On March 6, 2025, the cornerstone laying ceremony for the ISEL Carbono Zero Residence was held. This new project, located on the north campus of the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL), will provide 230 beds for students, professors and researchers, having been designed from the outset with a strong commitment to environmental and social sustainability. Funding is provided by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) under the Affordable Student Accommodation Programme.

The event was attended by several institutional entities, including the President of ISEL, Professor José Nascimento, the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Engineer Miguel Pinto Luz, the President of the Polytechnic of Lisbon, Professor António Belo, the architect responsible for the project, Miguel Correia, from Future Architecture Thinking, and Engineer Carlos Batista, from the company Tecnorém, in charge of the construction of the residence.

In his speech, the President of ISEL highlighted the long journey that preceded the start of this work, recalling that the project arose from the need to guarantee better accommodation conditions for displaced students, allowing them to continue their studies successfully. “This project represents a commitment from ISEL to its students and society. We want to ensure that no one stops studying due to lack of conditions and, at the same time, we want to do this in an innovative and sustainable way. Engineering has the responsibility of finding solutions to the challenges of our time, and this building is an example of that,” he said.

The President of the Polytechnic of Lisbon, in turn, highlighted the importance of this project in responding to the shortage of student accommodation, as well as in fulfilling the sustainability commitments assumed by ISEL and IPL: "Accommodation is today one of the main challenges of higher education and, at the same time, this initiative reinforces IPL's social responsibility by moving forward with a sustainable building, aligned with environmental concerns".

Minister Miguel Pinto Luz highlighted the crucial role of PRR funds in responding to student accommodation needs and included the ISEL Carbono Zero Residence in the "Building Portugal" program. He also congratulated the ambition of the project and assured government support in its development: "This investment of almost 9 million euros represents an ambitious challenge, but we believe it will be carried out within the expected timeframe."

Architect Miguel Correia and engineer Carlos Batista highlighted the innovation and sustainability of the project, which will use modular construction techniques with prefabricated elements, allowing a demanding execution schedule to be met.

After this moment, which took place in the main hall of ISEL, the delegation headed to the location where the building will be built. To symbolically mark the beginning of construction, a time capsule containing a message signed by the President of ISEL and the Minister of Infrastructure, photographs of the future residence and the current campus, a commemorative medal and plans of the project and the current campus were deposited at the site.

Flickr photos from the Lançamento da 1ª pedra da construção da residência ISEL Carbono Zero album.