The Government of the Generalitat will start its air conditioning plan for Catalan public schools in 100 centers, which it has classified as priorities, to which it will allocate 100 million euros of direct investment. The idea is for them to be fully air-conditioned during the 2027/2028 school year. The Executive of Salvador Illa has committed to investing a total of 2.5 billion euros by 2031 to air-condition the 2,530 Catalan public centers. It is, in the words of the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, a “very ambitious transformation” that will involve an “unprecedented mobilization of resources,” said the minister in a press briefing.
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From Education they argue that the plan pursues three strategic objectives: to ensure the thermal comfort of students during the hot months and also the cold ones to guarantee a conducive environment for education and learning; to guarantee indoor air quality; and, finally, to ensure the sustainability and energy efficiency of the buildings.
Nearly 26% of Catalan public centers date from before 1960
Thus, among other things, complete cooling and heating systems will be implemented in the centers; ventilation and mechanical air renewal systems will be adapted; and obsolete thermal and heating installations will be replaced. Nearly 26% of Catalan public centers date from before 1960. “We have an aging stock of educational centers,” said President Salvador Illa in his conference.
In the selection of the first 100 schools to be air-conditioned, distributed throughout Catalonia, three criteria weighed especially, according to Marta Clari, secretary general of the department. To begin with, those geographical areas with more extreme temperatures, both heat in summer and cold in winter, have been prioritized. Territorial and educational balance has also been taken into account. And, finally, priority has been given to centers that serve groups especially vulnerable to extreme temperatures.
Up to 2.5 billion investment
The Government has estimated a cost of one million euros per center. Hence the total investment of 2.5 billion euros by 2031. In any case, it remains, indeed, an estimate. Juli Fernández, secretary general of the Department of Economy, made this clear. And there are already centers (the number is unknown) that are already air-conditioned. In this regard, Marta Clari pointed out that a technical office – made up of architects, lawyers, and economists – will be created that will update the figures as the plan progresses and will coordinate the Departments of Education and Economy, infraestructures.cat, and the municipalities.
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In parallel with the execution of those first 100 centers, from 2027, the Government will open a two-month process for local entities (holders, among others, of primary centers) to express interest in assuming the material execution and initial, refundable financing of the plan’s actions, within the framework of an agreement with Education.
Public-private collaboration
Municipalities will be able to advance their own resources or resort to financing operations with the ICF (Catalan Institute of Finance), with an interest rate subsidy. In any case, they will have a 100% return on investment, since the final financing of the actions, according to the Government, will be provided by the Generalitat.
From 2027, total or partial air conditioning work will begin on the rest of the publicly owned school stock. That is, the remaining 2,430 centers. The Government intends to finance the total amount of the plan (2.5 billion euros) through direct investment (the first 100 million for priority centers), public-private collaborations, and other sources of financing, Juli Fernández detailed.
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