Research Lines
Energy transition and climate adaptation in cities & communities

Innovation Unit
Building, Energy and Environment (BeeGroup)
We believe that empowering people and integrating territorial knowledge is essential for a fair and inclusive energy transition. We combine the active participation of consumers and managers with advanced territorial planning and urban analytics tools that improve decision-making by individuals, institutions, and local governments.
We have recently broadened our focus to include climate resilience and spatial vulnerability, integrating socio-economic, energy, and environmental data. In projects such as Climate Ready Barcelona, we develop tools that identify areas and groups at greater risk from energy poverty and extreme weather.
A key component is our Climate Vulnerability Index (IVC), a comprehensive indicator assessing exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to heat waves. Applied in cities such as Barcelona, the IVC guides the prioritisation of interventions in urban planning, rehabilitation, and adaptation policies (e.g., climate shelters, trees, shade, heat island management).
We work in two main areas:
• Urban climate adaptation and resilience, using MAPA and MCity to map risks, model scenarios, and support local action.
• Community energy transition, promoting energy communities (CCEE), dynamic distribution, and optimisation of distributed resources (PV, BESS) to reduce costs and emissions.
We strive to turn residents, managers, and buildings into proactive agents of the energy transition, ensuring no one is left behind.

Definition
Identify needs and analyse energy use and generation data

Design
Develop strategies for energy sharing and optimization with experts and local communities

Analysis
Assess models for energy flows and community behaviors.

Implementation
Apply solutions for retrofitting and smart energy control

Evaluation
Monitor results and refine energy community performance.
Research Projects
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