MAIN

The smart materials here called MAIN, that is the set of “cool roof” and “cool pavement” solutions to reduce summer overheating of urban areas caused by sun radiation, are scarcely used due to different motivations or alibis. The project is aimed at intervening in any chain cycle for the use of MAIN. The systemic model MAIN will be implemented in several types of zones: the seaside, plain lands, hinterlands, hills, and also mountains, in order to verify its efficiency and profitability. The project will start with an awareness campaign for citizens, families, schools, technicians, firms. These audiences need to know the MAIN, their costs, their quality/price/impacts on the environment relationships, their certifications and assurances, the available aids. The project will charge the effects of the economic crisis, by creating Territorial Island platforms aimed at promoting knowledge, marketing and use of MAIN by target audiences and users. Each Island will be organized and supported by Partners, with participation of elected representatives, public officials, firms, chambers of commerce, research institutes, universities, awarding bodies, insurances. Workshops and training will be provided to elected representatives and policymakers to define with them policies and standards relevant even in this time of crisis. Workshops and training are foreseen for public officials, architects, engineers, craftsmen, business. Short courses and professional references will be organized in order to diffuse advanced skills for the implementation of MAIN. The list of participants to training will be included on the website MAIN and disseminated. A list of MAIN and their purchase and implementation costs will be published on the Web. Territorial agreements with companies that produce MAIN will be considered. Pilot actions are planned for cool roofs, cool pavements, eco-materials, MAIN certifications. The university UNIMORE, via its laboratory EELab, will take care of the analysis of MAIN used in the Islands and will issue a certification for each MAIN. Partners are in contact with the public bodies responsible for development of the regulatory framework. The university UNIMORE will also issue a quality label for cool roofs and cool pavements produced by artisans and firms participating in training for the implementation of MAIN.

The implementation of the MAIN logical framework was achieved, with the quality label, the educational program, the methodology for pilot cases. A full set of slide lessons was also prepared in five languages for the educational program to train qualified technicians. Pilot cases were identified and completed in all countries. Awareness meetings were held in the territorial islands, where experts were invited to speech. UniMORE, with the support of all partners and their scientific consultants, developed a full set of slide lessons to train MAIN qualified technicians in English, French, Greek, Italian, Spanish, which were subsequently exploited in the educational program in all territorial islands. AESS supervised the educational activities. FUEIB coordinated definition of the methodology for application of the MAIN quality label. By now this can be applied to qualified technicians, white cool roof materials, business proposals. IASA defined the methodology for pilot cases. These were completed in all but one territorial islands (Palma, Zaragoza, Nice, Modena, Arezzo, Athens) and involved either new or retrofitted buildings.