Calculator for the carbon footprint of Madrid's urban plans

Source:  nebrija.com

Alexandra Delgado, professor of Urban Planning and principal researcher of the Nebrija Research Group Architecture and Urban Planning in the Face of Social, Economic and Territorial Transformations (At-the-oUTSET), explained the carbon footprint calculator developed by Nebrija University for urban planning in the Community of Madrid. This "scientific and measurable planning" tool can help in decision-making in the construction of new neighbourhoods or urban fabrics "that must respect the needs of people and the diversity of ecosystems".

In the current climate crisis, Delgado alluded to this type of measurement in the face of biodiversity loss, soil sealing, deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. "With specific data, with more rigorous, contrasted and comparable information, citizens can know the value of the neighbourhoods where they live," he said.

After stressing that environmental aspects are increasingly taken into account in the governance of a territory, the Nebrija researcher listed the nine variants of the carbon footprint calculator in the context of the Community of Madrid: basic data, residential use, tertiary use, institutional use, industrial use, road and green areas, sink and mitigation, results by use and type, and final report.

Mariano Oliveros, Deputy Director General of Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainable Development (Directorate General for Sustainability and Climate Change) of the Community of Madrid, thanked Nebrija University for the development of this tool. "It is essential to measure these variables if we want to reach emissions neutrality by 2050," he said.

In his opinion, the distribution of the population, the real estate sector, the economic structure and transport all influence greenhouse gas emissions, an issue "that we in the Community of Madrid must take seriously".

Sergio Zubelu, professor and researcher at the Higher Technical School of Agricultural, Food and Biosystems Engineering (Universidad Politécnica Madrid), also took part in the debate, which was part of the Higher Polytechnic School Week and moderated by the researcher Roberto Álvarez, who spoke about Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) and, specifically, about infrastructures for the reduction of the carbon footprint associated with the hydrological cycle in urban basins.