award for Best Integration of Energy in Architecture PHOTO: Courtesy

The AH Asociados studio, in Cizur Menor, has won the V award NAN de Arquitectura y Construcción 2011 in the category 'Best Integration of Energy in Architecture'. The building is the work of Miguel A. Alonso del Val, professor at School of Architecture of the University of Navarra, and Rufino J. Hernández.

The project was conceived as an integral rehabilitation of an old sawmill, preserving its structure and perimeter enclosure. From a technical point of view, it is worth noting that its design is more energy efficient than is usual in this type of building subject .

Taking advantage of the location of the building, an active ventilated roof was built to take advantage of solar radiation through the heated air in a chamber of the roof. Thus, the heat energy is used in the Building, regulating the entrance of air inside the building. During the hottest months of the year, the ventilated chamber remains open to the outside so that the air neither accumulates nor heats up.

All this is part of the project 'Improving the overall efficiency of the environmental conditioning of buildings through the use of renewable energies in active industrial enclosures', funded by the Government of Navarra with the participation of the University of the Basque Country.   

The award nominations were evaluated by an independent jury, chaired by the president of the committee Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España (CSCAE), Jordi Lludevid i Anglada; and made up of Lluís-Xavier Comerón i Graupera, president of the Architects' Association of Catalonia (COAC); the six most important construction companies in Spain (Acciona, Dragados, FCC, Ferrovial, OHL and Sacyr Vallehermoso); as well as the architects and technicians Carlos Lamela and Rafael de la-Hoz.