From the ISEL Carbono Zero project, a residence will be created on ISEL's north campus to accommodate students, teachers and researchers, integrated into a new polytechnic campus, designed from scratch to promote environmental and social sustainability and achieve the goals defined in the Paris agreement .
With this residence, ISEL aims to provide innovative equipment characterized by an enriching atmosphere, where students can enjoy a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. The residence will have a maximum capacity of 230 beds, at controlled prices, and is expected to come into operation in 2025/2026. This project, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan, within the scope of the Student Accommodation Program at Affordable Costs, with a budget of €8,637,000.00, thus aims to first mitigate the issues of social vulnerability that plague today's student population displaced from their area of residence in order to continue their studies.
The construction of this student residence responds to ISEL's commitment to innovation and sustainability - bioclimatic construction, with the use of low environmental impact materials, energy autonomy, internal and external green spaces, including vertical forests and spaces for vertical agriculture, catchment of rainwater and an entire intelligent and integrated system for monitoring and digital control of spaces, not only in terms of energy, but also air quality, water consumption and waste production.
The ISEL Carbono Zero residence constitutes a fundamental piece in a more comprehensive infrastructure: that of an eco-campus in urban areas, which will also feature an advanced research and training HUB, with technological laboratories, training rooms, an incubator area for startups and business spaces. This eco-campus is intended to function as a living lab, where students acquire knowledge and develop skills, studying innovative solutions and good practices, implemented on the campus itself, which can later be transferred to the outside community.
This project will be open to the community at large and aims at a transition to carbon neutrality through the design and construction from scratch of an innovative eco-campus which aims to cover areas as relevant as renewable energy or energy and water efficiency, always focusing on reducing CO2 emissions.
The “ISEL Carbono Zero Residence” project will also feature a set of spaces and services complementary to the quality of life and needs of the eco-campus, such as catering spaces, laundry, well-being, among others.
The results of the international competition for the design/construction of the new student residence, launched in May 2024, are already known, with Tecnorém – Engenharia e Construções S.A. the winning company. The contract was signed on October 14th and construction is scheduled to be completed in 2026, when ISEL hopes to welcome the first residents of a space designed for the future.
