Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation

TECNALIA is a multidisciplinary Research Centre based in the Basque Country, north of Spain. It contributes to the Building Envelope Alliance with expertise in research & innovation, experimental capacities and the creation of start-ups and new business opportunities in the building envelope sector.

The research focuses on the development of sustainable, circular, efficient, fire-safe and resilient solutions, by combining experimental testing, modelling and real-building applications, to evaluate and validate envelope systems at component, system and building scale.

Activities include research and development of innovative building materials, products and envelope systems, with a focus on bio-based materials, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and offsite, automated and digitalised construction methods.

Facilities and capabilities

• Modelling and simulation of building envelope solutions for pre-validation at system and building level
• Multi-disciplinary and multi-scale indoor laboratory facilities for testing building envelope materials, products and construction solutions, including fire, mechanical, acoustic, optical, physical-chemical and ageing-durability performance
• KUBIK Full-scale outdoor testing facility for installation and monitoring of façade and roof solutions and technologies in real climate conditions
• Field measurements and inspections to evaluate building envelope performance
• Technical assessment and certification support, including technical assessments at national level and European Technical Assessments (ETAs)

TECNALIA can support organisations across the building-envelope value chain, from the development of new concepts and technologies through testing, technical assessment and market introduction.