The Chair of Urban Energy Transition at Universitat Politècnica de València, directed by Carla Montagud Montalvá, will hold its annual conference on technological and social knowledge transfer on Thursday 1 October 2026 at the School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII). The conference brings together academia, public administration, business and social organisations to discuss the challenges and solutions on València’s path to climate neutrality, within the framework of the Missió Climàtica València 2030.
The programme moves from the building to the city. It opens with a keynote on integrating ZEBs into the smart city, followed by sessions on the industrialisation of energy retrofitting, energy management in large facilities, energy communities and the resilience of energy infrastructure to extreme climate events. A round table will focus on the human factor and the social dimension of the energy transition.
The conference is supported by the Chair’s funding bodies, València Sostenible and València Innovation Capital, both part of València City Council.
Key details
Date: Thursday 1 October 2026
Time: 09:00 to 14:30, followed by a networking lunch
Venue: Assembly Hall (Salón de Actos), School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII), Universitat Politècnica de València. Camino de Vera, s/n, València
Map: find the Assembly Hall on the UPV campus map
Admission: free, with prior registration, subject to availability
Language: Spanish
Programme
Provisional programme, subject to change.
09:00–09:30
Arrival and registration
09:30–10:00
Institutional welcome
Salvador Coll Arnau, Vice-Rector for Innovation and Transfer, UPV
Carlos Luis Mundina Gómez, Councillor for Waste, Climate Improvement and Water Management, València City Council
Carla Montagud Montalvá, Director of the Chair of Urban Energy Transition, UPV
10:00–11:00
Keynote
Integrating ZEBs into Smart Cities: Synergies between Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Digitalisation and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
Javier Rey Martínez, Professor, University of Valladolid
11:00–12:00
Session 1. Cutting-edge sustainable building: the industrialisation of urban retrofitting
Industrialising energy retrofitting
Eric Aurenche, Energiesprong Global Alliance
Energy consumption, equipment and energy use habits in the residential sector
Sergio Vázquez Peláez, Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE)
Initiatives and tools to drive industrialisation in building retrofitting
Cristina Jareño Escudero, Valencian Institute of Building (IVE)
12:00–12:30
Coffee break
12:30–13:30
Round table. Beyond technology: the human factor in the smart and sustainable city
Moderator: Juanma Rodilla Navarro, R&D&I Officer, València Innovation Capital
Cote Romero, Head of Innovation, Ecooo Energía Ciudadana
Sandra Boni, Professor at UPV and researcher at INGENIO
Roberto Ballester, social entrepreneur and founder of Felidarity
Núria Baeza Roca, President of AeioLuz and Representative of Eco-social Group of the Colegio de Trabajo Social (professional association of social workers)
13:30–14:30
Session 2. Sustainable urban ecosystems: from asset operation to resilient planning
Energy efficiency improvement project for the Museum of Science
Félix Almerich González, Energy Manager, City of Arts and Sciences
Open-governance energy communities: a matter of trust
Daniel Rubio Signes, Industrial Energy Communities Manager
Resilience of energy infrastructure to extreme climate events
Tomás Gómez Navarro, Professor at UPV and researcher at IIE
14:30
Closing remarks
Carla Montagud Montalvá, Director of the Chair of Urban Energy Transition, UPV
14:30–15:30
Networking lunch
Registration
Admission is free, but registration is required. Book your place using the online form.
For enquiries: catenerg@upv.es
Organised by: Chair of Urban Energy Transition (CATENERG), Universitat Politècnica de València
Funded by: València Sostenible and València Innovation Capital, València City Council
Hosted by: School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII), Universitat Politècnica de València
