate change alters rain intensity. These changes in frequency and intensity affect the amount of water flowing in rivers. On the other hand, some human activities such as the creation of dams for irrigation or dams for the production of energy, when withdrawing water from the river or reservoirs, also alter the natural water regime that rivers must carry. These structures reduce the amount of water that flows through the river or its speed. Changes in flow and velocity affect the diversity of habitats that we would expect to find in a stretch of river and this impoverishes the diversity of species.
To ensure the maximum biodiversity, the Hydrographic Confederations and Environmental Agencies have established environmental flows. The combination of types of substrates, quantity and speed of water condition the habitats and which species we can find in a stretch of river. Environmental flows are intended to ensure that a sufficient amount of water flows through the river to ensure diversity of habitats and thus allow as many species as possible to develop their life cycles, while ensuring human uses of the water.
In this study “Technical assistance prior to the drafting of the management plan and the program of measures for the third cycle of hydrological planning: Monitoring of the implementation of environmental flows and review of flows for future planning cycles” commissioned by the Catalan Water Agency and directed by BAC together with the companies Sorelló and Engisic, our objectives are:
- To update the technical studies to determine the environmental flow regime in the internal basins of Catalonia
- To monitor the effects of the introduction of environmental flows on the quantity of aquatic organisms and the diversity of species.
To achieve these objectives, a team of biologists and engineers develop field work to determine the circulating flow, the diversity of habitats and the biological diversity in different sections of Catalan rivers and carry out statistical studies to determine how environmental flows increase the diversity of habitats and favor the diversity of species and the abundance of organisms.
BAC works on the recovery of natural areas
The recovery of natural spaces and the conservation of biodiversity is a global challenge that requires the efforts of the whole world.
Thanks to the 360 ° work monitoring we can see the result of the works of the Project to improve the lower section of the Riera de en Font a Mongat, where BAC Enginnering Consultancy Group has taken the Technical Assistance to the Facultative Management.
The project has been drawn up and executed by the AMB, with Eurocatalana as the contractor, and has had as its main objectives the improvement of the accessibility of the area, the consolidation of the recreational use of the existing park and the intensification of the fluvial character of the stream, currently very denatured.
As main works, it is necessary to highlight the improvement of the drainage of the area (building ponds at the foot of the slope and green ditches), the construction of a multipurpose grandstand in the upper esplanade of the park and the improvement of the children’s play area and living areas .
The identity of a water system such as a seasonal stream, transition between two environments (fluvial and saline) has also been recovered with the planting of species adapted to saline climates such as Salix purpurea, Vitex agnus-castus, Casuarian equisetifolia, Parkinsonia aculeata or Tamarix gallica; and river species, such as Populus alba and nigra, Fraixinus angustifolia and Celtis australis, among others.
The technical assistance to the Construction Management has been provided by Oscar Bustos, with the support of Pablo Eito in the gardening and irrigation work.
We encourage you to come and enjoy this green space so close to the beach.
If you cannot go, we leave you here a link to see the park with a 360 ° perspective
BAC participates on the extension and reform of the Albacete University Hospital Complex
The works are financed by the Castilla-La Mancha Health Service and the European Regional Development Fund.
The Castilla – La Mancha Health Service has awarded BAC in a joint venture with Bureau Veritas the service contract for the “Quality control of the extension and reform works of the Albacete University Hospital Complex”.
The work that includes quality control covers the following sections:
- Control of reception on site of the products, equipment and systems that are supplied to the Works
- Control of the execution of the work
- Control of the finished work that includes the final tests for the commissioning of the facilities, in relation to the mandatory regulations and regulations and what are specified in the different Project documents.
This investment is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, through the FEDER Operational Program of Castilla-La Mancha 2014-2020.
BAC participates in the new remodeling phase of the Meridiana Avenue
BAC will be responsible of the site supervision of the works of one of the main arteries of Barcelona that aims to pacify traffic and integrate pedestrians and bicycles into the environment.
BAC has been awarded the contract for “management services for the reform works of Meridiana avenue between Mallorca street and Navas de Tolosa and Josep Estivill streets, Phase 1. Sant martí and Sant Andreu districts, with public procurement measures sustainable. File number 611.2020.006 “
The work is scheduled to begin on April 6 and last approximately 1 year. The director of the works will be Ariadna Sancho.
Within the framework of this action, it is planned to create a central median with a cycle lane and vegetation, reduce the traffic lanes to three in each direction and reserve the sidewalks for pedestrians.
The section, half a kilometre long, will be distributed as follows:
- A central median of more than 9 meters wide: a 4.3 meter two-way bike lane with flower beds and trees on both sides.
- Reduction of space for private vehicles and one bus lane in each direction.
- Sidewalks for the exclusive use of pedestrians: the elimination of the bike lanes that currently exist on the sidewalk will free up space for walking and allow new flowerbeds to be located.
The works in this phase include:
- Site supervision
- Monitoring and control of execution
- Valuation of the works
- Collection of execution information
- Technical validation of the works
It is not the first time that BAC has carried out the works of Construction Management for the remodeling of Avenida Meridiana, previously the BAC did the site supervision of the section that included from Calle Aragón to Calle Mallorca.
