What is CROMALUX?
The CROMALUX project aims to use intelligent lighting to protect buildings and facades from external aggressions. In order to do so, the development and installation of intelligent lighting solutions on facades and historic monuments in Santiago de Compostela will be carried out to help slow down and control the growth of biological colonies that degrade these infrastructures, improving conservation and reducing the need for complex maintenance and restoration interventions.
The main objective of the CROMALUX project is to preserve Santiago de Compostela's status as a model of heritage conservation through intelligent ornamental lighting. To this end, an efficient and environmentally responsible lighting system is being developed to control biological colonisation in elements of high heritage value, taking advantage of LED technology and remote control of lighting with biostatic capacity, which can be easily integrated into buildings of high heritage value, with minimal or no architectural impact.
With the implementation of this initiative on the north façade of the Casa del Cabildo, in the Plaza de Platerías in Santiago de Compostela, the following benefits will be achieved:
- 80 % annual energy savings.
- 60% savings in the maintenance costs of the luminaires.
- 50% savings in the cost of heritage conservation work.
- A biodiversity-friendly lighting system.
- Luminaires with a longer service life, which are recyclable and do not emit heat.
Cromalux is part of the Smartiago project, within the framework of the Line for the Promotion of Innovation from Demand (FID), [Line of Promotion of Innovation from the Demand for Public Purchasing of Innovation] which combines heritage preservation with smart technologies that allow cities to move towards the creation of the Smart City that seeks efficiency, sustainability and to take advantage of technology to improve infrastructures that affect heritage, as is the case of lighting.
As a result of this joint project, Santiago de Compostela is closer to becoming the European city of reference in lighting solutions that take into account sustainability, heritage and technological progress towards smart cities.
Public and private commitments
The synergies between research and innovation have ensured that lighting is also a key element in caring for the architectural heritage and historical monuments of many cities. CROMALUX is a major commitment for the companies that make up the joint project.
To make this pilot project a reality, a collaboration between the University of Santiago de Compostela, Televés and Ferrovial has been carried out.
Thus, the USC has organised a research team, led by the group with the greatest experience within the University in the study of built monumental heritage (GEMAP group), which will contribute all its years of experience in the study of biological colonisation of monuments, in addition to the more recent experience acquired in heritage lighting, taking charge of the scientific part of the project. For its part, Ferrovial brings all its experience and knowledge of the installation and maintenance of ornamental lighting solutions, as well as the needs and requirements of the client. Televés fills the gap between research and service, designing, developing and industrialising a solution that is capable of satisfying the requirements resulting from research and experience of the needs of the service, with a product that offers maximum guarantees of quality and performance.
European Regional Development Fund
A way of doing Europe
